
Size: You may need to take your USB network adapter with you all the time, so we made sure most of the ones in this guide are pocket-friendly. Hubs bring back additional functionality lost as computers got thinner and lighter, and allow you to connect more external accessories - think flash drives and SD cards - to your computer at once.

Wired and Wireless: As we mentioned earlier, USB network adapters come in two variations: one terminates into an Ethernet port, so you can plug your computer into a cable modem or WiFi routers the other terminates into an antenna that sends and receives WiFi signals.Įxtra ports: USB network adapters are sometimes bundled into an accessory called a “hub,” which features many different types of ports. There are many factors to think about when choosing the right usb network adapter for you below are the most important ones, which we considered while we were researching this list. What You Need to Know Before Buying a USB Network Adapter Whatever you needs may be, we collected the best USB network adapters that allow you to use the internet more quickly and effectively. Those adapters are good for desktop PCs, which may not have a WiFi card built in, or a laptop with a flaky wireless connection. Another type of USB network adapter is a WiFi antenna, which connects to your computer’s USB port and allows it to connect to a wireless network.

These adapters generally have a USB plug on one end, and an Ethernet port on the other, so you regain the ability to connect your laptop to a wired network. Computer companies aren’t going to start adding ports back to their machines, so the best solution is to get a USB network adapter. Yes, laptops have WiFi, but you’ll get a faster and more reliable connection by using a cable.

This is much more apparent when looking at Apple’s MacBook line, which only has Thunderbolt 3 ports on them, but the trend has hit Windows-based PCs, too.Įthernet ports, which allow you to connect your laptop directly to a WiFi router or cable modem was one of the first to go. One of the many features laptops lost as they became thinner and lighter was ports. Until further notice we have instructed our users to manually disable the setting for every new USB-C-adapter with an ethernet connection they connect to their computers.If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission. We specifically had two users who had numerous network drops on one day, and after we disabled the setting the users experienced no more network drops. For us, the issue is specific to the EliteBook 840 G8.ĭisabling the power suspend setting really fixes the issue. We also haven't seen this issue, nor the specific power suspend setting, in our newer HP ZBook models. When the computers were connected with the Dell D3100 docking station through USB-A we experienced no issues. Their users also struggled with random network issues when they were connected to ethernet through various adapters: 1) HP USB-C gen 5 dock 2) ethernet to USB-C adapters and 3) Satechi Aluminum Multi-Port Adapter V2. We have a number of HP EliteBook 840 G8 in our office. This is happening on both Win 10 and Win 11, with all updates currentĪgreed! I just registered to vouch for TryToDoMyBest's fix in order to help others stumbling on this thread. This is really bad for several dozen of our laptops. The ProBooks have a physical ethernet connector on them, when the network cord is plugged into the ethernet port on the ProBooks, this issues DOES NOT happen, so it is ONLY through the USB-C route If the laptops are connected via only wireless, this does not happen, so it seems to be ONLY the hardwired connection If you are connected to wireless at the same time, wireless kicks in until wired connection comes back, but it's enough of a break to drop streaming and video calls Wired connection keeps dropping out for about 5-10 seconds, mostly during streaming or video calls Happens to all the computers when using ethernet through either a Dell USB-C Dock, an HP USB-C Dock, an Anchor USB-C multi-port adapter I can elaborate a little more from our testing: We have the same problem with several dozen HP 840 EliteBook G8 models and also HP ProBook 840 G8 models.

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