Don't know why I hadn't caught this bit before about a usb-wlan. Trying to track down just what it is and what it does and how to use it has been rather ridiculous, and I'm not sure I've got it yet.

As I think I'm understanding, I should be able to plug this thing into a usb port on my Desktop Computer (which is attached to the modem/router), and then us the output from this WLAN to connect wirelessly - a wifi LAN. Now, please, if I've misunderstood that, help me out. By far most mentions of it on the Internet assume that one knows something about it to start with, and don't make allowances for ignorance like mine.

But If I've Got that part right, (or even close), Can someone clue me about what to look for in a USB_WLAN? I want to be able to connect occasionally by wifi with a laptop, but mostly I want to connect by wifi with a Roku device. And what I have (as a Desktop) is a Pavillion (a6110a) running Mint17 64bit.

In case your build in wlan card doesn't work well or if you just wanto to improve reception, ALFA AWUS036H is recommended for linux use. Basically it will allow you to connect to wireless and use internet.

4 ways to get wifi working on linux

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You do have a slightly different way to connect.

Most usb wifi nic adapters now tend to suggest support for linux if they are in anyway supported by linux. There are common three ways to support that device in linux. One is out of box distro, two is add in some driver and three using ndiswrapper to use windows drivers.

Since your going to use the box like a proxy or nat router then I might suggest only to stay away from any ndiswrapper only models.

Plenty of hardware sales web pages have good info. I tend to look at choices at newegg but others exist. (wish I got 10 cents for every time I said that company) Also seek out the exact models at the OEM's web pages. If they support linux and most do then they will note it.

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