All Discussions > Steam Forums > Hardware and Operating Systems > Topic Details
Joker Mar 27, 2019 @ 4:39pm
Cooling a USB WiFi adapter
I have a USB WiFi adapter that tends to get quite hot when downloading large amounts of data at full connection speed (almost 60 megabytes per second). When it does, the performance drops which slows my download speed. Anyone have any ideas of what I could do to cool it? I'll rig a small fan and heatsink to the thing if I have to...
Last edited by Joker; Mar 27, 2019 @ 4:40pm

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Showing 1-15 of 22 comments
Omega Mar 27, 2019 @ 5:03pm 
Remove the casing and point a fan at it.
#1
Joker Mar 27, 2019 @ 6:37pm 
Originally posted by POUusnavy:
its because the mobo is hot obviously. though the mobo usb ports are faster try front panels see if that cools it down a tad

No it isn't. The USB adapter has a cord with a base that it sits in.
#2
Talby Mar 27, 2019 @ 6:42pm 
usb desk fan[www.amazon.com] I would not bother with any heatsink...
Last edited by Talby; Mar 27, 2019 @ 6:43pm
#3
Eldin Mar 27, 2019 @ 7:08pm 
Originally posted by Talby:
usb desk fan[www.amazon.com] I would not bother with any heatsink...
Or this one[m.gearbest.com]
Just plug it in another USB port and point it at your WiFi adapter.
I bought this one as a joke, but actually it blows harder than I thought and it's almost quiet.
I used to plug it in my phone and Raspberry Pi last summer, leave it at desk and point it in my face.
Last edited by Eldin; Mar 27, 2019 @ 7:09pm
#4
Autumn_ Mar 27, 2019 @ 7:16pm 
Originally posted by POUusnavy:
its because the mobo is hot obviously. though the mobo usb ports are faster try front panels see if that cools it down a tad
What? Lmao.
#5
Talby Mar 27, 2019 @ 8:02pm 
A laptop cooler[www.amazon.com] would also work...
#6
Joker Mar 27, 2019 @ 8:08pm 
Originally posted by Talby:
A laptop cooler[www.amazon.com] would also work...

That's actually sounds like a pretty good idea. Thanks.
#7
calluM Mar 29, 2019 @ 10:15am 
Originally posted by PuertoRicanStripeHeadedTanager:
Usb sounds kind of ♥♥♥♥ for getting wifi but I've never used one.

It's really not as ♥♥♥♥ as it sounds, although it does sound as it is. I was using a £20 USB 3.0 WiFi Netgear AC6210 adapter for 3 years and getting my normal 170mb/s download and 30MB/s upload with the only problem being that it sometimes would disconnect when downloading large files and then when I swapped to a powerline adapter I was getting the same speeds with more stability when downloading large files, but when I switched to ethernet directly plugged into my router, my speeds went up by basically nothing
#8
Washell Mar 29, 2019 @ 2:26pm 
Originally posted by PuertoRicanStripeHeadedTanager:
Usb sounds kind of ♥♥♥♥ for getting wifi but I've never used one.
Usb is fine. Usb with an external antenna is great.
#9
Ad Hominem Mar 29, 2019 @ 9:53pm 
There are little heat sink fins you can buy online. Get some of those, pull the plastic off the USB wifi stick, and adhere some of the fins with thermal pads to the chips and power delivery, although I can't imagine USB power having enough ass to create heat issues. This is what I've seen some people do with their NVMe SSDs that can have heat issues. Add a fan for really big downloads if you want too.

That's almost certainly overkill but would solve your issue. If I was gonna dump money into it though I would just buy a PCI wifi card instead. They've got to be dirt cheap by now.
Last edited by Ad Hominem; Mar 29, 2019 @ 9:55pm
#10
[☥] - CJ - Mar 30, 2019 @ 3:28am 
Could always try a little project i did recently
Having a PC case fan powered by a Power Bank by connecting the fan to a USB cable, mobile and effective.
Just attach a small fan to the Wifi adapter and have it powered either by the PCs USB or via a Power bank used for charging USB devices.
#11
_I_ Mar 30, 2019 @ 10:11am 
has anyone suggested unplugging it? and buying a good pci-e or mini pci wifi nic
#12
calluM Mar 30, 2019 @ 10:13am 
Originally posted by _I_:
has anyone suggested unplugging it? and buying a good pci-e or mini pci wifi nic

If his internet's good enough with the USB adapter why spend the extra money?
#13
Joker Mar 30, 2019 @ 5:12pm 
Originally posted by pooperbelt.:
Originally posted by _I_:
has anyone suggested unplugging it? and buying a good pci-e or mini pci wifi nic

If his internet's good enough with the USB adapter why spend the extra money?

A combination of this and that I have no PCIe slots left. My motherboard has two PCIe... one is taken by an SSD, and the other a graphics card. The other expansion ports are PCI, and I doubt those are fast enough.
#14
Ad Hominem Mar 30, 2019 @ 5:19pm 
Originally posted by Joker:
Originally posted by pooperbelt.:

If his internet's good enough with the USB adapter why spend the extra money?

A combination of this and that I have no PCIe slots left. My motherboard has two PCIe... one is taken by an SSD, and the other a graphics card. The other expansion ports are PCI, and I doubt those are fast enough.

It depends on what USB version and PCI version you're talking about, but even a PCI 2 1x slot (4000 Mb/s) is faster than a USB 2 (480 Mb/s) by a long shot.

In the case that you have no PCI slots left, I would just let the USB wifi run. It's most likely within spec even though it feels warm, unless you found some documentation to the contrary. Simply removing the plastic housing could help, or putting a small fan blowing over it.
Last edited by Ad Hominem; Mar 30, 2019 @ 5:21pm
#15
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Date Posted: Mar 27, 2019 @ 4:39pm
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