Hello all, I'll try to keep this short and simple. As stated above I've a couple questions regarding connection issues and USB WiFi adapters.
So the big question is, are USB WiFi adapters very inconsistent and or die after a while, or can the WiFi adapter eventually kill your USB port, resulting in hindered internet data transfer?
Because right now I'm experiencing some connection problems such as dropped signals, internet speeds tanking from what is supposed to be 50+ mbps down to as low as under 1mbps down. I know a wired connection is the way to go for desktops but the modem is currently two floors beneath me in our just finished but very cluttered basement/bat cave.
My internet connection is through Xfinity, and we have the 50+ Blast connection speed, so naturally I wen't and purchased a USB WiFi adapter that was suited for that speed. I currently have a Netgear N900 Dual Band USB WiFi adapter. It's worked fine for almost a year but I've been having issues for the last two weeks.
At first I thought maybe Comcast was throttling my connection for some reason as I do watch many Youtube channels in the evening, and or watching twitch streams/playing games, but I found that none of my other devices were having these issues. I installed the internet speed test utility on my android phone to test the wireless reception throughout my home and indeed the connection is a bit slower in my room on the second floor, but not that much slower, averaging about 25-35mbps two floors above the modem on my phone. So I tested the connection downstairs, full speed, exceeding 50mbps down.
With that being said I did a simple switcheroo, I plugged the WiFi adapter into another USB port and noticed that it performed better, at the very least not tanking down to below 1mbps download speed or giving me a ridiculous 200ms ping when I genrally average 11-15ms.
I'm guessing the answer to my problem is to suck it up and move my battlestation downstairs and endure the clutter and mess for a while. But I would like to have the community's input on WiFi adapters and what not.
I've certainly had a few USB wifi adapters die on me in my time, they're not exactly the most graceful device from an engineering standpoint, as RF transmission naturally generates quite a bit of heat. So the likely failure point is usually meltdown, especially the super tiny ones.
So yes it's possible that the adapter itself is failing, however as for the usb port, it seems odd that it would have an impact on that, as there are fail safes in place. The typical way to destroy a USB port is to short the power contacts, but as I said there should be prevention in place in any modern motherboard., and technically the serial data connection would still work.
Something that you could do rather than move everything, would be to use an old, or even new router in client mode. This will work by making the secondary router connect to the main router, at which point you basically have a wireless switch, which you can then use Ethernet from. Any recent router should have this functionality built in, and if not there's always custom firmwares like dd-wrt which will add it. It will likely have a better connection as well, since the radios in routers are just a bit more powerful with better antennas.
I personally have problems with my USB wifi adapter it drops signal randomly. I think it's just the nature of the device I haven't heard of any that are very reliable.
The first thing is, you should probably purchase a more powerful wireless router than the one that comes with the Comcast modem. Basically its about an n300 or n150 with no 5ghz band. You can get something decent for around $50, run an Ethernet cable to it and configure it in access point mode (or disable the built in routing function of the Comcast modem altogether if ap mode is nor possible).
There are many USB wireless adapters with different build qualities. In general the access point is going to have a larger effect on your throughput than the adapter on your PC. Check what channel your wireless is broadcasting on, then cycle between the other channels, chances are that will have a major effect on speed. The basement is probably the worst place for your access point, the antenna is omnidirectional so its mostly going iinto the ground. If you can't get an access point or a bridge with a directional antenna or add one via Ethernet, try to move the modem to another outlet I'd possible.
Annyway, as far as the USB adapter goes, check the specs and read the amazon reviews. You want an 802.11ac, or at least an n model with MIMO support. The whole thing with moving th e adapter to the other side of the computer and having it work better may not have anything to do with the ports actually it might just be the spot where the 2.4ghz waves are actually bouncing up to you. Best of luck mate!
Update: Thanks for your guys' input on the situation. The modem I have is the super fancy 200+ dollar motorola board. SO it's pretty substantial, its just a matter of the thing being in thebasement. I went ahead, sucked it up and cleaned the basement to preparefor the arrival of my battle station, even wen ahead and fixed up a new desk. For the future, I do see having more computers on the second floor, so I will more than likely do as BlueKoda suggested and set up a second router or replace the current modem with a more powerful one/ change it's location. with all that said thanks again for your input guys. Love this site.