How do USB adapter speeds work?

Iver Hicarte

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May 7, 2016
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So I'm looking for a wifi adapter online, and I see these fast usb adapters speeds like 150 mbps. So how does this work? Does the wifi adapater have the ability to offer the 150 mbps speed or is it just the limit for the speed that the wifi adapter can offer? By the way, I have a 20 mbps net speed so what usb adapter can you recommend me to buy?

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!
 
Solution
Those are not actually speeds....in the sense your common person thinks of them. It more represents the way the data is encoded into the radio signal. It is some theoretical number that can never be obtained in real life because it ignore important details like a device needs to transmit as well as receive. Still the more data you can put in the radio signal generally means you get more total throughput.....just not the huge numbers they are saying.

It also depends on your router. If your router does not support say 802.11ac then it does no good to buy a fancy USB nic that does because it will just drop down to the older line encoding.

Most people have dual band routers that support 802.11ac now days. The most common ones...
with 20 mbps you wont go anywhere with better adapter. you should be fine with:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-320-343&cm_re=wifi%20adapter-_-33-320-343-_-Product&cm_sp=SearchSuccess-_-INFOCARD-_-wifi%20usb-_-33-320-343
but go around the house with:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en_GB
and check how good signal you have.
if it goes down to -70 or lower on your phone than you might need:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6PF5KV7792&cm_re=wifi_usb-_-9SIA6PF5KV7792-_-Product
to pull your antena somewhere with better range.

just make sure its AC and both 5 Ghz and 2.4Ghz for speed and reusability.
in small home 5 Ghz is great as its almost twice as fast, but have poor range...
 
Those are not actually speeds....in the sense your common person thinks of them. It more represents the way the data is encoded into the radio signal. It is some theoretical number that can never be obtained in real life because it ignore important details like a device needs to transmit as well as receive. Still the more data you can put in the radio signal generally means you get more total throughput.....just not the huge numbers they are saying.

It also depends on your router. If your router does not support say 802.11ac then it does no good to buy a fancy USB nic that does because it will just drop down to the older line encoding.

Most people have dual band routers that support 802.11ac now days. The most common ones say they are 1200...this is 300 on 2.4g and aprox 900 on 5g. Cost wise a USB adapter that is rated the same is not much more expensive than really basic ones. You want to match the device you buy to your routers abilities.

USB adapters are much harder to get good information. They are primarily used on portable equipment where size and power are much more important that the speed. If you are using this on a desktop you are much more concerned about speed and the transmit power of the device

Avoid those tiny little adapters. They tend to be low power and have small antenna made worse by being so close to the metal case which blocks even more signal. The adapter that work well on desktop generally are plugged into USB extension cable to allow you place them on top where you get more signals.
 
Solution