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Forum Discussion
Wifi extender drops WNA1100 N150
I use NETGEAR WNA1100 N150 Wireless USB Adapter. Recently for about 2 months now it has been dropping signal. I have 2 WIFI's in my house hold ATT and Spectrum. ATT is fine, but Spectrum it keeps going down after 20-30 minutes. I have it as close as i possibly can to the router. It is in my bedroom as the wifi tower and router is in my kitchen. I only have so much room. I stuck my extender on the more close part of my wall to the wifi. I have updated, downgraded and even TRIED to mess with settings to make it work better. I use version 2.2.0.1 NETGEAR GENIE for my extender. I know it is old technology, BUT it has been working so good all these years I have had it. I have no idea how to factory reset it due to I don't see that setting AT ALL. People also say to put it on a channel with your WIFI's channel but I HAVE NO IDEA where to do that on either things.
What do I need to do because I wanna use this until i get my ethernet cable. I just want it to last about 6 hours before a crash. Do I need to mess with settings? Upgrade the genie??? I am so lost HELP PLEASE.
20 Replies
Turn OFF one of the host WiFis in the house hold. Having two maybe causing interferences. Also turn OFF the extender as well and see if the issue continues.
Seems like you have too much wifi signals going on there and adapter can't handle all the noise.
Also ensure latest driver is installed for the N150 adapter.
Try using channesl 1 and 40 or 11 and 48 on the host router that provides the primary WiFi.
I wish i could but one is my moms WIFI and one is my dads. So I am really stuck like that. Both are on opposite ends of the home though. Also need the extender otherwise I get 0 wifi signal at all. I updated a while back for the adapter but still same issue. Also no idea how to change channels cuz SPECTRUM is my main issue wifi. Been using this extender for like 10+ years. This is the only time I have an issue. Due to SPECTRUM you cant change anything but the password or the WIFI's name with the new routers and stuff.
If you have both wifi signals running, try putting one system and channels 1 and 40 and set the other to 11 and 48 for 2.4 and 5Ghz frequencies. Ask the ISP to help you change the channels.
I would keep the extender OFF for now as that maybe causing issues.
What kind of computer is the WNA1100 connected to?
Just a gaming PC
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-core processor
RAM 16.0
Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (4gb)
Windows 10 home version
Thanks. Firmware for this old adapter definitely supports Windows 10. WiFi is really sensitive to obstacles in the path between access point and device.
(It could be that the adapter does not have a good "view" of the WiFi access point.)
It is not clear (to me) whether the adapter consistently drops the connection to both of the WiFi systems in the house, or only drops the connection to the Spectrum system?
You put what USB wireless device you have but not what "wireless extender" you have.
Or are you just referring to the USB device as an extender? (bad nomenclature)
eitherway its time to get rid of that USB device. Its ancient, slow, and bottlenecking your PC big time.
A cheap USB AX device can be picked up for around $20 and will greatly improve speed, stability, latency.
Very much worth it with the setup you have.
Normally I don't advise throwing away working equipment, but in this instance, its time to update.
We still don't know what any of these routers/extenders are that keep getting talked abouoot.
Model's of what you're actually using helps.
ATT/Spectrum are just the ISP suppliers and don't tell us what actual devices you have that you're connecting an ancient N150 usb device to.
but Spectrum it keeps going down after 20-30 minutes
Try connecting to the spectrum wifi with your phone (turning off mobile data), and try using the internet for 30 minutes or more (perhap streaming a movie). If that also fails, then this is related to the wifi itself, and not the adapter. If it works, then the problem is most likely the adapter (which has to be over 10 years old).
Seems to be adapter :/ cuz ive used it on my phone for HOURS and no issues. so sad :(
Still having this issue it went from 30min uptime to 25. Kind of just annoyed but I will keep trying. I have moved the extender onto my desk in the open to see if it helps. Uptime slowly going up from 20 though. Last saw.. about 25minutes uptime. Might move my wi-fi around again to see if i can find a good area for it.
Still having this issue it went from 30min uptime to 25. Kind of just annoyed but I will keep trying. I have moved the extender onto my desk in the open to see if it helps. Uptime slowly going up from 20 though. Last saw.. about 25minutes uptime. Might move my wi-fi around again to see if i can find a good area for it.
Are you prepared to spend any money on new kit? Something like this maybe?
You could try this in the same room as the PC, and use the ethernet out to connect the PC.
