Very weird USB WiFi dongle issue.

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Very weird USB WiFi dongle issue.

RowdoggNZ

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Wannabe Geek

#131148 10-Oct-2013 13:44

Greetings

I have uncovered a very strange issue and I am posting on here to see if anyone has any idea's as to why this happens.

Scenario: Internet running very slow, Youtube defaults to 144P

, OH MY WHATS GOING ON!!!!, WiFi connection to my router bounces between 2-4bars on my Windows 8 PC.

The mystery: It was running at 5 bars without any drop in signal at all when i checked previously, Youtube generally will stream at 1080P without the need to wait for buffering.

So I do some experimenting and remove the Pen drive in the port next to the USB WiFi dongle. Attempt speedtest

The speedtest - USB Pen drive next to WiFi dongle removed.

Surely that can't be the issue!!! So i plug it back in and perform a second speedtest.

Second Speedtest - USB Pen drive plugged back in next to the USB WiFi Dongle

Errr... yep it sure is!

So I appear to have found the issue.. just wondering if anyone can shed some light on why this happens? I for one am absolutely baffled. FYI i tried different USB ports aswell and the same effect is present.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
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#912068 10-Oct-2013 13:48

Both USB devices ? Id guess that the USB drive is taking away power from the other USB connector....

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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RowdoggNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#912069 10-Oct-2013 13:53

xpd: Both USB devices ? Id guess that the USB drive is taking away power from the other USB connector....

That seems like a very logical answer to me. I wonder how I can test this.

yitz

2081 posts

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#912071 10-Oct-2013 13:59

RowdoggNZ: That seems like a very logical answer to me. I wonder how I can test this.

Plug one of them into one of the back USB ports.
Or buy one of those USB extension cables.

RowdoggNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#912095 10-Oct-2013 14:33

I can now confirm there is an issue with the running the pen drive and WiFi dongle side by side in USB slots regardless of whether it is back or front panel.

Must be something to do with how the USB sockets are powered as if I have the WiFi dongle in the front and pen drive in the rear it doesn't affect the operation of the WiFi dongle.

I wouldn't have thought it was a power supply issue as my PSU is 650W. However I do have 7/10 USB3 slots in use, this probably doesn't help my cause lol.

Thank you all for your input.

richms

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#913816 11-Oct-2013 19:13

No, it will be the flash drive making RF noise in the 2.4GHz band and being a couple of mm off the antenna.

Intel actually published some documents about this, as it is heaps worse with USB3 and will actually make wireless mouse recievers totally lose the mouse when a USB3 device is plugged into the neighbouring socket.

Richard rich.ms

RowdoggNZ

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#914947 14-Oct-2013 17:46

richms: No, it will be the flash drive making RF noise in the 2.4GHz band and being a couple of mm off the antenna.

Intel actually published some documents about this, as it is heaps worse with USB3 and will actually make wireless mouse recievers totally lose the mouse when a USB3 device is plugged into the neighbouring socket.

I believe you would be the most correct in this situation so thanks for the info richms :)

I have tried the same thing using a USB2 pen drive and the interference was minimal to non existent so it definitely has something to do with the USB3 pen drive.