Subject line says it all really - searching around I see that some people have had success with Belkin, others with D-Link parts, but there always seems to be some caveat or other, and most of the threads I find are a year or so old.

Is there more current information out there than what I've found? What is the best USB-based wireless adapter for a Uphuck 10.4.9 1.4i based install?

Many thanks,

Loccy

Im not using uphuck yet,
but my WLAN Pluscom(£8) work fine with any os...

Can you give me a bit more info - model number/supplier?

(especially as I am in London also!)

I don't know the best USB wireless adapter. But I recommend you to use USB wireless device that has been tested with Mac OS X. And make sure it has universal driver. I'm using LevelOne WNC-0301USB wireless adapter (H/W Version 3) with RaLink USB driver.

Is there ANY usb wifi out there that uses the native airport system? I mean pretty much anything based on the Ralink drivers works fine, but would really like to see something that utilizes the airport menus and controls.

I second that.
I have Ralink USB and it's a pain to hot plug it each time after boot, as the "replug" driver doesn't work for me.
Airport would be much more convinient...

I have the Intel wireless in my laptop - waiting for a driver to be developed (should be soon).
In the meantime, I've found a few inexpensive solutions:

1. The Trendnet TEW-424UB Wireless USB 2.0 adapter uses the RTL8187B_WLAN_Adapter drivers, available here:
ftp://152.104.238.19/cn/wlan/87B_Mac10.4_v1117.zip
I got the dongle on sale at MicroCenter for $8.99 after rebate:
(Go to microcenter.com and search for Trendnet USB - you'll see it in the results.)

2. I have a little Gigafast WF-748CUI that works with ZDA211MacUSB drivers (I used the 10.4 drivers, they work fine with 10.5)
I've seen a couple of them go on eBay for around 10 bucks or less

3. Several vendors on eBay is selling D-Link usb dongles that are Mac-compatible. Look for the ones with a starting price of 1 cent with $5 shipping. They usually end up selling for about 10 bucks or less. They also have buy-it-now ones with free shipping for about 18 bucks.

Hope one of these solutions works for you. My personal favorite is the Trendnet from microcenter. It works great and seems pretty fast.