How can I make my portable Internet stick perfrom better?

Lory: How can I make my portable Internet stick perfrom better?
I got an Internet stick from my local Internet provider. It actually works better that i had expected. However, it sometimes works so hard and slow. I thought about buying an USB cable adaptor in order to make the stick point upwards (it is pointing to the side). Will this help in any way? Can anyone please help me with a solution to making my Internet stick eat more satellite power? Thanks!

Answers and Views:

Answer by Tweeter & the MonkeyMan
If you are getting sat provided service, then you don’t have too many hardware choices.. check with the company to see if they have any other “authorized” or “recommended” devices – before you waste any money.

A USB cable adapter / extension / hub may help, but you say that it works great sometimes.
If it works great while it is connected this same way, then something else is changing.

Stuff you cannot control: there is a limit to the Sat. bandwidth; during busy hours, you will slow down as you share with other paying customers. During times with radio interference – lightning, other stuff working on similar frequencies, even solar events hitting our atmosphere … they all affect how radio waves move at the satellite level. If this kind of stuff happens, call the company to complain.. it may not help now, but if enough paying customers complain, they may move faster to get another satellite in your service area.
You also can’t control if the server at the other end is slowing down for any reason.

Stuff you can control – clearance around the machine , and especially the device.
Are you on a metal table, or on wood, or some other surface? Keep away from trees, houseplants (or outdoor plants) – high-efficiency windows (some coatings may mess with reception), microwave oven, some cordless telephones, some cell phones, and other household electrical items. Even stereo speakers set up a magnetic field that can change the performance of an antenna – though you need to be pretty close to notice.

Try putting a mirror or other metal/reflector under the machine. It may not help, but it shouldn’t hurt. (certain frequencies.. yes it will hurt if you set up an interference wave.. unlikely, but possible)

See if you can determine why it works great sometimes, and not so great others.. is it a certain time of day, or a certain day? Is it certain places, or maybe when someone else is using a computer or telephone in the house? Keep a short diary, about the next 10- 15 times you use it, and you will probably see a pattern that will help.