Question Do WiFi adapters that plug into a computer's Ethernet port exist?

dekw04

Commendable
Oct 6, 2017
124
0
1,690
Hi everyone.

I was wondering, do WiFi adapters (e.g. dongles) that plug into a computer's Ethernet port exist? I've been searching online but so far I've only found WiFi dongles that are meant to be plugged into a USB port.

It seems to me that if there were a WiFi adapter that plugged directly into a computer's Ethernet port, that the computer would recognize the connection as if it were connected via an Ethernet cable. In the past whenever I connected a computer to a router/modem (I'm not sure which one anymore) via an Ethernet cable, the computer recognized the connection immediately and I was connected to the Internet without having to install any drivers or disable my computer's existing WiFi drivers.

With that said, it seems that something similar would happen if there were a WiFi adapter that you would plug into a computer's Ethernet port (again, not into a USB port). In other words, it seems like you'd be able to connect to the Internet through the Ethernet WiFi adapter. The advantage over using a USB-specific WiFi adapter would be that you wouldn't have to disable your computer's existing WiFi drivers. In other words, using an Ethernet WiFi adapter seems like it would be significantly more convenient than using a USB-WiFi adapter (if your computer already has built-in WiFi).

At this point you might be wondering, "Why even use a WiFi dongle at all if your computer already has built-in WiFi?" Well, the reason to use a WiFi dongle would be to try to pick up a significantly stronger signal using a WiFi dongle than the WiFi built-in to the computer can provide.

You might also be wondering, "Why not just connect directly to a modem/router using an Ethernet cable if your computer has that capability?" The answer to that is because I'm specifically interested in improving a WiFi signal (without having to disable my computer's existing WiFi drivers) as opposed to using a wired connection.

If it were possible to use a USB WiFi dongle to get a significantly improved WiFi signal compared to my computer's built-in WiFi without having to disable my computer's built-in WiFi drivers, I would be willing to consider ways to do that, too. As it stands though, it seems that the only way to improve a WiFi signal without having to disable my computer's built-in WiFi drivers would be to use a WiFi dongle that plugs into my computer's Ethernet port.

With that said, do WiFi adapters that plug into a computer's Ethernet port exist?

Thank you.