I am running W7Pro on a mini-ITX platform, with 2x front (MOBO mounted) USB 2.0 and many rear USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports.
I have been using a variety of USB dongle types, in an attempt to solve the same issue. I had been using a Realtek RTL8188CU type successfully for some time. Suddenly, the receptivity got poorer and poorer, and then disappeared. As I'd ordered 5 different dongles when changing from an external adapter (such as alfa, e.g.), to see which was best, I had some backups. The particular dongle had a light; it then went out and I went dark, in terms of any reception. Maybe it died???
I inserted another. It worked - but VERY briefly. And another - for a total of 4 dongles. None worked (or at least came up). I have two different types of controllers, realtek and ralink, in addition to the standard windoze. None saw any of the dongles.
Off I go to device manager. Each, in turn, was found to be disabled. Each, in turn, when enabled, instantly generated a BSOD.
Mucking around in the drivers and properties, updating (all showing as updated already), changing some of the properties, all had no effect.
WTF??? So I dig out my laptop and disable (not just airplane mode, I disabled the internal WiFi card) WiFi, and stick each dongle in a USB. Each loads drivers from the W10 (current, updated) package, and does its thing properly - down and up work just fine with each of the 4 dongles which crash my W7P machine in two different pin (Mobo sources) locations - and any of them had worked previously.
I live on a boat, and, fortunately, I have installed, on the top of the mast, from the time when it was critical (before cell phone data plans) for internet access, a POE Infiniti Bullet and, inside the boat, a Linksys router; it's what is allowing me to communicate at this moment, but it's not nearly as fast, with the local sources I have available to me, as my hotspot phone through my dongle. So, I want to regain the ability to "see" my phone (the antenna/adapter 65' away, straight up, doesn't "see" my hotspot) - which requires a local dongle.
I'm most reluctant to reload my W7Pro, as there are many navigation programs I'd have to reinstall as well, and this computer is in relatively constant use.
I think I know from reading all 4 pages that the OP had a W10 laptop. This is different in circumstance (not a laptop, no internal card, different OS), but identical in problem. Is there any hope that W7P has different and more easily solved issues presenting? And why, now, after more than a year of success?
Thanks.