Worn LAN socket

My wife's laptop is getting old and its LAN socket has worn to the extent that no matter what cable she uses the fit is poor and when she's online she has to hold the cable as a certain angle to keep the connection . . . which is frustrating. Wireless doesn't work either. Apart from the obvious solution to buy a new computer what other options does she have. Her USB is USB2 I think so would USB3 to LAN connects work? I can't imagine they would given the difference in USB speeds. There is a slot in the computer but it's not very wide (you can see how technical I am!!) so is probably not a PCMCIA slot. Can anyone help please?