StarTech.com6ft (1.8m) 1-Port USB to Serial RS232 Adapter, FTDI DB9 Serial DCE Adapter Cable, Null Modem, USB 2.0 - TAA

Love the product, plugged into the laptop to console into Cisco devices and instantly worked out of the box, no drivers require installing.

I recently upgraded my amateur radio station to a Flexradio Flex-6400M software defined radio, and wished to be able to automatically tune my Ciro-Mazzoni 'Baby" magnetic loop antenna as I did with the previous transceiver. The 6400M is not provided with a serial port, but it does have a USB 'A' port. By using a USB to RS-232 adapter it seemed possible to control my antenna. Unfortunately the USB drivers built into the radio only recognise the FTDI chipset, so it is important to use an adapter so equipped. The StarTech adapter utilises this chipset, and, in addition has two LEDs to indicate activity on the transmit and receive data lines. The cable is sufficiently long that no extension is necessary, and the pin-outs are in the correct order so that a NUL modem cable is not required either. In my case, after setting the USB configuration in the radio, and setting the Ciro-Mazzoni RS-232 speed and protocol as required, it worked perfectly first time. If you are in a similar position and wish to control, for example, a Step-IR or its Italian equivalent the Ultra-Beam antenna, or otherwise require a serial interface to the radio, then I can thoroughly recommend this adapter as a trouble-free solution.

Works great under Linux, but pricey!

After several attempts at finding a usb serial cable that works as a cat cable, I finally got this and it works well. Most other cables are £10-15, those didn't work or didn't work consistently. Had to pay more for this (£25), but it works. All functions, including PTT. Perfect for use with WSJT-X.

Startech normally deliver very good products, this was very expensive for what it is but for my job so far its proved incredibly useful and helpful. Universally worked on all serial ports and switches needed.

Having tried cheap versions of a USB to Serial converter, which were nothing but grief, I bought this entirely on the strength of the unanimous 5 star reviews. I have only had the product a couple of hours and it is already in and working having successfully connected my Palm Vx to a USB port on my XP pc.There was a minor glitch in loading the driver, which under XP did not install automatically as others have found. Fortunately, there was documentation in English with the product, which helped. Had to look a couple of directories beyond where the doc suggested, but it finally installed OK. Restarted the machine as requested and, bingo, it works perfectly.Let's hope it stays that way - the previous adapter packed after a few minutes - but for now I have no hesitation in adding yet another 5 * rating. Although much expensive than the previous adapter, which cost £2.30, I wish I'd gone straight for this one. It would have certainly saved me a load of time, effort and stress trying to figure out why it wasn't working. In this case, you certainly do get what you pay for!

I bought this because I have a Ross Tech OBD II connector for VW car diagnostics that has a Serial Port (RS232) and unfortunately the lap top I now have does not have such a port. I looked at lap tops that have a serial port and they start from £1,800. I decided to buy a device to convert from a serial to USB. The device I needed was with a FT232B or FT232R chipset. Research came up with a few and further research concluded that this would be the best quality, though not the cheapest.I have a laptop with Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit) and it recognised the device. I just had to do into System properties>device manager>ports>USB serial and then go into properties and change the COM Port number to "com 4" and cnage the "latency time" to "2" as per instructed by Ross-Tech.Works perfectly !!

This USB to RS232 adapter is without a shadow of a doubt the best I have ever used, I have 4 of them stashed in various locations and whenever I see someone using an adapter that isn't one of these, I silently weep for them before making a recommendation.Reasons for my glowing review:- Drivers are easily available online as well as being provided on a CD.- I've yet to find a machine it won't work on.- COM retention - you will never have to check device manager again.- Very solid and well made.- Very long cable.- One of the rare instances of a serial adapter that works reliably.