Question Suggestions For A Fast, Reliable USB WiFi Adapter?

[dragonborn123]

I recently bought a Netgear A8000 because I saw it on a couple of lists of the best WiFi adapters, but while I quite liked it most of the time (especially the cradle), I had all sorts of problems with it disconnecting.

So instead of just looking at tech publications, I thought I'd ask actual users if there's any models you'd recommend. I'm on Windows 10, gigabit connection. I'd ideally love something that comes with a cradle or extension cord so I can place it on my desk instead of having the adapter itself jut out of the USB port and inevitably get jostled/bumped and disconnected, but any suggestions are welcome.

 

[JohnMGotts]

Why not just buy a USB extension cable and put it where you want (away from the CPU case?)

 

[lantis3]

How far is your PC from the wifi router? What is your ISP subscription speed? What is your router model?

What's the link connection speed showed and actual speed test result? The reason you were satisficed even if it disconnects?

Any corner turnings/obstacles to where your location is? A lot of different issues can cause disconnects.

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Products with good ratings

Archer TX20U Plus AX1800
https://www.amazon.com/USB-WiFi-6-Adapter-for-desktop-PC/dp/B0B5YPK9L1

Wavlink AX5400
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW2ZTYM2?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1

Archer TX21UH AX1800
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Archer-TX21UH-Wireless-Supports/dp/B0BZJRXT7X

Wavlink AC1900
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-1900Mbps-Wireless-Antennas-Supports/dp/B094NB9RN6

 

[bill001g]

Don't know what to suggest the one you have is suppose to be one of the better ones. The only thing strange that stands out is it does not support 160mhz channels even on the 6ghz band. They is the key feature that makes wifi6e faster.

This though has nothing to do with disconnects.

I would do the standard try the different radio bands 2.5,5 and 6 if your router also is wifi6e. It might just be one channel that your house likes to block or there might be a lot of interference.

USB is tricky there is a lot of trash. The one you have is designed for a desktop machine so it should be full power. Those tiny USB sticks you get for $5 many times only put out 1/4 the allowed power. It was not obvious what the FCC id is for the product so I could not dig around the fcc site to get the transmit power and they don't list it in any of the data. I strongly suspect it uses maximum legal power.

 

[dragonborn123]

How far is your PC from the wifi router? What is your ISP subscription speed? What is your router model?

What's the link connection speed showed and actual speed test result? The reason you were satisficed even if it disconnects?

Any corner turnings/obstacles to where your location is? A lot of different issues can cause disconnects.

---

Products with good ratings

Archer TX20U Plus AX1800
https://www.amazon.com/USB-WiFi-6-Adapter-for-desktop-PC/dp/B0B5YPK9L1

Wavlink AX5400
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW2ZTYM2?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1

Archer TX21UH AX1800
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Archer-TX21UH-Wireless-Supports/dp/B0BZJRXT7X

Wavlink AC1900
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-1900Mbps-Wireless-Antennas-Supports/dp/B094NB9RN6

I'm on a different level a couple rooms over, but it's a pretty open floor plan. Definitely some twists and turns. Certainly not super close, but it's been serviceable for all my other devices.

Gigabit internet, usually got 100-200 mb down with the current adapter. I was mostly satisfied with it because the speed was reasonable, the latency was usually excellent (~20 ms), and the disconnects were pretty infrequent, maybe once a day (usually a couple minutes after waking from sleep).

 

[dragonborn123]

Don't know what to suggest the one you have is suppose to be one of the better ones. The only thing strange that stands out is it does not support 160mhz channels even on the 6ghz band. They is the key feature that makes wifi6e faster.

This though has nothing to do with disconnects.

I would do the standard try the different radio bands 2.5,5 and 6 if your router also is wifi6e. It might just be one channel that your house likes to block or there might be a lot of interference.

USB is tricky there is a lot of trash. The one you have is designed for a desktop machine so it should be full power. Those tiny USB sticks you get for $5 many times only put out 1/4 the allowed power. It was not obvious what the FCC id is for the product so I could not dig around the fcc site to get the transmit power and they don't list it in any of the data. I strongly suspect it uses maximum legal power.

The disconnect issue I've been running into is periodically (maybe once a day) the adapter will disconnect and won't reconnect until a restart. And not just lose signal, but unable to find any wifi network at all (including my neighbors who have a stronger signal in my location). On top of that my signal strength is generally fairly high.

I'm admittedly not the most knowledgeable here, but my experience with wifi disconnects due to distant from router has been short but frequent disconnects that automatically reconnect after a few seconds. This is the total opposite (very infrequent disconnects that require resetting the adapter to fix), which seems more likely hardware related to me.

 

[bill001g]

If it requires a restart it is not simple interference. Those most times reconnect themselves.

What happens if you unplug/plug the wifi adapter from the computer does that allow you to connect.

It is acting like there is a hardware or maybe a driver issue.

 

[dragonborn123]

If it requires a restart it is not simple interference. Those most times reconnect themselves.

What happens if you unplug/plug the wifi adapter from the computer does that allow you to connect.

It is acting like there is a hardware or maybe a driver issue.

If I unplug and plug it back in, it will work as long as it's a different USB port. I suspected that might be power saving or selective suspend at play, but I disabled both (disabled power saving on both the USB port and the adaptor itself) and it still occurred. It will also generally start working again if I either disable and reenable the adaptor or use the troubleshooter to restart it.

The wrinkle is that only a restart will make it work consistently. If I reset the adapter without a restart, it'll often lose connection again within 10 minutes while a restart will make it work all day (until the next time I sleep/hibernate the pc and boot it the next morning).

I've tried reinstalling the driver and installing the latest driver, but didn't see much in terms of results.

 

[bill001g]

Lets say there is some issue other than your particular device being defective in some way. The problem is none of the brands of wifi adapters actually make the wifi chips or even write the drivers. There are two or three big wifi chipset vendors most thing you see are made by mediatek or broadcom. Intel tends to make the best wifi chipset but you don't see them in USB often.

Key here the brand on the outside of the product means little. Netgear,linksys,asus...etc etc and even the unknown china brands all buy the wifi chips from the same small group of manufactures. If they are using the same chipset they will pretty much be the same device.

Mostly the difference is going to be the sticker on the outside of the box. Now there can be difference in the size and placement of antenna that can make a big difference in the performance.

So if there is some generic issue with the chipset in the device you have all devices with a similar chipset will have the same problems. You would have to get a device that uses a completely different chipset.

I doubt it is generic issue more likely some issue with the particular device you have. You almost could buy exactly the same brand and it might work fine. Have you checked with the vendor for a warranty

Maybe try the device on another pc if you can. Intermittenent errors are such a pain to test.

 

[dragonborn123]

Lets say there is some issue other than your particular device being defective in some way. The problem is none of the brands of wifi adapters actually make the wifi chips or even write the drivers. There are two or three big wifi chipset vendors most thing you see are made by mediatek or broadcom. Intel tends to make the best wifi chipset but you don't see them in USB often.

Key here the brand on the outside of the product means little. Netgear,linksys,asus...etc etc and even the unknown china brands all buy the wifi chips from the same small group of manufactures. If they are using the same chipset they will pretty much be the same device.

Mostly the difference is going to be the sticker on the outside of the box. Now there can be difference in the size and placement of antenna that can make a big difference in the performance.

So if there is some generic issue with the chipset in the device you have all devices with a similar chipset will have the same problems. You would have to get a device that uses a completely different chipset.

I doubt it is generic issue more likely some issue with the particular device you have. You almost could buy exactly the same brand and it might work fine. Have you checked with the vendor for a warranty

Maybe try the device on another pc if you can. Intermittenent errors are such a pain to test.

Really good insight on the chipset. I suppose I could look into a broadcom adapter perhaps? At least try something a little different.

And yes, I reached out to the vendor and they told me to RMA it, but I was likely going to return it via Amazon instead if I can (the Netgear RMA requires paying for my own shipping and I wouldn't get a replacement for several days). I might be able to test it on another machine of mine, but all my other devices are Windows 11 while this one is Windows 10 (CPU is not supported by Windows 11) so it may not be apples to apples. Definitely a huge pain though.

 

[bill001g]

It all depends on how often it happens. What you can likely do is run a linux boot image from USB. Most linux images have wifi drivers built in. Since they run from USB and do not damage your windows install they are kinda limited, if you work at it you could install more apps on the USB. They almost all contain a browser.

So it all depends on if you can actually use the computer for anything useful for long enough to be sure you do not get the failure...or you do.

If you are looking for a new device you want a similar one. Large external antenna and a way to mount it away from the computer case.

If you can find ones that use intel chipset that is your best option...mostly you see intel on pcie cards.

Also check that it support 160mhz channel width on 6ghz. It is silly to buy something that only support 80mhz. There tends to be little to no difference in the cost. On 5ghz band it doesn't matter as much since all the limitations on using restricted radio channels make it very hard get 160mhz bands and even if you do every other person near you is using the same 160mhz block.