Wifi speed issues on PC

[GrandOiseau]

As you will know if you've followed my recent thread I am on Vodadone Gigafast with download/upload of 200 Mbps. All great except for the PC in the upstairs study.

On my phone as I sit at the PC I get the following using the Speedcheck app:

Ping 11
Download 136
Upload 192
Link speed 130

Meanwhile on the PC using speedtest.net

Ping 9
Download 6.4
Upload 0.63
"Speed" in the "Wifi Status" says 2Mbps

The PC is connecting via a "802.11n Wireless LAN Card"
Driver date is 18/05/2015 but Windows says it's up to date

Plugged into the LAN card is a rod antenna
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

How do I get the PC up to speed - any ideas?

New LAN card or antenna or both?

Or something else?

[servodude]

New LAN card or antenna or both?

I think there's a couple of things to try

Open a cmd prompt and issue the command:

netsh wlan show interfaces

Here's what I see on my PC here - connected via hotspot to my phone (i've munged the mac addresses just in case someone decided to run off with them)

C:\Users\Work>netsh wlan show interfaces

There is 1 interface on the system:

    Name                   : Wi-Fi
    Description            : Realtek RTL8188CU Wireless LAN 802.11n USB 2.0 Network Adapter
    GUID                   : a7fcxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxx7ab77c
    Physical address       : XX.xx.xx.xx.xx.xx
    State                  : connected
    SSID                   : SDSpot
    BSSID                  : xx.xx.xx.xx.xx.xx
    Network type           : Infrastructure
    Radio type             : 802.11n
    Authentication         : WPA2-Personal
    Cipher                 : CCMP
    Connection mode        : Profile
    Channel                : 3
    Receive rate (Mbps)    : 300
    Transmit rate (Mbps)   : 72
    Signal                 : 100%
    Profile                : SDSpot

Check what is reported as your signal strength
If it's not looking good then you can consider your antenna

Not a bad idea anyway to check that the SMA connector is plugged in and screwed appropriately tightly
- and check that the polarity of both parts matches; SMA has both a gendered thread and inner connection

The other thing that pops out is that rod antenna claims it's omni-directional and 12db gain; which is a very 2-dimensional definition of omni!
- in essence 12db implies a very flat but far reaching radiation profile
- the specs say 360deg horizontal and 12deg vertical - so more of a frisbee than a sphere (which a true omni antenna would have)

This suggest that it might need a bit of careful positioning especially if the router (hot spot) is not at the same level
- ideally if you projected a straight line perpendicular out of the antenna it would hit the router (from the specs it should really be located with 12 deg of this perpendicular line)

Also if you have a phone you can use as a hotspot you can set that up near the PC and it will tell you if the PC hardware is faulty

Good luck
- sd

[xeny]

Or something else?

My suspicion is that the card is 2.4GHz only - you may be able to get details from device manager. If so, look to buy a USB 5GHz "dongle" and ideally remove the existing card to avoid confusion.

[GrandOiseau]

Or something else?

My suspicion is that the card is 2.4GHz only - you may be able to get details from device manager. If so, look to buy a USB 5GHz "dongle" and ideally remove the existing card to avoid confusion.

This may be a daft question but why not get a 5Ghz card?

I guess just because it's easier to install right?

Also, would using a 2.4Ghz card take it down from 70/80 to single figures.

Got a feeling I need to update the card or get a dongle whatever other problems there are.

[servodude]

Or something else?

My suspicion is that the card is 2.4GHz only - you may be able to get details from device manager. If so, look to buy a USB 5GHz "dongle" and ideally remove the existing card to avoid confusion.

This may be a daft question but why not get a 5Ghz card?

I guess just because it's easier to install right?

Also, would using a 2.4Ghz card take it down from 70/80 to single figures.

Got a feeling I need to update the card or get a dongle whatever other problems there are.

2.4GHz is older so might suffer from more congestion as more things are on it
- but it's totally capable of very good speeds AND has inherently better penetration than 5GHz
- 802.11n should be able to get throughout in the hundreds of Mbaud

Try and test the computer with a phone hotspot to see if it's the link to the router - before giving up on the hardware
-sd

[GrandOiseau]

Lost connection to the router totally this morning.

I have started Connectify hotspot via the laptop and using that.

Will try and do a speed test but the missus is working from home on it so limited access during the day.

All other devices - 3 laptops, 4 smartphones and an old ipad all connected OK and no issues - it's purely the PC that has issues.

[GrandOiseau]

Why would the PC see other routers/hotspots but not this one when all other devices can see the router?

[ReformedCharacter]

Seems like decent sized antenna for the task. Has the wireless card setup ever worked well? I think I would be inclined to remove the wireless card via Device Manager and then ask Windows to reinstall it, just to see if that makes any difference. Perhaps a Windows Update has upset it.

RC

[mc2fool]

This all sounds like a poor signal problem. Can I suggest that you try moving the PC to the same room as the router, and see what sort of speeds you get then.

If it flies along then you'll know it's a signal issue, not hardware or configuration. If it's still slow then I'd try an ethernet connection to the router as a quick eliminate-system-problems test, just in case, before doing anything else.

[GrandOiseau]

Seems like decent sized antenna for the task. Has the wireless card setup ever worked well? I think I would be inclined to remove the wireless card via Device Manager and then ask Windows to reinstall it, just to see if that makes any difference. Perhaps a Windows Update has upset it.

RC

Mmmm could try that this evening though I have slight concerns I might bugger the only thing up and lose all connectivity. The missus needs it for work.

At the minute I am thinking of getting a dongle anyway because I think my current card and antenna are probably not using the full potential of the new Gigafast infrastructure and router. Also my son uses it for gaming so something that be performant for that would be good.

[Infrasonic]

Seems like decent sized antenna for the task. Has the wireless card setup ever worked well? I think I would be inclined to remove the wireless card via Device Manager and then ask Windows to reinstall it, just to see if that makes any difference. Perhaps a Windows Update has upset it.

RC

Mmmm could try that this evening though I have slight concerns I might bugger the only thing up and lose all connectivity. The missus needs it for work.

At the minute I am thinking of getting a dongle anyway because I think my current card and antenna are probably not using the full potential of the new Gigafast infrastructure and router. Also my son uses it for gaming so something that be performant for that would be good.

Another option would be to run a low profile ethernet cable from the router up the wall, through the ceiling/floorboards and have it floating for any high bandwidth or A/B fault finding needs in future. You can get USB to Ethernet adapters if needs be.

If replacing the current desktop WiFi you can get 2.4 + 5GHz + Bluetooth PCIe cards with rear antenna that will perform better that a USB WiFi dongle.

[GrandOiseau]

This all sounds like a poor signal problem. Can I suggest that you try moving the PC to the same room as the router, and see what sort of speeds you get then.

If it flies along then you'll know it's a signal issue, not hardware or configuration. If it's still slow then I'd try an ethernet connection to the router as a quick eliminate-system-problems test, just in case, before doing anything else.

Unfortunately I can't move the PC. Or at least it would be a big faff to do so.

I did a speed test on my phone in all the rooms of the house a couple of days ago and there was very little degradation anywhere so I think any issues are down to the device. My son's phone for example wasn't getting such good speeds as me but his phone is a lower spec and it was still more than adequate. In the PC's case the speed is incredibly low by comparison.

This PC is a good spec but a few years old.

[servodude]

Why would the PC see other routers/hotspots but not this one when all other devices can see the router?

Possibly because you've attached a 12db antenna
- that gives you a narrow apperture if it's attached correctly
- but will also give terrible reception if the connecting points aren't touching properly

The point about using another hotspot is to do it at the PC to check whether it is a signal quality issue; if it works then it's likely your antenna position
- if it doesn't then you're looking at the antenna connection

If your hot spot were within a couple of meters it should work without an antenna

-sd

[kiloran]

Mmmm could try that this evening though I have slight concerns I might bugger the only thing up and lose all connectivity. The missus needs it for work.

That's what backups are for

--kiloran

[GrandOiseau]

Looking at wifi adaptors prices seem to range massively from £8 to £80.

Any reason to not buy this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Foktech-802-11 ... B07P6N2TZH

??

[mc2fool]

This all sounds like a poor signal problem. Can I suggest that you try moving the PC to the same room as the router, and see what sort of speeds you get then.

If it flies along then you'll know it's a signal issue, not hardware or configuration. If it's still slow then I'd try an ethernet connection to the router as a quick eliminate-system-problems test, just in case, before doing anything else.

Unfortunately I can't move the PC. Or at least it would be a big faff to do so.

Ok, then move the router. It doesn't matter if it's not connected to the big wide world, the thing you are testing is PC<->router speeds.

Move the router to the same room as the PC and power up and start, and then try copying a big file from one of your laptops (also in the same room) to/from the PC and see what real speed you get (remember, Windows copy-in-progress popup reports the copy speed in MegaBytes/s).

BTW, you haven't said what the netsh wlan show interfaces command, as suggested by servodude above, reports.

[Breelander]

I did a speed test on my phone in all the rooms of the house a couple of days ago and there was very little degradation anywhere so I think any issues are down to the device....

Was the phone using 5GHz or 2.4GHz WiFi? What does the PC use? Your test is only valid if the phone and the PC are using the same WiFi band.

Even 2.4GHz is capable of speeds up to 130Mbps under ideal conditions. I routinely get 50Mbps on my machines with 2.4GHz adapters, and that is only limited by the speed my ISP provides - not the 2.4GHz WiFi adapter.

There may be interference from neighbouring routers using the same or adjacent channels. This would be most noticeable when you are furthest from your own router. With a tool like Nirsoft's WifiInfoView you can see what channels are in use and their signal strengths. Run it on the slow PC and see what it says.

You may be able to choose a different channel for your router, one that is less used by your neighbours. For 2.4GHz the channels with the least overlap are 1, 6 and 11. Choose whichever of those has the least competition from adjacent routers.

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_info ... _view.html

[Infrasonic]

If you go into the advanced settings on your router you might be able to look at the logs, which should show any automated 2.4GHz channel hopping.
Default tends to be 'on' for switching these days due to the congestion issues.

[mc2fool]

Even 2.4GHz is capable of speeds up to 130Mbps under ideal conditions. I routinely get 50Mbps on my machines with 2.4GHz adapters, and that is only limited by the speed my ISP provides - not the 2.4GHz WiFi adapter.

Well, theoretically 300Mbps if channel bonded, although never that in reality.

My 8 year old HP Pavilion g6 laptop connects at 150Mbps with my Huawei HG635 router, which has gigabit ethernet ports of which one goes to my desktop (via a switch), and copying big files between the two runs at around 10MB/s. And for backups from the laptop to my NAS drive (also on the switch) Macrium reports typically between 10.5MB/s and 11MB/s.

So overall, figuring in protocol overheads and general junk, my 2.4GHz 11n setup goes at around 90-100Mbps, LAN-wise. (My BB connection is copper at typically 15-16Mpbs).

[xeny]

Or something else?

My suspicion is that the card is 2.4GHz only - you may be able to get details from device manager. If so, look to buy a USB 5GHz "dongle" and ideally remove the existing card to avoid confusion.

This may be a daft question but why not get a 5Ghz card?

I guess just because it's easier to install right?

Also, would using a 2.4Ghz card take it down from 70/80 to single figures.

Got a feeling I need to update the card or get a dongle whatever other problems there are.

Dongles are far easier to install/specify - you don't need to check if the card slot is PCI express or a weird wifi only option.

You can also easily put a dongle on the end of a USB extension lead and move it away from the PC if it makes the signal better.

A 2.4Ghz connection with enough other 2.4Ghz networks can deliver very little throughput - it's a case of how much the wifi connection can transmit, not what it brings the connection down to.