Question Please recommend fast wifi usb device that is fully compatible with Windows 10 and Linux

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
A

anandtechreader

Senior member
Apr 12, 2018
293
5
81
Hi, my motherboard does not have wifi.

I have a Panda PAU0A AC600 Dual Band Wireless AC USB Adapter. It supports 150Mbps 2.4GHz and 433Mbps 50GHz. I plugged it into a new DIY PC and performed Windows updates. It was slow. Even downloading driver for Logitech mouse was slow. I saw the completion number going up one by one. What do you think?

Could you please recommend fast wifi usb device that is fully compatible with Windows 10 and Linux? Having big antenna is OK if it is better in performance and stability. I may upgrade the router of my home network in the near future so very high speed that is future proof is desirable. I prefer not to get PCI ones. Thanks
 
Last edited:
VirtualLarry

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,571
10,206
126
What speed is your internet connection? And what router are you using? Is it an AC router? Are you connecting to the 2.4Ghz SSID, or the 5Ghz SSID?

Have you gone to www.speedtest.net and done a speedtest? What are the results?
 
A

anandtechreader

Senior member
Apr 12, 2018
293
5
81
Thanks. My current router's model is: Sagemcom Fast 5250. Is such router a bit out of date? Few months ago, my ISP mentioned that they now have faster router/network that I could update to. Is it advisable to upgrade it in the near future? Probably good to get a device that is faster than my current router so that it is future proof in case I upgrade my network later.

https://www.speedguide.net/routers/sagemcom-fst-5250-adslvdsl-ftth-wireless-router-3715

From Windows, I got the following properties:
802.11n
2.4Gz

How to switch to 5Gz?

As for speedtest, the results are:

My new i9-9900K Windows PC:
PING 11ms, Download Mbps 32.21, Upload Mbps 9.03

10 years old MacBook Pro connected to the same home network:
PING 41ms, Download Mbps 35.17, Upload Mbps 10.45

How come the 10 years old MBP has better download and upload performance than the latest much more powerful PC?
 
P

piasabird

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
17,168
60
91
I use an Edimax AC600 USB 2.0 dual band adapter with no antenna and I get 5 full bars of signal strength from my ISP supplied router. The router has both ac and 5g and I connected to the 5G channel. When I go to wireless I can see both channels options of my wireless router and I select the 5G option.

I have no clue if this will work in Linux or not. My adapter/s are 2 years old but I just built a new computer with an i5 8400 and installed Win 10 and plugged in the adapter and it worked without installing a driver. My adapters cost $30 dollars on Newegg today. They also had a newer USB 3.0 1200 ac adapter but it is like $50 or so. I plugged my USB 2.0 adapter into a USB 3.0 port and it worked just fine.

If you are using DSL then that might slow you down. I just checked the speed between My Desktop and my Router. Whatever your ISP is doing might be slowing you down. They could be limiting bandwidth.
 
Last edited:
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
126
Your Sagemcom Fast 5250 is a DSL router.

PDF manual for 5260, should be similar to 5250.
https://d15yx0mnc9teae.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/sup_F5260UserGuide15Apr17-1493911320.pdf

Windows Update is slow, and you download test result was 32 to 35Mbps. You never mentioned your DSL subscription speed, it probably has nothing to do with your Wi-Fi. The speed also depends on the distance between your PC and router & signal strength.

Seems no good Wi-Fi & Bluetooth combo adapter that can work in Windows & Linux since they provide different functionality.

Wi-Fi is for networking yet Bluetooth is for connecting accessories.

Use existing Wi-Fi adapter and buy a bluetooth adapter separately that work in Windows & Linux like this search result.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=bluetooth+adapter+linux&rh=i:aps,k:bluetooth+adapter+linux
 
Last edited:
A

anandtechreader

Senior member
Apr 12, 2018
293
5
81
Had a chat with my ISP. They told me that my router only supports 25Mbps @2.4GHz. It does not support 5GHz. If I pay more, I get 50Mbps. They said that even with the PAU0A, I cannot get 150Mbps at 2.4GHz as the router is the bottleneck. Is there a noticeable difference if I upgrade to 50Mbps?

A strange thing is that I tried a new dongle that supports 400Mbps at 2.4GHz and 867Mbps at 5GHz. Under Windows 10, I got 144.5Mbps when connected to 2.4GHz. When I switched to 5GHz, I got 867Mbps which is the top speed of the dongle. If my router does not support 5GHz, why I saw a big improvement in speed when switched to 5GHz and I even got top advertised speed? Know what is going on?

To find the speed, I used: ”ncpa.cpl”, right click the “Wi-Fi/Wireless network connection” and then chose Status.
 
Last edited:
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
126
2.4GHz & 5.0Gz are frequencies, not speed/bandwidth/data rate in Mbps (Mega bits per second).

No matter how fast your router Wi-Fi speed/bandwidth/data rate is, when you go online, it's always limited by your subscription speed/bandwidth/data rates from your ISP.

The new dongle you buy that connects at 400Mbps at 2.4GHz and 867Mbps at 5GHz is it's max (in optimal short distance, no interference wireless condition) LAN (local area network, when devices/pcs talk to each other) speed, not the WAN speed you can get from your ISP.

Think of your ISP subscription speed is 0.5" water pipe, yet you got 2" water pipes inside your house.

Really can't tell what your modem gateway Sagecom 5250 top Wi-Fi speed is, couldn't find any spec/document on the internet.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: anandtechreader
A

anandtechreader

Senior member
Apr 12, 2018
293
5
81
mxnerd said:
2.4GHz & 5.0Gz are frequencies, not speed/bandwidth/data rate in Mbps (Mega bits per second).

No matter how fast your router Wi-Fi speed/bandwidth/data rate is, when you go online, it's always limited by your subscription speed/bandwidth/data rates from your ISP.

The new dongle you buy that connects at 400Mbps at 2.4GHz and 867Mbps at 5GHz is it's max (in optimal short distance, no interference wireless condition) LAN (local area network, when devices/pcs talk to each other) speed, not the WAN speed you can get from your ISP.

Think of your ISP subscription speed is 0.5" water pipe, yet you got 2" water pipes inside your house.

Really can't tell what your modem gateway Sagecom 5250 top Wi-Fi speed is, couldn't find any spec/document on the internet.
Click to expand...


I will call ISP again. What kind of info should I get from them? "Modern gateway top WIFI speed"?
 
A

anandtechreader

Senior member
Apr 12, 2018
293
5
81
Perhaps I should double check the speed of my internet subscription?

Why both 2.4G and 5G are on by default? I wonder which one is used automatically. Should I turn off 2.4G and just leave 5G on all the time?
 
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
126
Many users still have smartphones/tablets/laptops that only supports 2.4G , that's why.

If you are sure all of your devices support 5G, of course you can turn 2.4G off.

Usually 802.11n 2.4Hz top speed is 150/300Mbps. Yet 802.11ac 5GHz speed starts with 433Mbps.
 
Fallen Kell

Fallen Kell

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,174
516
126
If you don't mind taking up some space, you should look at the Alfa AWUS1900. It has excellent range, is compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10, MacOS X, and linux (including full driver support for monitor mode under linux which most wifi devices do not).
 
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
126
Make water pipes bigger inside the house will not increase water flow from outside, it's wasting money.
 
A

anandtechreader

Senior member
Apr 12, 2018
293
5
81
My ISP gave me an offer to upgrade the speed of the router from 25Mbps to 50Mbps for free. Does that help a lot?
 
Last edited:
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
126
anandtechreader said:
My ISP gave me a free offer to upgrade the speed of the router from 25Mbps to 50Mbps. Does that help a lot?
Click to expand...
Of course it helps. It doubles the download speed, doesn't it? If definitely helps when downloading files.

For browsing and watching Youtube, even 25Mbps is more than enough, however. No need to change your USB dongle.

I'm still on 30Mbps (hovering just above 20Mbps in real world) and it works pretty good for me.
 
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
126
Online game servers have to keep streaming videos to your machine and that require bigger pipe.

How big? I have no idea. I don't play games at all.

You have to find out yourself.
 
A

anandtechreader

Senior member
Apr 12, 2018
293
5
81
mxnerd said:
Online game servers have to keep streaming videos to your machine and that require bigger pipe.

How big? I have no idea. I don't play games at all.

You have to find out yourself.
Click to expand...

Why they stream videos to the machine? Can't we do it the old way by installing the game on the computer first and then play?
 
aigomorla

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
21,042
3,522
126
mxnerd said:
Online game servers have to keep streaming videos to your machine and that require bigger pipe.
Click to expand...

well its not streaming video's, its more like streaming data constantly.

And in most cases, all the files are preloaded on your machine, that is why games are becoming gigantic whales in data sizes, some going as large as 120GB with all the pretty HiDef / RayTracing! shadders added.

whats the most important for online games tho is Latency...
Not just your latency in network, but your latency to the servers.
And sometimes that just is beyond your control, especially if you live in a state where net neutrality has no control on what ISP's decide to put on the slow lane.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom