Extremely Low Speed/Constant Disconnects With All USB Wireless Adapters (Android Tethering Through USB Works)

JMGN

Honorable
Jun 12, 2013
4
0
10,510
I've been having severe issues with USB wireless adapters on this computer, and I've pretty much tried all of the suggestions I've seen on forums. I originally bought a TP-Link WN722N (two bars of signal strength), which worked pretty well for about a week or so before beginning to experience disconnection issues and painfully low speeds. I don't have great internet by any means (5 Mbps), but I was getting ~10kBps download speeds with that adapter. As a workaround, I disabled mobile data on my Galaxy SIII (one bar of signal strength), connected it to the access point, and tethered it via USB to my computer. When my computer is connected via the SIII, it shows that it is directly connected like it would be if I connected it to the modem with an ethernet cable. This solution worked flawlessly, but it was also extremely inconvenient for me. After a week or so of putting up with that, I purchased an ASUS USB-N53 (one bar of signal strength), which did nearly the exact same thing that the TP-Link adapter did. Once again, I've resorted to tethering my SIII to my PC to get any sort of decent connectivity.

I'm not sure what could be the cause here. With both adapters, I followed various troubleshooting methods (e.g. disabling the devices from being switched off while not in use, disabling IPv6, uninstalling the packaged utility and using the default Windows one, reinstalling/updating drivers, changing the USB port I used, alternating between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports) but to no avail. It's extremely frustrating because no other device in this house has had any issues with this router, nor did I before I got this computer and upgraded it to a functional condition. Neither my phone nor my laptop have any connection issues from the same location in my room, so it is very likely not an issue with the router itself or an issue with signal strength/interference. I'll be leaving for college on August 12, so the worst case scenerio is that I'm without reliable access until then. I'm actually not completely sure since this is my first year, but the rooms have internet connections via ethernet cable so it should work in theory. Thanks everyone!

System components (since the CPU is a little dated, I'll probably be upgrading to a 4770k in a month or two; the clean install that goes along with that might solve the issue regardless of if any advice given on here helps.):
OS: Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate
Motherboard: M5A88-V EVO
CPU: Phenom II X4 970
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1660 MHz
Graphics card: HIS IceQ HD 7950
Boot drive: Sandisk Ultra Plus 64Gb SSD
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1Tb HD
 

JMGN

Honorable
Jun 12, 2013
4
0
10,510
The laptop gets 1/5 bars of signal, and my SIII gets 1/4. Oh, and prior to these two I had an old Cisco AE1000 adapter that worked halfway well, but it eventually died due to overheating.
 

JMGN

Honorable
Jun 12, 2013
4
0
10,510
The TP-Link has an external antenna, but the others are just sticks. I haven't tried using an extension cable, and I'm not opposed to purchasing one if it would help. It just seems like the problems aren't consistent with an issue with signal strength considering that they occur regardless of the adapter and only on this computer.
 

JMGN

Honorable
Jun 12, 2013
4
0
10,510
The TP-Link actually got fairly decent reception, though. And I was considering one of those or a wireless bridge, but I was desperate and purchased the Asus on an impulse. There's a Microcenter around an hour away, so I'll probably head up there to get either a bridge or a PCI/PCI-e adapter. I'm somewhat more inclined to get the bridge than the PCI adapter since my computer will recognize the bridge the same way it does my tethered SIII (i.e. directly connected to a modem).