User Reviews
By: Peg D. on 2022-04-01
My used amateur radio equipment digital interface came with an old serial to USB cable that had a fake PL2303 chip, so I had to replace it since those don't work with the current drivers. This cable works great. Solved a bunch of problems I was having.
By: Amazon user on 2022-02-05
This cable works fine with my Mac, but I had a problem with the mechanical connection. There are no screws on the connector. This assumes mounting screws are on the mating connector. This didn't work for my radio connection so exchanged this cable for one that included the mounting screws.
By: MARK on 2021-11-05
I bought this to down load my weather monitor II to windows 11 Since my old one will not work with windows 11. Just plug and play.
By: Rich on 2021-10-21
Would recommend this product and seller.
By: Chester Brzostowski on 2021-03-09
No problem with Windows 10
By: Jon A. Hupp on 2020-12-03
Have multiple PL2303 Prolific based adapters which no longer work with Windows 10. This adapter, with the supplied driver, works perfectly! The blinking tx and rx lights are fun as well! Some of the reviews have discounted the drivers supplied (on tiny DVD), but I found them useful. Great product for those of us will legacy software that still wants RS232!
By: Alingarde on 2020-11-29
Works as intended. I haven't had any hiccups with using this with both windows and linux.
By: amxcoder on 2020-09-30
I needed an RS232 port for work that I do. I wanted it for an old laptop I had. As soon as I got my software, (a C++ compiler) set up for this new port it worked instantly and I was away and programming. That is the kind of product I want. No fooling around with special setting or anything, it just works. 5 stars and worth every one.
By: zamecnik247 on 2020-05-23
We use these for programming machines. These cables work everytime .we need them
By: Mark Landry on 2020-03-15
Have a corp laptop that has restricted loads for Windows updates etc.. This is the third adapter I have tried and it worked first try. Downloaded the drivers and it lit up.
By: Chris B. on 2019-12-30
This worked great and was a plug and play with windows 10 on my dell computer
By: James T. on 2019-06-14
I've purchased a number of these and they work great, at 250Kbps and under.The current advertising states that it uses a ZT232E transceiver that is good up to 920Kbps (at least, that's what I assume "Ultra Fast 920K ZyWyn ZT232E" to mean). In reality, the unit I received has a ZT213LEEA, which is only rated to 250Kbps. Side note, the ZT232E is also only rated to 250K, the ZT232F is rated up to 1Mbps. Other than that, the units work great.
By: soundguy on 2019-05-31
CD with drivers not needed - plug-and-play. Works perfect.
By: KFL on 2019-03-10
After failing to succeed with a non-FTDI driver for my amateur radio transceiver frequency-following app, I followed my device maker's advice to find and use an FTDI chip set driver for the USB-to-Serial port cable between the radio and the computer. It works well and is reliable. Good luck!
By: Michelle on 2018-12-05
Needed this to connect an older Gerber vinyl GS-15plus cutter to a WIndows 7 computer. Works like a charm!
By: Amazon Customer on 2017-01-14
I use these all the time to hook up Barudan embroidery machines to a pc. They work much better than some of the others like the Hawking originally sold by Barudan with new machines because once installed they will retain their COM port number even after switching USB ports so no more re configuring Wilcom or Design file server.
By: TAP on 2016-12-26
Best converter out there. Always buy products that use the FTDI Chip.
By: G.D. on 2016-12-13
Using with Windows 7 64-bit. Windows found drivers automatically and everything just works without any fuss.
By: Orton's Equipment on 2016-09-26
Great Item
By: Kim D. on 2016-09-24
Exactly what we needed. Thank you
By: Amazon Customer on 2016-06-24
worked on every platform I worked on for 4 years and counting.
By: Mitch on 2016-06-10
this item works great with windows 7
By: Fuel683 on 2016-03-21
I've tried several serial to USB adapters. I have to have a serial port for my job. I've even gone so far as to buy a docking station for my laptop, but found there was no serial port on the docking station. I plugged this in, and loaded the driver from the included disc, and BAM! I'm up and working!
By: Michael Li on 2016-02-26
Never fails once!!!
By: Timothy Wood on 2016-02-25
Works good.
By: T.m.levad on 2016-02-04
Worked perfectly, well designed for industrial use and weird devices that need a true Serial to USB converter. This device is currently being used to connect an old (1990 something) Fluke Scope Meter to a newer model Lenovo laptop running windows 7. We had 2 previous ones, one from IO Gear, and one from Belkin, and neither worked like you would think they should. What I'm finding, is unless you invest in something with the FTDI and ZyWin chipsets (zyWin seems to the be most compatible with windows 7), your serial to usb adapter is pretty much a gamble if it will work with your device or not. Used this $35 adapter instead of buying the $200 cable OC4 to USB cable that Fluke wants you to buy, and it worked like a charm. The driver install is a little hairy, but no serious problems (actually requires 2 drivers due to the nature of how it works), after a windows reboot the device worked exactly as needed.
By: Amazon Customer on 2016-01-25
workd great witn windows 7
By: Shadow Berr on 2016-01-19
I had two others that have been working great for a few years ... needed one more so it's obvious what to buy.
By: Amazon Customer on 2016-01-02
it works. no hassle
By: Diehard 760 on 2015-10-04
Works great with Mac and Windows on Cisco equipment.
By: Amazon Customer on 2015-09-25
Cost more but works much better than another PL2303 based adapter I got from Amazon. It came with a driver disk but no driver is needed for my Mac. I just plugged it in and it worked.
By: JRoman on 2015-09-24
This Gearmo USB to RS232 adapter worked "out of the box" with Windows 10 and my aging Magellan GPS-320 handheld. Truly plug-and-play. My older adapters of a similar kind did not work with either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. Thankfully, the mini-CD was not needed since I don't have any device that could read it. Yes, it has "Power", "Transmit", and "Receive" LEDs on the circuit board, but they are seen through the translucent plastic case and are not labeled.
By: Marshall Miles on 2015-09-05
Love the way it holds the comm port you install it on. As a controls engineer using hyper terminal connection settings to quickly switch between protocols this USB to serial is a good as a UART. Thanks for the driver CD too. Only way to roll
By: cows on 2015-08-27
This adapter worked great with an industrial printing device; we had tried two different Prolific-based adapters that functioned with other simpler devices, but not with this particular printing equipment. I simply connected the adapter and installed the included drivers and then pointed the printer's software to the correct COM port.
The activity lights are probably my favorite feature. In my case, whenever the printer software is active, the activity lights on the adapter regularly blink showing TX/RX communications. Since I'm responsible for supporting these devices, being able to see if the equipment is communicating is an easy first step in the troubleshooting process.
By: jim on 2015-08-19
Solved by connection problems with my slot car lap timer. As recommended by Trackmate. Thank-you Daniel.
By: John W. Ramsay on 2015-08-17
Good item at a good price. Works very well for my application.
By: Bob on 2015-08-03
I have a Dell running Win7-64bit. Had purchased a cheap USB-Serial converter from "B" and it was beyond frustrating as it would periodically crash my PC (BSOD). I tried numerous setting to avoid buffer overrun to no avail. Vendor support was pretty much non-existent, so I finally gave up and decided to research USB-Serial adapters. All information pointed to the chipset and drivers, so found this FTDI unit and gave it a shot.
I had to load UBS bus driver and USB serial port driver. Then gave it a thorough test drive. It ran flawlessly.
I highly recommend steering away from anything that does not use the FTDI chip set. But this one and you'll be fine.
By: Shawn Campbell on 2015-07-22
Drivers automatically installed under Windows 7. Great product!
By: Will Kirchheimer on 2015-07-20
Bought this to drive a older medical device on windows 8. Didn't work straight out of the box (for this application) , but manufacturers website had several drivers you could try for odd-ball uses, and one of them worked perfectly. So, well support hardware.
By: Tony on 2015-06-20
I use this with Axware Timing and Scoring to receive times from a RaceAmerica AC4 timer. It works perfectly and doesn't cause system/application lock ups like other serial adapters I've used.
By: FLYingG0D on 2015-06-06
This is one of those rare AWESOME Serial Adapters! First off, it is an FTDI chipset, which is one of (if not) the best and most compatible chipsets available! The next awesome part is the TX/RX/Power LEDs! Sometimes, it really helps to see if you have a sending or receiving issue, and this one lets you see when you have power, and the TC/RX LEDs flicker as data transfers through them! (they are off by default, flash "on" in the same way your hard drive LED blinks when it is being used)
Mine came with all the LEDs available and installed. Although, I did not see labels for them and could not tell where they were until I plugged it in. But it works great! Definitely a great find and a quality product!
By: dariusz drap on 2015-06-06
Great product, thank you
By: P. Giulietti on 2015-05-23
After years of fighting with inferior products it is refreshing to find one that works so well. Let's face it these things do not need bells and whistles. If you're using one of these cables it's because you need to configure a device that is new out of the box or is no longer responding to telnet or SSH. This cable worked from the very first time I used it and has not dropped any connections. It works exactly like you want it to. Yes it costs four times what the cheap ones do but it's an investment in calm, confident sanity.
By: Howard on 2015-05-07
Worked out of the box. Well packed too I might add. No issues whatsoever with operation nor driver install.
By: Ana Lorena Velasquez on 2015-04-20
Very good and fast delivery
By: Dan on 2015-03-18
Great
By: Christian Howes on 2015-02-26
Used to reprogram APC Smart UPS 1500 Network Management Card. Able to access root menu to set IP address, and use the device. Worked flalessly. Never had a problem with my Windows 7 setup. Once I set the IP address, I could connect through the network. Thanks Gearmo!
By: Egarcha on 2015-02-02
I needed to communicate with an ABB PLC through rs232. I had tried A LOT of different cables, and not one of them worked. This did, as advertised.
A red LED for power, and two more, red and green, for Rx and Tx.
Very pleased with it.
By: Bob Forrest on 2015-01-09
Great product and fast shipment.
By: William Murray on 2015-01-03
It worked with my new Mac laptop
By: G. Guthman on 2014-12-18
This is ***NOT*** what ships!..... What ships is FTDI-A36 is w/o the LEDs which is what would make this worth $20 versus the $10 that all the other ones go for!... I want my $10 back or the right one, but not worth fighting for... :-(
By: Aaron Box on 2014-12-15
The only serial adapter I have been able to get to work with my new Lenovo version laptops. I have tried 3 or 4 other adapters and they all freeze up. This one works like a champ!
By: Francisco Morales on 2014-11-19
very good product, it worked as expected.
By: R. Grau on 2014-11-07
Works Great
By: Hassan on 2014-10-31
very good
By: Keith Brandt on 2014-10-27
It works as expected, and delivery was timely. Thank you.
By: curtisimoe on 2014-10-04
This has been the perfect replacement for devices without native serial ports. I ha e used it successfully with vmware, fluke scopemeters, serial printers, and devices with serial diagnostic ports.
By: Anthony Bopp on 2014-10-01
Works great out of the box. Haven't used a more reliable adapter, and I've used a lot of them. No dropped or garbage characters with 24/7 use and gigabytes of data.
By: Dan Fischbach on 2014-08-30
Worked just fine for my applications.
By: rolando on 2014-07-11
Worked better than expected. Didn't have to mess with anything, it just plugged in and the old serial port designed software worked like it did in my old machine that had a serial port. Using Linux, so don't know how windows systems might work.
By: russgarrett on 2014-07-03
works as advertised and no problems
By: Alex Alexzander on 2014-06-03
So I got a Cisco ASA 5505 and a layer 3 switch. Of course your need to do at least some of the configuration over the serial port... What's that? No serial port? You're not alone. I don't have one either. And I am running Linux at that so I needed to be careful and get a widely supported USB to RS-232 adapter that would bridge the gap and allow me to configure my Cisco hardware.
Knock it out of the park on the first try. This is the cable! Look no further. If it works in rhel, it will work on anything.
By: Lee B. on 2014-05-27
Got this adapter because I could not find one that would work on Win98, WinXP, and Win7. I work on electronics and there are a lot of proprietary service programs that I have to use a DB9 specifically. One of the factory techs recommended this adapter and so far I have bought three. I have 3 customer's that have purchased them on my recommendation also and none of them have had any problems either.
Would recommend to all.
By: Stephen on 2014-04-30
I bought this to be able to communicate with various RS-232 devices in the context of embedded systems and controls.
Installation: I downloaded drivers from the FTDI website. Installation was no problem. The site has a wide selection of drivers for different OS's and there is good documentation.
First use: I used it to configure a CAN gateway from a Windows7 virtual machine with no problems at all.
It's not the cheapest option out there, but for my applications, having something with solid drivers, documentation, and support was more important than saving a few dollars.
By: Ken on 2014-04-23
I needed this to program the LC-2 wideband with my laptop for data logging AFR with theTrinity. Easy install. No issues. Didn't even come close to Innovates Serial adapter price and works with windows 8.
By: M. Bauer on 2014-04-03
I've had this adapter now for 3 years, and it hasn't let me down yet. Has worked with Win7, as well as Win7 and W2K8 virtual machines and works great with my Mac. I use this to connect to storage networking gear and switches and has been fine with null modem serial cables and console cables as well.
By: K. Sampson on 2014-02-13
I use this out in the oilfield to communicate with the rig floor display. I have had zero issues with it, a lot of the usb to rs-232 adapter's create port problems so I ordered this and bam! problem solved. I did however have to use the disc to install the drivers on window's 7. If your wondering what system were using out here, it's applied physic's 560b up-link receiver. That last part will only make sense to you if your in my line of work. I mainly ordered it so I could see that it was transmitting data via the led light's.
By: Eddie Brune Jr on 2014-01-10
Got it ontime and worked just as advertised. Great cable for those projects requiring a serial to USB conversion no glitches.
By: Christopher Nelson on 2013-12-14
This is the best RS-232 to USB adapter I have found.....it works, period. I purchased others and they did not work with my scanners and radios. This one does.
By: Donald Miller on 2013-11-27
Dongle has a power on light and a light for Rx and a light for Tx. Works immediately with Linux. I was able to add it to the udev rules and link /dev/ttyS1 to /dev/ttyUSB0.
By: Rgtwng on 2013-11-14
Adapter worked perfectly with my Vera 3 to communicate and integrate with my Russound CAS-44 whole home system. The Vera 3 instantly recognized it.
By: Timbo M. on 2013-10-23
I use this USB to serial adapter to connect my Microsoft Surface Pro tablet to my car's Megasquirt DIY engine management system to tune it. It works out of the box, not settings changes, no dropped connections. I find this direct connection to be much more reliable than a Bluetooth serial adapter, especially when flashing firmware - something you really need a reliable connection for.
It does not have thumbscrews to screw it into the serial port on a device, instead it has threaded nuts that you can screw a cable into. Pair this up with a regular DB9 cable for a more secure connection. In the car this is required to keep it from falling out when going over bumps.
By: Clinton A Chamberlin on 2013-10-15
I needed this adapter to connect my Uniden radio scanner to a Win7 PC.
Since the cables Uniden supply use Prolific chips, I ordered this adapter: B00425S1H8 This was very unstable, connecting sometimes and sometimes not. This FTDI chip set in this adapter was truly plug and play. It auto installed the right drivers, was immediately recognized by the radio, and is rock solid. What a pleasure!
By: N. Kachhia-Patel on 2013-10-13
Worked right out of the box.. it's very hard to find this type of adapter these day for programming or updating hardware without a com port hassle.. This was one of my best purchases.
By: Jake on 2013-10-02
Works as expected I have no complaints. connected to a court reporter and was able to use Windows 7 64 bit with this device.
By: M. Marks on 2013-10-02
I have an old large LED Sign that has to be programed via serial connection.
I had to keep a very old and slow laptop on hand which was lacking in other ways as well.
So I gave this adapter a try. After hours of different setting finally got it to work in Windows XP mode.
Works great but would have been nice if it came with a help manual of things to try.
However did saved the day and I now use it on a high speed networked laptop.
That to me makes it 5 Stars
By: Bob F on 2013-08-31
This works well with Windows 8. The drivers work without blue screens. Don't use the Windows drivers, it will blue screen.
By: Home Trade on 2013-08-20
I had to update a Cisco router that would not reload, it was stuck in ROM MON. With my Trend TU-S9 it would have taken about 40 hours this cable takes 5 hours. This cable does is almost as fast as a real serial port. Trend was transferring 191 bytes per second. The hard serial port would transfer at 891 bps and this cable settled in at a speedy 861 bps. Super job to the designers. I certainly would recommend it.
By: Yamhellian on 2013-07-22
I have two of these. They are rock solid, no problems and work with Windows 8. I use them with electronic equipment that still requires RS-232 interface for operation.
By: Michael L Thompson on 2013-06-23
Like I said above had issue needed cable so bought cable and it allowed me to acess my Cisco ASAA 5505 box and life was all good. This adapter works with windows 7 not sure about. 8.
By: Jack Willock on 2013-06-09
I muse this to connecy my Acer to a repeater to allow us to maintain the program in the remote unit.
By: Matthew A Hartman on 2013-06-06
Works with windows 8, & the surface pro. I used the RS232 even with PLC software that is "not support" for windows 8.
By: William M Suggs on 2013-02-16
The title says it all, this usb to serial adapter works as expected on windows 8 as well as windows 7.
By: ANTHONY PITALE on 2013-01-08
worked great on windows 8 and ham radio deluxe radio program did not need the mini cd picked up atomatically
By: Lionel S. Booth on 2012-12-29
Under Windows 8 and under Linux (Ubuntu 12.04) it works . The FTDI chip is important. Other products (prolific?) have been tried and they failed.
By: Kevin O. Blackwell on 2012-12-22
This is a well designed and useful product except for one thing. The DE-9 connector uses jack posts instead of jack screws. In my application the connector on the device (Campbell Scientific data logger) has jack posts. So the jack posts on the serial adapter interfere. I tried to remove the jack posts on the adapter but they seem to be swaged rather than screwed. I would prefer no jackposts on the DE-9 connector.
By: Ding on 2012-12-07
Bought these to inter-connect from my ham radio to computer. Works flawlessly and makes connection problems easy. No cons to report with this product
By: eagle on 2012-08-07
Needed a way to update and communicate with my Garmin e-trex with my new lap top. This product did the trick for me. Was easy to install and use quickly.
By: philamazon on 2012-07-06
excellent product, easy to install and featured led indicator was something atractive to see when its functioning.
cable length was perfect for my use.
By: Richard Markowitz on 2012-04-10
I bought a new PC recently to be used with my Amateur Radio equipment. As is the case with the newer PC's today this one came with no RS-232 port. I researched USB to RS-232 adapters and found that FTDI based adapters worked the best in Amateur Radio applications. I use this adapter to interface my Yaesu FT-2000D to my PC so I can control the radio from the PC. It basically installed itself. I've been using it now for almost a month without any problems at all.
By: Jeff Hall on 2012-03-21
I bought this Serial to USB adapter after trying a couple of others, such as Cables to Go brands. Despite stating their cables work, I could not get them to no matter what I tried, even with the most current drivers, under Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit and Mac OS Lion. However, I am happy to report and can confirm this item does work just fine under both Windows 7 64bit and Mac OS Lion. I have successfully installed and tested it in both. For Windows 7, there is no need to install any drivers, as it will be detected automatically and the drivers downloaded for it. For Mac Lion, you will need to install the included drivers or go to the web site for FTDI and download them. Under Lion, it is listed under the USB devices list and in Windows you will see the new drivers under Serial and USB.
Bottom line is this works as stated just fine in the most current versions of Mac Lion and Windows 7 64bit so I am quite pleased and would highly recommend to others.
By: Zombie Hunter on 2012-01-29
Currently the company I work for uses XP for the OS and will be upgrading to Win 7 by the end of this year. After reading reviews and knowing the application/hardware that I will be using it with, I wanted a unit that would be Win 7 compatible. So this review is on XP and when I can get the laptop switched to Win 7 I will add to the review.
Installation of the drivers was very easy. Connect the hardware and let the system detect it. Chose the option to manually find location, go to the CD drive and choose the correct folder and then click next.
Communication works and it has an LED to let you know it is working. I am connecting into part of an alarm system and am currently using TelNet to communicate and program the APU. I see know data loss or delay and there were no problems getting the two to communicate using this USB to RS-232 adapter.
By: J. Sajczuk on 2012-01-29
Currently the company I work for uses XP for the OS and will be upgrading to Win 7 by the end of this year. After reading reviews and knowing the application/hardware that I will be using it with, I wanted a unit that would be Win 7 compatible. So this review is on XP and when I can get the laptop switched to Win 7 I will add to the review.
Installation of the drivers was very easy. Connect the hardware and let the system detect it. Chose the option to manually find location, go to the CD drive and choose the correct folder and then click next.
Communication works and it has an LED to let you know it is working. I am connecting into part of an alarm system and am currently using TelNet to communicate and program the APU. I see know data loss or delay and there were no problems getting the two to communicate using this USB to RS-232 adapter.
By: Floyd C. Fox on 2011-12-12
I needed these to connect to my Rigblaster M8 Digital Interface and my Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V HF Amateur (Ham) Radio Transceiver to use for doing digital modes such as PSK31, MFSK16, Feld-Hell also known as Hellschreiber, and other numerous digital modes. I used the Prolific cables and drivers with Windows XP and Vista with no problems, but they would not work with Windows 7(64 bit). My PC would either freeze up after a few seconds when running MixW or Ham Radio Deluxe or Digital Master 780 which is built into Ham Radio Deluxe and sometimes would give me the blue screen of death crashing the PC. As soon as I plugged these in (I had to buy 2, one for the Rigblaster and one for the HF radio) Windows 7(64 bit) automatically found and installed the FTDI drivers without having to use the driver disk included with the cable and all is working great now! I'm very happy with them and am back on all the digital modes. About the only thing I didn't like about them is the cable could stand to be about 1 foot longer. I use them on a Dell 17R (N7010) laptop and can sit it pretty close to the radio, but if I were using them on a desktop PC I don't think they would have reached without a little bit longer cable than the one provided here unless I had the CPU sitting on the same table as the radio. They would probably not be long enough if you have to sit your CPU in the floor beneath the table the radio sits on. Amazon has longer ones available although they also cost more.
By: Don on 2011-12-04
The USB to Serial Adapter worked right out of the box. All others I had would not work with Windows 7, but this one with the FTDI chip works great.
By: rwizard on 2011-08-16
Those of us who do embedded development are probably all familiar with the FTDI chips. They are supported on Mac, Linux, and even Windows. When I needed to order a USB/RS-232 cable it dawned on me to look for one which used the FTDI chip family, since I would already have the drivers in place on all of my machines. A quick search here on Amazon for "FTDI" led me to this product. I have only just received it, but since no one has previously reviewed it, I thought I would go ahead and share my first impressions.
As I hoped, it was compatible with the FTDI drivers I already had installed, so no additional drivers were needed. It is a good thing that they weren't because the drivers which shipped with it were on one of those annoying (and in my machine unusable) mini-cds, a fact which caused them to get four stars instead of five.
Overall, the unit is nicely constructed. It has an LED activity indicator, which is a very nice touch. The electronics are housed in the translucent blue shell for the DB-9, and it is ever so slightly on the bulky side. This shouldn't be a problem normally, but if you had a tight squeeze on your serial connection, it could be an issue.
I'm very happy with my purchase, and plan to order a couple more to have on hand. If you need drivers and can't use the mini-cd, they are readily available at the FTDI web site - Mac, Linux, or Windows.
If you need a usb/serial cable, especially for Mac or Linux, I believe this one would be a good choice.