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Thread: The "Don't Buy This Hardware" Thread

  1. #16

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    don't buy Lenovo X1 carbon laptop.
    screen options are not good: the lower resolution is dull, bad viewing angles, not enough brightness and the high rez is too high for such a small screens size, you need a microscope in windows.
    plus their fancy Adaptive Keyboard is a nightmare to use.
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  2. #17
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    tako, since you spoke well of the TL-WN722N adapter and I have an open mind I decided to give it another try.

    After installing the 7.7.0.150 XP drivers on Windows 7, and forcing 802.11g mode, signal strength was still lackluster, but I surprisingly get better speeds than with my other three adapters, and latency is lower. So either this one underreports its RSSI, or the others exaggerate it (the AWUS036H definitely does, good reception and all). Guess it's just a matter of finding the right drivers and/or settings.

    Also, Linux performance is good and I found a way to "use" Linux wireless drivers on Windows, which opens the door to other adapters with decent performance under that system.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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  3. Who Said Thanks:

    mmmmm (19.09.16)

  4. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by anon View Post
    Also, Linux performance is good and I found a way to "use" Linux wireless drivers on Windows, which opens the door to other adapters with decent performance under that system.
    the linux drivers under windows work better than the windows native drivers?
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  5. #19
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by takomania View Post
    the linux drivers under windows work better than the windows native drivers?
    My test results so far...

    AR9271 (TP-Link TL-WN722N): Linux drivers are on par with the XP drivers, and beat the rest.
    RT3070 (TP-Link TL-WN7200ND): Linux drivers are better than any Windows driver.
    RTL8187 (Alfa AWUS036H): Linux drivers are on par with XP's and Vista's, and better than 7's.

    It looks like Linux usually has one driver for each adapter that is open source, works well, and wasn't coded in a rush to be able to stick "Windows 8.1/10 Compatible" stickers on the product box.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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  6. #20
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by anon View Post
    I know that sticking a tinfoil "extension" at the tip of the antenna can improve reception, but wrapping it is news to me. I'll try to test both + the beer can signal enhancer soon.

    image
    Not done yet, because I keep forgetting to buy the tinfoil wrap and soda can But here's some interesting information.



    I posted this image on the random picture thread two weeks ago, but didn't give it much thought at the time. I saw it again yesterday, and decided to do some quick tests that provided some potentially interesting results...



    (Adapter: Encore ENUXI-XAN3. Chipset: RT3070. "PWR" is signal strength in decibels/milliwatt, "RXQ" is signal quality expressed as a percentage. Only the antenna has been changed between the 60-second tests, all else is equal.)

    Note how increasing antenna gain from 2 dBi drops reception on the 3C:04 and D3:C1 networks by ~50%, whereas going all the way to 8 dBi makes the 8A:16 network show up from nowhere with a 64% RxQ (as well as giving 4A:60 and CD:0E, which I know to be distant, a big boost) while 68:AB disappears completely! Now, this testing isn't very scientific, it should be redone several times with different adapters. But here's some reading material that confirms omnidirectional antennas "become" directional as their gain increases.

    MOXA_WLAN_Antennas_DS.pdf
    Beam diameter
    ATI Space, Satellite Technical Training Courses Tutorial on Antenna, Gain and Beamwidth

    This may also mean I have misjudged those 11 dBi antennas I advised against buying before. Furthermore... The Best Way to Point Your Wi-Fi Router Antennas: Perpendicularly

    Looks like picking the best antenna gain and orientation for your network is a complex process
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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    Master Razor (24.09.16)

  8. #21
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    Confirmed: the TL-WN722N's performance under Linux is superb, and I'm using it along my workaround (which involves VMware, OpenWrt, relayd, USB passthrough and a host-only adapter) whenever I need a decent connection. I can download several files at the same time and latency doesn't suffer, which is not the case at all with any Windows driver (two low-speed downloads on the background and you'll feel like you're on a 56K modem, or get disconnected in a worst-case scenario).

    I need to further test this on the TL-WN7200ND now.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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    Master Razor (05.10.16) , mmmmm (30.09.16)

  10. #22
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    A Bluetooth adapter with an external antenna is a pretty rare sight, but it should have better signal, right? A local blogger took the job of buying one and opening it...



    ...the "antenna" turned out to be a hollow plastic stick that wasn't connected to anything. Beware. I didn't fall for it, but some months ago I was considering buying a Bluetooth dongle to add such capabilities to my router, and this was among my choices.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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    Master Razor (05.10.16) , mmmmm (04.10.16)

  12. #23

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    Awesome Chinese shit that bluetooth adapter!

    I bought a new bicycle recently and when we came to choose the tires, I wanted to the one with deep tread.

    But the salesman (who has worked many years as a technician/engineer on the tour de France) said that treads are totally useless, for a city bicycle. They actually work against you.

    Many people think it help to prevent aqua planning but that's apparently irrelevant for bicycle as they would never reach a speed high enough to build that layer of water between the wheel and the road surface.

    Tread are only useful off road or on fresh snow.

    so, my "don't buy this hardware" for today is:
    Don't buy Inverted tread tires or semi-slick bike tires for your city/commuter bike, get the slick ones.
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    Master Razor (05.10.16)

  14. #24
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    You should get one of those bicycles from GTA San Andreas. They're absolutely impervious to any kind of damage, including thousand-meter falls, gunfire, and direct hits from a rocket launcher.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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  15. #25
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    Windows performance is horrible - 11 Mbps or less on a network where other adapters with an internal antenna won't get less than 48. OpenWrt support, which is what I wanted it for, is almost nonexistent since the drivers don't support mac80211 and everything must be configured via terminal (but that's my fault for not researching it beforehand).

    Price paid: $10, new
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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    mmmmm (14.11.16)

  17. #26
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    These die too quickly. You'll know it's happened when after plugging them, Windows takes a half minute to react at all, then shows a removable drive with no media inserted. Needless to say, any data you had inside is lost at that point.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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  18. #27
    You're sure its dead? Might just require a partition fix. Try a manufacturer tool (UPTool or MPTool) to re-format the drive.
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  19. #28
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    I tried all versions of the program that matches the flash chip (Phison MPALL), but it didn't work. Fortunately, the most important files I lost were some GRUB4DOS menus.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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  20. #29
    Suffice to say, all cheap USB sticks die quickly if used/left in USB port all day long. I had one of those, left it all day in usb port and after 1 month it died.
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  21. #30
    Moderator anon's Avatar
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    But these received the same non-constant usage that didn't kill other brans and models

    Anyway, I decided to use a MicroSD card with a cheap multi-card reader after this. If the latter dies, you don't lose your data, and the cost of replacing it is around $2.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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