Question Anyone actually test different USB wifi adapters?

boed · Nov 17, 2024

I've got a laptop and I think the wifi is glued to the daughterboard. I was curious if there are any of those little wifi usb adapters that get fast speeds on wifi 6? My laptop gets about 30mbps with an old intel wifi adapter - my phone and an old ipad get about 400mbps (ipad) 800 (phone). I'm sure I'd do better with an antenna unit or one that sticks out like and old thumb drive but I'd like a little one like the logitech units for keyboards and mice.

Thanks

PS it can be usb 3.x or usb C

Brainonska511 · Nov 17, 2024

At a curiosity, which Intel wifi card do you have? It would be somewhat surprising to get such bad Wi-Fi if you have a laptop with USB 3.x or USB C.

boed · Nov 17, 2024

I have an ax201 - lots and lots and lots of posts about how bad they are.

Brainonska511 · Nov 17, 2024

Surprising it's that bad. Are you using a 5Ghz network or a 2.4 GHz? (Mainly asking because of potential interference on the 2.4Ghz, or other slow devices slowing down the 2.4 GHz one, if it runs in a compatibility mode)

Do you have the last set of drivers installed for it?

Is it bad even if you are close to the router?

boed · Nov 17, 2024

Yes - latest drivers - just looking for usb dongles that are small and good - not trying to fix a defective chip.

Tech Junky · Nov 17, 2024

boed said:
ax201

You could bump to an AX210/211 or if you're running adl or higher the ax411 does pretty well too. Or if you're running w11 you could go for the be200.

They're all cheap to swap out. Usually only $20 or so depending on which you choose

boed · Nov 17, 2024

I believe the ax201 is attached using a biofuser to the daugherboard and it cannot be replaced. I've done it on other laptops - this one cannot be replaced easily due to the bond with the daughterboard.

Tech Junky · Nov 17, 2024

boed said:
I believe the ax201 is attached using a biofuser to the daugherboard and it cannot be replaced. I've done it on other laptops - this one cannot be replaced easily due to the bond with the daughterboard.

It's possible since they make 2-3 different versions of each. The xx1 usually indicates it's using the CPU for part of its functions where the x10 models are full function.

Like the ax411 is cnvio based similar to the xx1 based cards. If you pop it open and take a pic it's easy to figure out if it's removable or not.

boed · Nov 17, 2024

I don't think I need anyone to tell me if it is attached - I've already verified it is. What I'd like to know is if anyone has any benchmarks on nano - not large external but small units that barely go beyond the usb port for throughput.

Tech Junky · Nov 18, 2024

Well, it looks like it's hiding under the shielding in the upper left and that should be able to be peeled back and reveal it for replacement.

As to the nano adapters they should work fine as long as you're not expecting them to perform at high speeds at greater distances like your internal card would with the better antennas. I've used the nano adapters in the past for BT w/o issue. For WIFI though at the time they were like flash drive sized and worked fine as well.

It's interesting to see how LG has laid out their setup though.

boed · Nov 18, 2024

So I just got a little ax600 nano usb adapter - sadly it got even worse throughput then my laptop. I put a newer laptop next to it - it gets around 400mbps. My usb got about 10mbps. I might just get an old ruckus and set up a mesh for this computer.

JackMDS · Nov 18, 2024

Nanos has no real Antenna they decent in Coffee shop when you are few feet from the Transmitter.

Otherwise try this. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093FT3H7L

Tech Junky · Nov 18, 2024

boed said:
10mbps

could just be a bad driver. I've had issues with my BE card depending on which driver version is being used. Of course never settle for the MSFT one. The other thing that might be an issue is tweaking the bands it's using. Of course it would be slow if you put it into a USB 1/2 port as well.

I think the slowest wifi I ever had an issue with though was back in the day of PCMCIA cards.

boed · Nov 19, 2024

Thanks - just tested tha nano and got worse performance than my built in terrible wifi. I can use other devices in the same spot and get great performance.

sdifox · Saturday at 9:03 AM

Have you tried resetting the IP stack? Sometimes it gets corrupted and a reset can make problems go away.

netsh int ip reset
netsh winsock reset

What is the actual model of your laptop?

Question Anyone actually test different USB wifi adapters?

boed

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