I am trying to use internet in my basement and it is very weak signal here. I thought I could get better reception if I put the modem near the window of first floor, so  I BOUGHT a 10M usb extension. Now, it does not work good. Its stuck a 0 most of the time. I thought about loss in transmission so I checked by transferring from usb drive but the loss is not much, it gives aroung 80% of the speed which a direct connection does. Also, the cable might not be good quality as most of the other cables are expensive than this, and most of them have good reviews and people have posted that dongles work with them. I went to a computer shop, he told me that usb extension never works. If problem is the cheap cable then I can get a new one.The gentleman at the STORE is correct...USB has it's limits for extension cables...
Why not just hardwire it ? ?Extension cables for USB are LIMITED to AROUND 5 meters. Any further and it introduces timing issues which can screw up communication between the device and the host.You could also hard wire off the router to the basement...get a wireless repeater and still have wireless down there if needed...