problems with a TP-Link wifi adapter

[chermany4ever]

Wintoys has been a joke. From everything I read it seemed like the key tool to make 11 improve a lot... it's a tweaker for the blind. Everything it does can be done if you know where everything is without installing anything. The new generations might love it but I've been tweaking since the Win98 days! Wintoys is a bad joke.

 

The rain keeps coming back. I'll have a few more days. I'm starting to think that perhaps what's happening isn't an instability issue per se, but rather an issue with the Wi-Fi adapter driver. What happens is that when the OS is freshly installed, everything works perfectly, but as I start installing software and tweaking, I suddenly start experiencing internet interruptions. If I disable Wi-Fi and then re-enable it, it connects and I can continue, but I can't avoid those interruptions. Maybe I should try an older driver instead of updating all the drivers to the latest version. My intuition tells me it's something along those lines. It's not that I'm that lazy, but this whole trying clean installs from scratch has me tired and frustrated.  

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Why are you using "fresh installs"?  Testing should always be performed in a VIRTUAL environment.

I do all of my older Win10-and-older testing in a PORTABLE VirtualBox 5.1.22.

Newer Win10-and-newer was being tested in PORTABLE VirtualBox 6.0.24.

But I did have to install (then quickly uninstall) NON-PORTABLE (ie, "normal install") VirtualBox 7.0.26 in order to test (then quickly delete) Win11 25H2.

VirtualBox is currently at 7.2.2 but the 7.0 branch has been more than adequate for my needs (thus far).  And that's only because I needed to "witness" Win11 25H2.

More often than not, the 5.1.22 version serves all of MY needs (higher is only required when assisting others and not wanting to "guess" at solutions).

[NotHereToPlayGames]

ps - what are your inidications that your wi-fi is dropping out?

In newer Win10-and-newer, you can't "only" go by the wi-fi ICON next to the clock.

I have witnessed situations where the ICON simply isn't "updating" but the wi-fi *IS* connected.

In my situation, it was when "startup services" were DISABLED, so the icon didn't think it was connected.

But then as soon as a web browser started doing anything, the icon would then update and properly indicate that the wi-fi was connected.

Edited 2 hours ago by NotHereToPlayGames

[chermany4ever]

Never learned how to use virtual machines and when I tried I found it too difficult. I also don't fully trust the virtual experience. People who use it always say that while some things may work others may not and vice versa, so I prefer to experiment directly. SSDs don't suffer as much wear and tear as mechanical drives so I prefer the real thing and create images so I can always go back to an acceptable point.

 

What happens is that just when I'm downloading a big file at full speed and the adapter is really working, the connection fails (beyond the indicator on the tray). The connection completely drops and I'm forced to disable Wi-Fi and then re-enable it from the net system's settings. I find it inconvenient that Windows now manages all of this. Before, the driver came with a dedicated factory manager that did the fine work. Now you have to trust Windows and these things happen.

 

It could be a thousand different things. This PC is from 2010. To be comfortable I have it overclocked. I know the limits and don't stress it out but maybe that's the problem. Or maybe it's using the latest driver. Or maybe these stripped-down versions are missing something that contributes to the stability of the connection. Perhaps some software introduces stuff causing incompatibility that's dropping my connection. I'd have to run a lot of tests to find out what it is... but this doesn't happen with XP.

 

This adapter is able to broadcast/share Wi-Fi and since the signal here is weak -which is why I wanted a wall breaker- it's convenient for me to provide a signal to my cell phone from it and I've also noticed that when I activate it the connection drops after a few seconds. It's as if the adapter is too "sensitive" so when I push it a little it fails or Windows fails to manage it. Or maybe it's the overclocking.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

8 minutes ago, chermany4ever said:

but this doesn't happen with XP

It doesn't happen in my Win10's either!

*ALL* (minus a garage laptop for tuning turbo engines) of my computers now run Win10.  They *ALL* ran XP as recently as only two years ago.

THEY ALL PERFORM LEAPS AND BOUNDS *BETTER* ON 10 THAN THEY DID ON XP !!!  But a "debloated" 10, obviously.

And I'm talking real quantifiable metrics, not some "gut feeling placebo effect".

BUT they are *all* stuck at Win10 21H2.  At least until the day I can "debloat" newer to also perform BETTER THAN XP.

All (except one) of my computers are 15yrs old or older.  Granted, that one exception is less than 2yrs old, but it too runs Win10 21H2 (and gets an ocassional Linux every once in a while, only to return to Win10).

[NotHereToPlayGames]

23 minutes ago, chermany4ever said:

Or maybe it's using the latest driver.

My wireless adapter drivers are all dated 2013 thru 2015.  Once I find one that works, IT NEVER GETS UPDATED.  I often intentionally attempt to track down OLDER and never newer.

[chermany4ever]

Or maybe it's the firewall. When it failed using TinyWall I was happy to think I'd discovered the problem. With GlassWire -Windows firewall- everything seems more stable but now this is happening.

 

I appreciate all the info. Maybe that's why so many people complain about 11 and speak highly of 10. I also had a more stable experience with 10, although the error also occurred when using TinyWall (the adapter connected but couldn't navigate).

 

Perhaps, as beautiful as 11 looks, the jump is simply too large causing an insurmountable incompatibility issue.

 

XP still feels like a reliable system for every day use. 10 doesn't feel exactly like that but close. 11 feels insecure as if it could fail at any moment. 

 

I've tried several Linux distros and liked them but there are still no drivers for some of my peripherals including this Wi-Fi adapter.  

[chermany4ever]

40 minutes ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

My wireless adapter drivers are all dated 2013 thru 2015.  Once I find one that works, IT NEVER GETS UPDATED.  I often intentionally attempt to track down OLDER and never newer.

 

That'll be my next move. What you're saying is somewhat proven by what jumper pointed out to me at the beginning of the thread.

 

I tend to think it's a good idea to update to the latest drivers because doing so in XP and Windows 7 always gave me better performance with no side effects. I think it would be safe to use drivers with release dates close to the OS's. Supposedly tests were done at that time and everything worked.

 

So I think I'll have to look in that direction or settle for Windows 10 hoping this problem can be fixed. Having a stable 11 seems like a distant luxury.