Reliable wireless connection

[calicojack42]

Can anyone advise on a reliable wireless USB adapter please?

I've had a couple of cheap and cheerful ones in the past and they were generally junk. I've been using a Netgear WPN111 which wasn't cheap at the time and it's just plain unreliable and it runs very hot (which is probably why it's unreliable because unplugging and allowing it to cool down usually works).

Frankly I'm at the end of my tether having just loaded up the latest Windows 7 drivers for it and found it no better.

So I'm really after a reliable model, preferably low power use (not than many state) and if at all possible cheap to buy.

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks.

[SsZERO]

The thing with USB wifi adapters is that if you're plugging them into the PC directly, the signal could be disrupted by the metal in your case, and if this is an HTPC, the metal in the surrounding equipment. You may be able to improve your reception by using a dongle cable to place your usb wifi receiver in a more prominent position to reduce signal interference.

I personally prefer to use DLink stuff...but you may be surprised to hear this but SMC actually makes decent "cheap" WiFi stuff that works well for the relatievly low price. If this is for a regular PC you may want to look into getting an internal wifi card that slides into a PCI slot...they're usually not as flaky as the USB stick adapters.