Ethernet adapter messing up my wireless mouse

Hi, I just recently purchased a Dell XPS 15 9570. This laptop has two USB 3.1 Gen 1 with Power Delivery ports, one on either side. One the left is where I plug in the wireless dongle for my mouse. On the right I have a USB 3.1 hub where I plug in external drives, my keyboard, etc. When I plug the Plugable ethernet adapter into the hub, or if I plug the adapter into the USB port directly (thus taking the hub out of the equation), my mouse starts skipping, will not track, fails to respond, etc. All relevant drivers are updated; mouse model is Microsoft wireless mobile mouse 3500.

Is there a fix for this? Because it’s not usable if there isn’t. Thank you.

Hello,

Thanks for your post! I’m sorry to hear about the wireless interference problem while using the Ethernet adapter. This is definitely a unique situation as you stated the hub and wireless dongle are connected on opposite sides of your computer which typically goes a long way to cutting down on natural USB 3.0 interference, but each additional USB device can increase the amount of frequency interference.

We have a blog post on the topic of USB 3.0 interference with further details here: https://plugable.com/2017/03/17/troubleshooting-wi-fi-performance-and-wireless-keyboard-mouse-issues-on-usb-docking-stations/

For Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C compatible hosts, Dell released a patch that changes a Windows Registry entry related to the Intel Management Engine that is not Dell exclusive which has resolved these input device lag/skipping issues for several of our customers using a range of different host systems from different manufacturers.

We recommend to try installing this patch if you have some of the aforementioned issues:
https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER03471411M/13/Dell_Dock_USB_TYPE-C_PATCH_2K0JJ_A00_SETUP_ZPE.exe

Looking forward to your results!

Thank you,

Derek Nuzum
Plugable Technologies

Thank you for the response. Just to clarify, you are saying that the Dell Thunderbolt 3/USB-C patch is going to possibly clear up the issue that I am experiencing with the USB 3.1 connections? Thank you.

Hopefully, yes! We’ve had a lot of success with this patch clearing up interference issues specifically with input devices like mice, keyboards, etc. If it does not work, we can take a deeper dive into the issue with detail logs, etc. gathered from your system to see what is happening.

Thanks!
Derek Nuzum
Plugable Technologies

Derek,

Installing the patch did not resolve the issue. Any other ideas? Thank you.

Hello,

Sorry to hear that did not work! Let’s dive in a little deeper to see if anything major stands out. Could you please send a message to support@plugable.com with “Ticket #267150” in the subject line along with the requests below?

  1. Amazon order number for the Ethernet adapter
  2. Could you run our diagnostic program? It will gather device information and installation logs that will help me understand what is happening.

To do this, please plug the adapter into your computer, then go to this page, and follow the instructions there: http://plugable.com/support/plugdebug

This will generate a folder on your desktop. Please send that folder to me attached to the new message.

Thanks!

Derek Nuzum
Plugable Technologies

Hello,

Thank you for sending those details over! Apologies for the delay as I wanted to partner up with one of my peers for a second set of eyes. Nothing is jumping out as being ‘wrong’, but let’s try a few things to see if we can get improved behavior. If not, we’re happy to try a replacement Ethernet adapter to see if this is an isolated issue with the adapter.

As I mentioned in my initial reply, there is natural interference with USB 3.0 and these wireless dongles along with compounded interference with the more 3.0 activity occurring on the host we may not be able to truly ‘fix’, but should be able to find a patch solution if needed.

  1. Could you please try to enable Airplane mode on your PC to see if this fixes things? This will disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, FYI. These services can cause additional interference as well and cutting it out may help with the specific bandwidth your mouse uses.

  2. If that does not work, could you please download and run this BIOS update for your computer? There have been significant changes to this core software for your computer and manufacturers routinely tweak things at low levels for situations like this. The download can be found here: https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER05444998M/1/XPS_9570_01_08_01.exe

  3. If that does not work as well, could you please swap the dongle and the hub to the opposite sides of your computer with the dongle plugging into the right side and hub on the left? Some hosts have better results on opposite sides as they can be further from noisier internal parts like the USB 3.0 controller and wireless modules, etc.

Looking forward to hearing your results!

Derek Nuzum
Plugable Technologies

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