Why is the Internet cut off when connecting through a USB Wi-Fi adapter ? This problem can appear on certain occasions and the truth is that there is no single cause for it. We are going to explain what the most frequent reasons are and we will also give some important tips on what to do to avoid it and thus be able to navigate with total normality without the dreaded cuts in the wireless network appearing.
What Causes Wi-Fi Adapter Cuts
In order to connect to the Internet wirelessly, we will need a compatible card. This card can be integrated into the computer itself or we can use an external one. Using USB Wi-Fi adapters has advantages, but also negative points. One of them is that sometimes cuts arise or it does not work as we would like.
Now, why can this happen? The main cause is that you do not receive good coverage and the signal is weak. It is certainly the main reason why the USB Wi-Fi network adapter is not going to work properly and is going to be cut off. This will force us to take steps to prevent this from happening.
Another common reason is that we do not have the drivers installed correctly . They may be outdated or even corrupted by an update that did not complete well and has corrupted files that prevent it from working normally.
A reason directly related to errors at the user level is that we are connecting the Wi-Fi adapter to a USB port that is not the correct one. As we know, modern computers have both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports. Our adapter may work fine on the latter port, but have problems on the former.
In addition, it could happen that that USB port is directly damaged. In that case it would be a hardware problem and would prevent us from connecting the adapter and being able to have an Internet connection without complications.
What to do to make the USB Wi-Fi adapter work well
After explaining the main reasons why cuts may appear in the USB Wi-Fi adapter , we are going to talk about what we can do to prevent this from happening and thus be able to connect normally. We are going to give some recommendations that we can easily put into practice.
Try to improve coverage
The first thing to keep in mind so that the Internet is not cut off when we connect through a Wi-Fi adapter connected by USB is to make sure that the coverage is good . In case that is not the case, we will most likely find errors of this type, with errors when connecting, continuous cuts, slowness …
What can we do to improve coverage? We will have different options for it. We can improve it both by the adapter itself, as well as at the connection level in general. We are going to describe the main steps we can take:
- Use a Wi-Fi repeater or amplifier : the most basic thing to improve wireless coverage is to use a device that acts as a repeater or amplifier. There are different types, such as Wi-Fi Mesh systems, PLC devices or wireless repeaters. All of them will allow us to connect with greater guarantees.
- Change the antenna of the USB Wi-Fi adapter : Our USB Wi-Fi adapter may have an external antenna. This antenna can often be changed for a better one. Therefore, it is an alternative that we can keep in mind to try to improve the signal.
- Choose the correct Wi-Fi band : Are we using the correct Wi-Fi band? We can opt for the 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz. The first is the best when we are looking for speed, but it is more sensitive to distance. On the other hand, the second is better to maintain stability and connect from further away.
Always keep drivers updated
Of course, another point to keep in mind is to always have the latest versions of the wireless network card driver. This is important not only to maintain operation, but also to avoid security problems that could affect us.
To update it in Windows we have to go to Start, we look for Device Manager, we go to Network adapters and there we select the corresponding adapter, we click with the right mouse button and we click Update driver . This procedure is convenient for us to carry out periodically.
Use a USB port that works well and is suitable
One of the reasons why there may be problems with USB Wi-Fi adapters is that we are using a port that does not work or is not the correct one. Therefore we must make sure that we are using one correctly and thus not have complications.
If our adapter is compatible with USB 3.0 ports , we should always connect it to these types of ports. In this way we ensure that it will work at maximum speed and have a good performance to avoid continuous cuts.
But it could also happen that the port we are using is broken. For this reason, it may be convenient to try any other on the computer and see if that way the Wi-Fi USB adapter stops disconnecting.
Control system security
Do we have the computer properly protected? Malware can damage the operation of devices, such as network adapters. If, for example, we have downloaded a file that turns out to be a virus, it could be affecting the connection and causing these cuts.
To achieve maximum security we can always use a good antivirus, such as Windows Defender itself or use others such as Avast or Bitdefender, to name some of the most popular.
Beware of programs that can interfere
On the other hand, another issue to take into account is to take care that there are no programs that may be interfering with the proper functioning of the USB Wi-Fi adapter. Mainly they can affect the VPNs or even the firewalls that we have installed.
Although these types of applications are interesting and can help improve security, they can directly affect the connections and adapters that we have configured. This means that we must control its operation at all times.
Therefore, we have seen the main factors that can influence the USB Wi-Fi adapter to disconnect and we have also given some interesting tips to ensure that it works correctly and that no problems of any kind appear.
