USB Power Surge and Network Card

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Amber144

Commendable
Mar 11, 2016
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Network Connectivity Issue:Inspiron 15 3552, Network Adapter 1707 802.11b/g/n
I have lost the ability to connect to my network (and thus the internet and email) unless I am very close to the network router, when all house occupants can easily connect. The network signal strength is typically only 1 or 2 bars and my desktop can't make the connection. The error message is 'can't connect to this network'. Long story short: I think this is related to a recent USB port power surge which happened when my dog knocked my computer off a table and my wireless mouse device in one of the USB ports got jammed into it. I uninstalled and reinstalled USB hubs etc and now use only the other USB port since the one with the power surge is damaged and unusable. Re. the network adapter I have tried everything save for a full reset of the computer. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the driver, did a network reset, changed network adapter settings for maximum performance and have run virus and malware scans. Can a USB power surge issue affect the network adapter installed on the motherboard. If so, what options are there to improve connectivity save for a full factory reset of my PC? Would a USB network adapter or dongle help? Would other wireless extenders to improve signal strength/connection from where my computer is located (at any given time when not next to the router) help or would that be the same as a USB adapter/dongle? If replacing the installed network adapter altogether is the best option, what is recommended (I have seen of dell forums that this particular adapter is notoriously slow). And lastly, is a factory reset as 'drastic' as many articles say it is or should I be less wary of this? I am mostly concerned that I read that if the process is interrupted it could leave the system unstable, and given the iffiness of my network connection, I am worried about that. I can't afford a large budget to fix this but can spend maybe $100. Any suggestions or help is very much appreciated. Thank you!

Amber
 
Solution
Ralston18
Factory reset is not likely to be beneficial as doing a factory reset is very much software and configuration related.

As I understand your post it appears that one USB port on the Inspiron is physically damaged.

Leaving only one working USB port when you need two: one USB port for wireless network connectivity and a second USB port for the wireless mouse USB "device".

Are you able to test the wireless USB adapter and the wireless mouse USB device on other computers to verify that each respective USB device is working?

My thought is that you may be able to purchase a USB hub that would permit you to use the one functioning Inspiron USB port to serve multiple USB devices. The hub may need to be separately powered. Bit of a nuisance...
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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Factory reset is not likely to be beneficial as doing a factory reset is very much software and configuration related.

As I understand your post it appears that one USB port on the Inspiron is physically damaged.

Leaving only one working USB port when you need two: one USB port for wireless network connectivity and a second USB port for the wireless mouse USB "device".

Are you able to test the wireless USB adapter and the wireless mouse USB device on other computers to verify that each respective USB device is working?

My thought is that you may be able to purchase a USB hub that would permit you to use the one functioning Inspiron USB port to serve multiple USB devices. The hub may need to be separately powered. Bit of a nuisance but at least functional barring other problems.

Reference:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-powered-nonpowered-usb-hubs-71272.html

There are other similar links to be found by googling "powered and unpowered usb hubs".

Hopefully the damage is limited to the USB adapters themselves. If you can prove that they work (on other computers) then the problems you have are internal to your Inspiron.

If the adapters fail to work on other computers then try to borrow another known working USB network adapter and/or mouse adapter to try on your Inspiron. If the borrowed devices work then your Inspiron is likely to be okay. If not then further repairs are likely to be needed.

Key is to methodically work through the USB ports and devices very methodically to identify what is and is not working.


 
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Solution
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Amber144

Commendable
Mar 11, 2016
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1,510


Thank you, Ralston. The network adaptor is not a USB wireless adaptor but is installed internally. I was wondering if the USB power surge could have affected the internal wireless adaptor, which was my primary question.

A friend has agreed today to take a look at the motherboard/network card for me to see if the connectivity issue is hardware related. I may also buy a USB wireless adaptor to test it in the one working USB port to see if that helps with my network connection in my home, depending on the results of the hardware check to be done tomorrow.

I am OK (for now) with one working USB port and will take the suggestions you made to my friend to address as well. It will be nice to have two working USB ports/hub.

My thought is that after these 2 steps (check the motherboard, and test a USB adapter at home), that then the factory reset would be the next step, although I still really don't want to do it, but I am at my wits end. I've considered a wifi extender as well but the others I live with insist that there is nothing wrong with the wifi in the house, it must be my computer, and work it out yourself (smiles and frowns here at the same time :) ) If you have any other suggestions, please share, otherwise, thank you very much for your help!



 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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You seem to be on track. Just help your friend methodically work through the troubleshooting and narrow down the possible problem or problems.

And do be sure to back up as much data as you can before doing anything. May or may not be viable.

Power surges are never a good thing and the resulting damage unpredictable beyond the stronger surges generally doing more damage. Much like lightning strikes and home electronics.....

Only do a factory reset if warranted. A factory reset will return software configurations to their default settings which you may need to again reconfigure to your system/laptop's requirements. The factory reset might identify and mark off damaged drive sectors that otherwise would remain corrupted and accessible.

However, very unlikely that a factory reset will fix physical damage per se.

Then again, some partially damaged component might hit its' final threshold and subsequently fail with continued use.

Again use other tools (e.g., disk management) to start with. Reserve the factory reset as a last resort. Good luck.
 
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