Inateck KT9001 USB 3.0 and AC Wi-Fi Expansion Card Review

Bohs Hansen / 9 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Inateck KT9001 3 Ports USB 3.0 Dual-Band Wireless PCI-E card can be had for $39.99, £41.99, and €45.99 through Amazon and depending on your location. A fair price for an expansion card like this.

Overview

Whether you need extra USB 3.0 ports or WiFi connections, the Inateck KT9001 will suit your needs. If you need both, you’ll get the added benefit of saving a PCI-E slot by having both in one card.

The dual purpose card showed us some good figures in our benchmarks and would be a worthy card in any system. We don’t see the Fresco Logic chips used that often, but it did a good job handling both the USB 3.0 ports and the connected Realtek RTL8812 AC WiFi card.

The design is simple and while some will loath the red PCB, just as many will love it as it’ll fit well into black and red themed systems. The IO shield is black and will look good from the outside in black PC cases. The USB ports are spaced enough to ensure that you can connect even wider devices without blocking the next port.

The antenna ports are a little tight together for my liking, but it works. It works well in tower style cases, but in desktop styled PC cases you will have a little harder time getting them to an upright position. This will be a thing that won’t impact many people as most have tower styled cases, but it’s still worth mentioning.

The removable antennas are great. It makes it easier when you insert the card to the system and it also allows you to switch them with aftermarket antennas in case you need something beefier, wired, or differently purposed.

Pros:

Two-in-One saves a PCI-E slot
Dual-band AC WiFi
USB 3.0 with UASP support
Driver-free for Win8 and above
PCI-E powered, no direct power connection needed

Cons:

Antenna ports a little close together

“The KT9001 from Inateck provides a duality of functionality to your system. You’ll get three extra USB 3.0 ports independent from the rest and a great AC WiFi card in one.”