Router & Wireless Adapter Compatibility

tammyf_17

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Oct 9, 2010
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18,510
I have a Netgear N router & a wireless G adapter in my laptop. Everything works fine for a while & then my adapter gets extremely hot & kicks off the internet connection on my laptop. If I remove the adapter & let it cool down it works fine for a while longer then it does the same thing again. I took it to a computer store & he said that nothing was wrong with my cpu. He suggested I get a cooling pad (which I never used before I needed the wireless adapter). So I got one but I keep having the same problem. I don't really know much about this type of stuff. Could it have anything to do with the router being N and the adapter being G????

Any insight would be much appreciated......
 
Is this a USB wireless G adapter? The kind that looks similar to a USB flash drive? Because if it is, these devices are notorious for overheating. And heat is the enemy of reliable wireless connections. Some USB wireless adapters are obviously worse than others. But I still try to avoid them as much as possible.
 
If the laptop has a PCMCIA/PC Card slot, I'd buy a new wireless adapter in that format . Netgear cards are fine, in my experience, but the USB wireless adapters are not so good.