USB Wi-Fi adapter for my PC

I tried digging around for a thread like this but came up empty. Basically, whenever my desktop is running (it’s hardwired), my phone and my sister’s laptop lose all connection. They show full bars and say they're connected, but everything either crawls along or just dies completely—yet the second I kill the power to my PC, the Wi-Fi is lightning fast again. I've messed with every setting under the sun, then finally realized I could just use those little USB Wi-Fi adapters to get the computer on the wireless network instead. Does anyone know where I can snag one of those and what the damage usually is? I'm over by downtown Washington, D.C., near Central Park, so I'm looking for somewhere local.

Thanks. 🙂

It’s basic math—obviously, your connection is going to crawl if everyone in the house is hogging the bandwidth at once. And honestly, what are you even talking about with those USBs? What purpose could they possibly serve here?!?

Are you perhaps referring to this?
Benjamin King2 already outlined the reason behind the sluggish internet speeds on Wi-Fi devices 🙂

Here’s a more budget-friendly option...
WIRELESS USB

As for why your phone or laptop won't connect at all while your desktop works fine, that really shouldn't be happening...

Benjamin King2 is right that having more users on one router can slow things down, but if you're just browsing, you shouldn't see a noticeable dip in speed on other devices...

Is it possible you have a torrent client running in the background that's hogging all your bandwidth?

I have a similar setup at my house: my PC is hardwired, while my brother uses his laptop via Wi-Fi and browses on his phone...

Everything runs smoothly for us. Even when I have a torrent active, my brother can still get online, though he definitely notices the speed drop immediately. Once the torrent is off, there are zero issues; the laptop, PC, and phone all work perfectly together without any lag...

I'd suggest checking your computer for any background programs that might be consuming all the network resources, which would prevent others from getting online while you stay connected...

I stumbled upon an old adapter lying around—didn't even buy it—but now, like some kind of freaking miracle, everything is working perfectly. I’m actually losing my mind here. I’ve got a series downloading, my sister is streaming on her laptop and phone, and I’m on my phone, yet everyone is getting lightning-fast speeds. What the hell?! But hey, thanks anyway. I think I’ll just go ahead and grab that adapter just to be safe.

An adapter for what exactly? 🙂

the technical term is actually a wireless Wi-Fi adapter

But you're plugged into the computer via Ethernet, so why on earth would you even need the Wi-Fi?

Look, I already told you, the damn thing was stalling out.