TRENDnet USB to Serial 9-Pin Converter Cable, TU-S9, USB to RS232 Serial Adapter, Supports Windows & Mac, 64cm (25 in.) Cable Length, NDAA Compliant, Plug & Play, White

I'm trying to get a 20 year old microcomputer back up again. It requires a serial terminal interface which I no longer have (because I stupidly gave away the VT100 type terminal I used to communicate with it). Rather than buy one that would be expensive and of little future use, I started looking for a more modern solution. Having been working in electronics for many years, I have learned that one can get lucky and everything works okay the first time. Failing that, troubleshooting digital hardware can be difficult and time consuming. As a learning experience with new hardware and to simplify getting the basic RS-232 communication link back up, I purchased an Arduino processor board and an RS-232 "shield" to go with it. The shield simply converts the digital levels from the Arduino to RS-232 levels. These Arduino products are great, very flexible, and relatively cheap. Programming software is free and the language used is more or less "C". Plenty of programming examples are in existence. So, I was able to get the Arduino's RS-232 output going (looping output data) which I first looked at with a scope. Next, I brought up an old tower PC running XP. I started using this computer because it had a DB-9 RS-232 port and a terminal program known as "Hyperterminal". After XP, Hyperterminal has to be purchased separately. Hooking up to the PC and Hyperterminal worked just fine. Next, I wanted to get rid of the tower PC and run things from a small ACER netbook portable. This is where the Trendnet product comes in since the ACER doesn't have a DB-9 port. I was hoping the driver for this device would install automatically but it didn't so I had to use the supplied CD. Since the ACER didn't have an internal CD drive, I hooked up and external one through a USB port and loaded the driver without incident. If you don't have an external drive, I imagine you could use another computer to load and then send the file over your LAN. The next stumbling block was that Hyperterminal was NOT installed on my ACER. Rather than try to figure out why, I looked on line and found another (free) terminal program called RealTerm. Hooking the Trendnet to the Arduino DB-9 and an ACER USB port worked fine. The only thing I noticed, which could be a problem for some, was that no "thumbscrews" were provided on the Trendnet DB-9 end. This end stays mated okay with the DB-9 end on the Arduino, but I don't particularly like to leave DB connectors unsecurred to each other. One could use a short jumper cable, but who needs extra work and cost. Over the years, I have purchased several other Trendnet products and found that they generally did what was advertised and were of good quality for the price.

My USB to serial adapter was not working with Windows 11 so I selected this as its replacement.The adapter works as expected. Installation was easy as the drivers are part of Windows 11.No issues so far.I recommend this product to people looking for a USB to Serial adapter.

I purchased this to use with a Uniden Radio Scanner for programming as my new Laptop doesn't have a serial port. I could have purchased a $30 USB cable directly from the manufacturer, but money is tight right now, especially with the current state of the economy. I saw this as a way to save more than $15. I have Windows Vista Ultimate OS. I read in prior reviews that there may be issues with the Trendnet driver that comes with this product but, so far I have had NO PROBLEMS. I followed the instructions, which were extremely simple, inserted the installation disk and the program did the rest for me. After plugging the adapter into a USB port, it even searches and finds the correct port number for you. It couldn't have been easier to install. I plugged my Uniden Scanner into the adapter and everything worked perfectly, right out of the box.In conclusion, I definitely recommend this product. As for me, I saved over $15.00 by purchasing it and it performs just as good as a USB cable would by itself. I don't normally write reviews but, I wanted to assist others in their decision of whether or not to purchase this product. I was a little skeptical at first but, by taking a chance on this product, everything worked out to my advantage. I am totally satisfied with this product and I would certainly recommend it to others as it was a totally positive experience.

This is for use on Macintosh; I haven't tried to use this on Windows PCs or other types of systems.Pros: Cheap, works fine when it works.Cons: Unhelpful support if it doesn't work, somewhat questionable future-proofing.Summary: Cheap enough to buy and throw out if it stops working.As of today, this works fine on most Macs but not on some: any Mac running a 64-bit kernel will not see the device at all. TrendNet does not seem to think this is a problem. There is a work-around (see below) if you're technically inclined, but this doesn't fill me with confidence in TrendNet's Macintosh support.This device is half the price of its main competition. If you know what you're doing, it's money well saved. If you want "just works" on a Mac, you may want to consider alternatives.On the upside, it actually provides enough power for serial-port-powered devices (such as the GC-IRL) to work reliably.The Technical Detail: The official TrendNet device driver for Mac does not have a 64-bit version. This means that any Mac that runs a 64-bit kernel will simply not see this device. TrendNet support will give you the run-around and tell you it's all your fault (system too old, system too new, whatever they can think of) but apparently won't understand what "64-bit driver" actually means. It turns out that they simply re-package the driver from their chipset manufacturer; if you're lucky, they will finally point you at prolific.com.tw, which has a perfectly fine 64-bit driver for Snow Leopard that works without problems.

This is the fifth cable now and voila, it works with my diagnostic kit-MSV-2. Before trying the trendnet, it was disappointment after another not to mention the waste of money with useless serial cables I cant return from here Kenya. Thanks trendnet I had almost given up