Is USB wireless evil?

bremen1874 · 6 Apr 2010 at 01:34

From time-to-time I get asked to look at problematic home networks.

It always seems to involve desktop PCs with USB wireless dongles.

Desktop connections using standard CAT5 or powerline/homeplug connections don’t seem to have the same problems.

PCI wireless cards also seem to be reliable, but they’re fairly rare so the sample is small.

Also, laptops with built-in wireless seem to be fairly trouble free.

Given the problems I’ve seen I’d never recommend a USB wireless connection for a desktop PC. Has anyone had a similar experience?

s0ck · 6 Apr 2010 at 01:53

...or powerline adapters running wifi to a PC sitting less than a metre away from the socket :confused:

dandos23 · 6 Apr 2010 at 02:30

I have a fair bit of trouble with my pci card while my usb adapter is normally fine.

errata · 6 Apr 2010 at 02:48

PCI cards are often badly compromised by aerials and steelwork all round them which is when i whip out the handy usb dongle with a proper lead and aerial or homeplug.

So wifi is eveil but not specifically usb over pci provided you can get the drivers

Roland0 · 6 Apr 2010 at 07:25

evil in that newbies usually seem to own them, and they are always really cheap USB sticks (Belkin usually) on the very edge of the wireless range, connected to a malware riddled XP box.

SupermotoMX · 6 Apr 2010 at 12:56

sorry to steal the topic but, when i used to use a wireless USB dongle (belkin G) in my desktop it would always steal around 20% of the cpu, whilst idle without it and using net cable was around 3%

wakayoda · 6 Apr 2010 at 13:06

FoxEye · 6 Apr 2010 at 13:45

I never considered power-line homeplug networking when I de-wired my front room (where the main PC lives).

How good are they?

But to answer the OP, I've found PCI cards to be worse than USB dongles - at least the dongles where you get an extension cord and can move it away from the back of the PC. There just seems to be a lot of interference with PCI cards.

bremen1874 · 6 Apr 2010 at 17:23

In my experience HomePlug adapters (Devolo ones at least) work very well.

The only obvious downside is the relatively high cost.

reflux · 6 Apr 2010 at 17:27

I bought a £10 USB wireless adaptor from here but can't get it to connect at home in my room. I'm thinking it's because the aerial inside is too small.

Mattus · 7 Apr 2010 at 01:43

I always presumed that the USB ones would be worse, purely because the aerial has to be much smaller.

bremen1874 · 7 Apr 2010 at 02:33

When I come across problematic USB wireless connections the signal strength doesn’t usually seem to be the problem.

I’ve had PCs that wouldn’t keep a reliable connection when the router was a couple of metres away in the same room. In these situations I’ve almost always been able to get a rock solid connection from my laptop.

It is very often Belkin kit causing the problems. It may well be that this is a more important factor than the USB connection itself?