Notebook USB WiFi Antenna

Loads of external usb wifi dongles with antennae.

Who can say how good they are? Perhaps a more pertinent question is how strong is your broadband wifi?

tjg79 said:

It varies. I'm in a hotel with weak WiFi. At home, I wouldn't use WiFi. I'd use a cable.

I'm looking for the best reception possible with weak WiFi.

Would you say that an external USB with antenna(s) beats the manufacturer's integrated antenna?

But surely in a hotel you do not use docking station?

In the end if hotel wifi is weak, an external usb will not really help much.

tjg79 said:

Would you say that an external USB with antenna(s) beats the manufacturer's integrated antenna?

I have one case of that but that's only because the computer maker, Chuwi, is awful.
My cheap USB WiFi adapter that has no external aerials has better performance than the built-in adapter & its aerial.


If you add a USB WiFi adapter then you can force a priority order of network adapters using the procedure in
Change Network Adapter Connection Priorities - TenForumsTutorials
So you could, if you wanted, connect the USB WifI, close your lid and wait a few moments for Windows to switch adaptor then re-connect the network.


Windows update will probably find and install the driver for the USB WiFi adapter.


All the best,
Denis

Helmut said:

"Would you say that an external USB with antenna(s) beats the manufacturer's integrated antenna?"

Depends - If the Laptop has a metal shell/lid whatever then the internal antennae may not work so well in certain directions.

In that case an external WiFi dongle with a USB dock and lead may improve things a lot as it can be moved around.

I have one of these - Netgear A6210 dual band 2x2. Comes with USB dock and cable.

A8000 is a three band WiFi 6E version.

Dual-Band USB 3.0 WiFi Adapter - A6210 | NETGEAR

"Do you need software for the installation?"

Yes, you need to download and install a small driver.

The small ones about the size of a USB plug do not have efficient antennae.

Yeah all true but no adapter really helps if the underlying wifi signal is too weak. Some hotels I have stayed at only have a single wifi router per floor (at best) and if you are in a room far away, signal is useless. In the end, you are better finding a local pub/cafe which will generally have much better signals.

Some hotels still have ethernet ports but pretty rare these days.

Wide-Coverage Dual-Band AC600 USB Wireless Wi-Fi Adapter w/ High-Sensitivity External Antenna 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology. Dual-Band 2.4GHz(150Mbps) and 5GHz(433Mbps)

Amazon.com

Long-Range Dual-Band AC1200 USB 3.0 Wi-Fi Adapter w/ 2X 5dBi External Antennas - 2.4GHz 300Mbps/5GHz 867Mbps - 802.11ac & A, B, G, N

Amazon.com

Or perhaps one designed for a desktop which might be an advantage because you're not tied to the USB port.

USB WiFi 6 Adapter AX1800 Long Range USB WiFi Adapter for PC Laptop Desktop 5GHz/1201Mbps + 2.4GHz/574Mbps Wireless USB WiFi Dongle with 2X High Gain Wi-Fi Antennas for Windows 11 / 10

https://www.amazon.com/BrosTrend-USB...s%2C154&sr=1-5

I'm looking at these. I'm thinking that in a case where the WiFi is weak due to distance from the access point, these USB plug-ins could possibly provide some improvement because of the verticle-style antenna.

I would think the 802.11ac a b g n would be the better choice. I'm not up to speed on the specs I should be selecting.

It looks like WiFi 6 devices, 802.11ax, are what I should be looking at.

802.11 Standards Explained: 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11b/g/n, 802.11a

Wireless Standards Explained: 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11b/g/n

tjg79 said:

Wide-Coverage Dual-Band AC600 USB Wireless Wi-Fi Adapter w/ High-Sensitivity External Antenna 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology. Dual-Band 2.4GHz(150Mbps) and 5GHz(433Mbps)

Amazon.com

Long-Range Dual-Band AC1200 USB 3.0 Wi-Fi Adapter w/ 2X 5dBi External Antennas - 2.4GHz 300Mbps/5GHz 867Mbps - 802.11ac & A, B, G, N

Amazon.com

Or perhaps one designed for a desktop which might be an advantage because you're not tied to the USB port.

USB WiFi 6 Adapter AX1800 Long Range USB WiFi Adapter for PC Laptop Desktop 5GHz/1201Mbps + 2.4GHz/574Mbps Wireless USB WiFi Dongle with 2X High Gain Wi-Fi Antennas for Windows 11 / 10

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I'm looking at these. I'm thinking that in a case where the WiFi is weak due to distance from the access point, these USB plug-ins could possibly provide some improvement because of the verticle-style antenna.

I would think the 802.11ac a b g n would be the better choice. I'm not up to speed on the specs I should be selecting.

It looks like WiFi 6 devices, 802.11ax, are what I should be looking at.

802.11 Standards Explained: 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11b/g/n, 802.11a

Wireless Standards Explained: 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11b/g/n

You will be lucky to get 2-10 mb/s in a hotel room with weak signal. Top of the range devices for high speeds are not going to help much. I would be surprised if many hotels even have wifi 6.