TP-Link TL-WN722N Problems

[Ownaholic]

Hey all,

I made my first build yesterday, and so far things have gone relatively smooth. The biggest problem I'm having at the moment is with my internet.

Network specs before I go any further
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Network Card: TP-Link's TL-WN722N 150Mbps High Gain Wireless USB Adapter (Bear in mind, I'm only getting like 6Mbps download speed at peak times; fast compared to my laptop's regulra 3Mbps speed)
Router: Linksys WRT110 (A floor below me, and a room over, so the signal strength isn't the best it could be. Using a direct-wired-connection is out of the question)

Basically, my internet will go from lightning-fast, and drop immediately dead the next second. It is constantly resetting itself and re-connecting itself to my router, every couple of minutes.

I've power-cycled my router and modem more times today than I have in my entire lifetime; to no avail.

After I got my computer up and running, I used the drivers from the installation CD that came with it, and got the internet running. However, things were slow, so I decided to update the newest driver after all the other drivers were finished and installed. Honestly, it only made it worse.

I've even reverted back to the original driver, and now I can't even connect period.

I updated my EFI Bios via EZ Flash, thinking that it would help, and it went perfectly, and but it only made my connection problems worse. (At least I was able to connect before)

My laptop sitting a foot away from my computer has no problems whatsoever, and running a "tracert" on both computers one-after-the-other, the ISP servers were not lagging on my laptop whatsoever, but they were relatively higher on a few servers for my custom-built computer.
The servers for the website I was testing out (I used the WoW site) were like 3000+ms, whereas the same servers for the same site on my laptop were much less than that.

My internet has been spiking a lot the last week, even before I built the computer, however I feel like this isn't the problem; since I can use my laptop just fine while my computer is lagging away.

I'd say the ratio is 90% slowness to no connection at all, to 10% regular speeds. (That was before the BIOS update, and now I either can't connect period; or I'll have normal internet for a few seconds, it loads up my Google homepage right away, and then refuses to load anything else; then the cycle continues)

I haven't even been able to fully patch WoW in the course of an entire day's time; and downloading drivers takes excruciatingly long. (Unless I try it at a time where it's working, which then my speeds are completely fine)

I'm considering buying a high-gain wifi Signal Booster, like the Hawking HSB2 on Amazon and Newegg, but I fear it will not resolve my problem.

If it is worth any information: During all installations I have only been able to install the drivers, since for whatever reason the installation CD told me that the utility which comes along with the TL-WN722N driver, was not compatible with Windows 7 64-bit. (Despite the fact that all the reviews, and the box itself, says that it works with Windows 7. You'd think they'd make a note if it didn't with 64bit)

Does anybody have any idea what the problem is, or how to fix it?

Thank you so much!

 

[johnb35]

If you are gonna be using wireless when the router is on a different floor and not directly below you then you should be using a router that has external antenna's as a router without one will not give out good signal. You may want to invest in a wireless repeater to see if it gives you better signal.

 

[Ownaholic]

If you are gonna be using wireless when the router is on a different floor and not directly below you then you should be using a router that has external antenna's as a router without one will not give out good signal. You may want to invest in a wireless repeater to see if it gives you better signal.

What is a wireless repeater? I've never heard of it before.

And I feel like that still won't resolve anything, since it only seems to be a major issue with my compy. The laptop will be perfectly fine while the comp has no access at all. Signals are relatively weak, sure, but in fact, my compy signal is stronger than my lappy's.

 

[johnb35]

A wireless repeater actually extends the wireless signal to low signal areas of your home. However, if your laptop is getting internet ok and the issue is only with your pc then you have a bad wireless adapter.

You may get better luck with one of these types of external antennae wireless adapters.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166060

 

[Ownaholic]

A wireless repeater actually extends the wireless signal to low signal areas of your home. However, if your laptop is getting internet ok and the issue is only with your pc then you have a bad wireless adapter.

You may get better luck with one of these types of external antennae wireless adapters.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166060

The thing is, it can't be the adapter itself, because it actually works from time to time.
I reset my BIOS version back to the original one, and that got it working really solid for about 5 minutes. It worked so well to the point that I thought it was finally fixed, but then bam, all of a sudden the signal got dropped, and it started cycling through connected, disconnected, and limited connection, etc. It's been in an endless cycle like that every other minute ever since.

I also noticed something else that I've never seen before, my Linksys WRT110 has an amber light above the button that you use to connect components wirelessly, and it's never been there before. It was also there just a half an hour ago, but I made it go away by power cycling.
I have absolutely no idea what the amber/yellow LED means, but do you think it means I should connect it via that button on the router itself, rather than entering in my WPA-PSK key manually on the computer?

Do you think this problem is a connectivity issue between the adapter and my router somehow?