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USB antenna for laptop

2K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  oldyellr 
#1 ·
Typically my Dell laptop, Win 7, has a WiFi connection to my router of
Ping 2 ms, Download 84.0 Mbps, Upload 19.3 Mbps.
Recently that dropped to
Ping 140 ms, Download 1.4 Mbps, Upload 15.6 Mbps.
I've rebooted everything. It's not my router or Internet because all other devices using the WiFi are not affected. So I think it's the internal antenna, and not wanting to dig inside, I've ordered a USB antenna that's arriving next week. Is this just plug-and-play using the disc that comes with it, or do I first have to disable anything in Device Manager?
 
#2 ·
your not ordering a usb antenna ,your likely ordering a USB Network Adaptor that happens to have an antenna too. its recognized as a network card in your computer so yes you can disable the built in one if u want, go for it, were not going to stop you
 
#3 ·
Try installing inssider and look at your local environment to see who all is having the same frequency band wifi as you.
You might just need to change channels or get on a different frequency band.
 
#4 ·
... Dell laptop, Win 7, has a WiFi connection ...
Maybe a new laptop would be a better investment. Not knowing the laptop model, I would guess that it is limited to IEEE 802.11g so a speed of 84.0 Mbps would be very good and would require an extremely good signal. It would also be good for an IEEE 802.11n connection. As majortom suggested, I would be double checking the laptop's wifi configuration, looking at the wifi band and channel in use and using wifi analyzer software to diagnose any interference or signal issues.
 
#5 ·
Maybe a new laptop would be a better investment.
The laptop is fine. It's a Dell Latitude E6420 I bought used 4 years ago and upgraded to 8 GB ram and a 1 TB hard drive. This change just happened a couple of days ago. It will get a download speed of 233 Mbps at the ONT via ethernet cable (250 advertised) so I suspect the internal network card or antenna has gone bad.
 
#6 ·
Doesn't have to be the wifi adapter itself. All sorts of things can go wrong. Something in the laptop itself could have failed,
causing the signal quality to degrade. Or something else nearby could have caused it. Regardless, you probly won't get to the bottom of it until you use a tool that can measure the signal strength and signal quality. At least not without shotgunning, which is not a preferred method of troubleshooting anything. Should be plenty of SW choices available.
 
#8 ·
I tried the USB WiFi adapter with no improvement, so uninstalled it. In desperation I took the laptop to my local computer store. The tech did a speed test and found it acceptable, so I was back to square 1. At home I looked at it and saw he had used Chrome and Shaw Speedtest whereas I always use Firefox and https://speedtest.execulink.ca/ (my ISP). So I tried Chrome and the Shaw test and the difference was remarkable.

This is what I'm seeing right now:

Firefox, Execulink test - Ping 143 ms, Download 1.8 Mbps, Upload 9.4 Mbps

Firefox, Shaw test - Ping 98, Download 27.9, Upload 3.7

Chrome, Execulink test - PING 3 ms, DOWNLOAD 90.8 Mbps, UPLOAD 18.8 Mbps

Chrome, Shaw test - PING 27, DOWNLOAD 91.6, UPLOAD 19.1

So it looks like there's maybe nothing wrong with my laptop, but Firefox and the Execulink speed test are no longer getting along together and I think FF is the culprit. I have Firefox 88.0.1 (64-bit). I've also had problems signing in to My Rogers with Firefox lately, as have others.
 
#9 ·
It looks like the Dell Latitude E6420 supports 802.11n so it should get up to 150Mbps to the router under ideal conditions. As for Firefox, they tend to go a bit overboard at times with security and privacy restrictions which can breaks things. I've found is that add-ons and extensions can cause problems, especially after browser updates. Removing and adding them again will often resolve the issue. Extensions sometimes become obsolete or poorly supported and need to be switched to another extension that works better. Disable or remove any add-ons or extensions that are not being used.
 
#10 ·
My Internet service is supposed to be 250 Mbps and I get 233 Mbps via Ethernet cable at the GigaHub ONT and 232 Mbps via Ethernet at the router. My D-Link DIR-867 router sits on the edge of a heating duct in the middle of the house, so getting 80-90 Mbps on this laptop about 22' away through a couple of walls seems reasonable.

As for Firefox, yes, I have a load of add-ons and extensions. I think I can reset it to disable them, so long as they are still there and not deleted.
 
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