$40 to Wi-Fi that old Laptop

If you’ve got an old notebook computer kicking around and don’t use it for much other than a word processor or for solitaire, Prismiq Inc. has come up with a cheap solution so you can hop up onto the interweb in all its Wi-Fi glory. The Mini-Fi is a USB 2.0 wireless 802.11b/g adapter that can easily breathe new life into an old laptop.

Prismiq says the gadget is only about the size of a pack of gum, and will be backwards compatible with all equipment running on 802.11b and 802.1b+. Although it’s marketed as a USB 2.0 device, it’ll also work on USB 1.1 ports. That’s right, you can kick it old school. It’ll do the whole 64-, 128-, and 256-bit WEP encryption dance too, in addition to WPA support.

In line with the whole backwards compatible gig, the Mini-Fi will work on Windows systems as old as 98SE (2000, ME, and XP are also supported). The best part? It’s only $39.95.