Better Wifi Dongle?

[PaulCa]

So my media centre (A Dell Optiplex 7010 USFF) has no built in Wifi.

I used a tiny little USB Wifi dongle I had lying around for RaspberryPI 2s.

Windows shows the link speed as 108MBit/s, signal strength maxed out (apparently). However, file transfer was a measly 800kb/s. Not really enough for streaming HD movies.

Putting the dongle onto the end of a USB extension and hanging it up in the plant beside the TV increased the file transfer to 3.5Mb/s. Still about 1/3 of the theoretical capacity.

Moving my Wifi Router around in the other room I was able to get it to peak around 6Mb/s.

I'm happy enough with that. But...

I want to get rid of the need for the USB extension.

TLDR; I need to find a USB Wifi dongle that has an actual Omni antenna. When I google/amazon/ebay this they are available, but I wanted to ask on here if anyone can recommend a good one. I'm not expecting to pay an awful lot, but something in the £10-20 price point sounds good.

Any suggestions?

 

[spicypixel]

Depends on the access point it's going to connect to.

 

[Avalon]

What OS support do you need? ‘Windows’ covers a lot of ground and certain versions are picky (Win10). Also 2.4 or 5Ghz? If the router/HTPC are close by and/or the 2.4Ghz spectrum is crowded (you did check this?) and/or you didn’t follow common sense on Chanel isolation, then things could get messy.

 

[PaulCa]

Access point is one of these:
https://www.linksys.com/us/support-product?pid=01t80000003prLpAAI

Linksys WAG320N Dual-Band Wireless-N ADSL2+ Modem Gigabit Router

For the OS compatibility I can live with Windows 10 only for the Wifi Dongle.

I haven't bothered to check the current spectrum, think it defaults to channel 4, but can't remember setting that.

Basically I have been using this setup for years without issue, but my Wifi devices are hardly ever transfering files so I don't know if just this device is slow due to the dongle or if they all are. Although I have watched quite a lot of Netflix on the TV which is in the same location and never had issues, or upstairs on the laptop which never seemed to have issues. So I'm pointing my concern at the dongle on the HTPC.

 

[PaulCa]

Out of interest. I can't recommend this Wifi router as the setup UI has numerous bugs which completely crash the whole AP. Like while trying to check the Wifi settings just now simply clicking the "Wireless" link in setup, killed the AP.

Now that I have got into the settings it is configured on 2.4Ghz, bgn mixed, wide channel 6, normal channel 4.

 

[spicypixel]

You're not going to see much improvement on wifi unless you invest in a 802.11ac setup imo. Both AP and client device.

 

[PaulCa]

I'm not looking for an improvement in the Wifi, just the ability to get better reception on what I do have.

I might just go for a brand name USB dongle with Antenna. If I can find a reasonably priced one.

 

[bremen1874]

Using a USB extension cable as you describe is one of the best ways of getting a decent signal. It allows you to move the antennas to a position where they aren't getting blocked by the metal casing of the PC. The better adapters often include a dedicated cable and mounting to allow this (or use antenna extensions instead).

 

[PaulCa]

Okay, plan B. I ran an Ethernet cable to the living room. Cheaper than higher speed Wifi.

Steam streaming the HTPC was a dead dog on Wifi.

Now I need a 5 port switch for in there so all the bits and bobs can used the wired.