I have two USB wireless network adapters -- NetGear WG111v3 and TP-Link TL-WN725N -- that I often attach (one at a time) to a VM. The NetGear works flawlessly. The TP-Link will sometimes work but other times it generates an error and becomes unusable -- even by the host OS. The only remedy I have found is to un-plug / re-plug it.
I am using VMware Workstation 12 Player, version 12.5.0 build-4352439. Both the host and guest OS are Windows 7, 64 bit. The TP-Link is hardware version 2.
When the TP-Link fails, it no longer shows up in the host OS Device Manager. On vague advice from Stack Overflow, I have disabled "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" on the TP-Link USB Adapter Properties. This had no effect. I have contacted TP-Link and they have apparently reproduced the issue but are directing me to vmware. So: is this something I can fix or work around with vmware settings?
Thanks,
-Steve