Dongle advice needed please. Which one to buy for desktop PC?

[Tuppylove 10]

The one that I've been using for years is now a bit iffy and occasionally lets me down (I think it's slightly bent out of shape)

 

I've just called Virgin Media and they're pretty sure that the dongle is causing the issue, but they don't supply them anymore and that I will need to buy one myself. He said there are some on Amazon for as little as a fiver. The one I've got at the moment is huge too - about three or four inches - and I've seen some really dinky little ones. Would they do the same job?

 

I don't want to spend alot but don't really know what to buy. Also, will a cheap dongle affect my broadband speed?

 

I'd be really happy if people could point me in the direction of a good, cheap replacement.

 

Thanks people.

[dosxuk 10]

What do you mean by dongle? - a dongle is simply a piece of electronics that connects to a computer- you'll need to be more specific to get any useful help. (I've got a printer dongle kicking around here somewhere, along with several which unlock various software features)

 

I'm assuming you're talking about some sort of wireless connection, but you don't specify whether you're talking about a WiFi, 3G or even 4G adaptor.

[Tuppylove 10]

Sorry, my ignorance is showing.

 

It's to connect my pc to the wifi.

 

I'm not very good at technical.

[DeathAxe 10]

wifi dongles are really cheap, any will do. I broke one on a pc a couple of years ago by lifting it to check the back, and it bent at the front. oops! they are all very tiny now.

[Tuppylove 10]

Hi Deathaxe. Thanks for your reply.

 

I've seen some at 150mbps and others at 300 mbps and don't know what this means. Which one from the following page is the cheapest and most suitable?

 

Also, do I just plug it in where my old one goes? Will it have a cd? Or will it work on it's own?

 

Sorry for sounding dumb.

 

Ebay link

 

---------- Post added 14-04-2014 at 12:11 ----------

 

I broke one on a pc a couple of years ago by lifting it to check the back, and it bent at the front. oops! they are all very tiny now.

 

I think that's what happened to this one, except it didn't break, just got bent - and apparently that's why my internet's a bit hit and miss.

[ccit 10]

Is your computer a tower? If so, you would be better off getting a wireless card. It would work better and as they fit inside the case, no problems with damaging them. The members on here could talk you through fitting one - it is really easy.

[DeathAxe 10]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MINI-USB-150MBPS-WIFI-WIRELESS-ADAPTOR-802-11-B-G-N-LAN-NETWORK-DONGLE-ADAPTER-/161265471118?pt=UK_Computing_USB_Wi_Fi_Adapters_Dongles&hash=item258c2bce8e

 

Top one will do ya mate. 300 is wireless N and 150 is G. That dongle will work with either. Plug it in yep, windows should do the rest :-)

[scimsfan 10]

The one that I've been using for years is now a bit iffy and occasionally lets me down (I think it's slightly bent out of shape)

 

I've just called Virgin Media and they're pretty sure that the dongle is causing the issue, but they don't supply them anymore and that I will need to buy one myself. He said there are some on Amazon for as little as a fiver. The one I've got at the moment is huge too - about three or four inches - and I've seen some really dinky little ones. Would they do the same job?

 

I don't want to spend alot but don't really know what to buy. Also, will a cheap dongle affect my broadband speed?

 

I'd be really happy if people could point me in the direction of a good, cheap replacement.

 

Thanks people.

 

I think the Virgin Media wifi dongle is a rebadged Netgear wnda3200.

Which supports speeds up to 300N.

A 300N dongle from Argos should do the job. The larger units have bigger aerials inside and in my experience have better range than the tiny "NANO" versions.

[DeathAxe 10]

Nah, cheapo one will do fine, no need to waste money on argos tech, which is over priced anyway.

[scimsfan 10]

Nah, cheapo one will do fine, no need to waste money on argos tech, which is over priced anyway.

 

So an unknown brand from fleabay that can only run at half the speed of the original is a better deal ?

 

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1212763.htm

 

"300 is wireless N and 150 is G"

 

300 is Wireless N , 150 is Wireless N with 1 data stream rather than 2.

54 is G.

[AlexAtkin 10]

I would definitely go for a branded personally.

 

I recently bought a TP-Link TL-WDN3200 (currently £14.73 on Amazon) and a cheapo one off eBay that uses the identical chipset for £8.

 

You might think they are the same internally, the size is around the same suggesting only the casing is different but their performance is WILDLY different.

 

The TP-Link gets a stable 300Mbit connection and keeps it, speed tests confirmed. The cheapo in the identical machine, location and drivers (I literally just swapped them over without moving) was all over the place. The speed it got was completely inconsistent.

 

Also, the TP-Link comes with a USB extension so you can place the dongle further away from all the cabling at the back and/or not have it sticking out of the front/side of the case.

 

I would NOT recommend an internal card personally as while theoretically they are better that is ONLY if you use better antennas than they come with so you can position them optimally.

The default antenna when in your average PC tower will be blocked by the PC case and the wall so end up with worse reception than using USB.

 

If you are using cable broadband with the superhub 2 you can also use the above dongle to connect on the 5Ghz network which generally performs MUCH better than the 2.4Ghz one.

Edited April 15, 2014 by AlexAtkin

[swarfendor437 14]

So an unknown brand from fleabay that can only run at half the speed of the original is a better deal ?

 

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1212763.htm

 

"300 is wireless N and 150 is G"

 

300 is Wireless N , 150 is Wireless N with 1 data stream rather than 2.

54 is G.

 

Spot on!

 

As for Amazon I am avoiding them altogether now - nothing wrong with the products, just 'modus operandi' that and the failure to pay proper Corporation Tax and abuse of employees Health!

 

I have a WNDA3100 v2 from Currys (Netgear) and can be a bit hit and miss. Recently upgraded Netgear router to Asus one - Netgear have gone down in my estimation - they only offer 12 months warranty on high end stuff - Asus offer 3 years on the router, don't know what their N dongles are like performance wise.