wi-fi speed oddity
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 1,993
Likes: 512
From: UK
wi-fi speed oddity
I have (amonst others) a desktop, running W7 Pro 64 bit and an HP Envy laptop running W 11. Both are connected (with a further desktop) on the house network.The laptop is rarely used (don't understand W11 ! 
) so most activity is on the desktop. Until recently, a speed check on the desktop would show 70-80 Mbs, but shortly after my contract ran out, this slowed down to 30 -40 Mbs. Complaints to the SP produced lots of checks, including an engineer's visit, with little improvement. Decided to take new contract and, initially got 50-60 Mbs, but recent checks show 11-14 Mbs ! ! !. When the engineers were here, they checked by plugging in their laptop to the router and showed 70 +.
I powered up my laptop and placed it next to the desktop and did comparison checks (done on the 'Which' checker, as recommended by the SP)
Results
Desktop 11-14 Mbs
Laptop 74 -76 Mbs
Ditterent machines or different software ?
Thoughts appreciated
) so most activity is on the desktop. Until recently, a speed check on the desktop would show 70-80 Mbs, but shortly after my contract ran out, this slowed down to 30 -40 Mbs. Complaints to the SP produced lots of checks, including an engineer's visit, with little improvement. Decided to take new contract and, initially got 50-60 Mbs, but recent checks show 11-14 Mbs ! ! !. When the engineers were here, they checked by plugging in their laptop to the router and showed 70 +.I powered up my laptop and placed it next to the desktop and did comparison checks (done on the 'Which' checker, as recommended by the SP)
Results
Desktop 11-14 Mbs
Laptop 74 -76 Mbs
Ditterent machines or different software ?
Thoughts appreciated
Joined: Oct 2019
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From: USA
My wi-fi router has two frequencies and protocols - /g and /n I think. It's possible the older computer has only the older protocol and the laptop has the new one.
Certainly a direct connection with wires will have better performance by skipping the transmitting and receiving steps and I would try that to see if that's involved.There may also be interference from other users of wi-fi in the area leaving insufficient bandwidth for everyone to talk at the same time.
Certainly a direct connection with wires will have better performance by skipping the transmitting and receiving steps and I would try that to see if that's involved.There may also be interference from other users of wi-fi in the area leaving insufficient bandwidth for everyone to talk at the same time.
Joined: Jun 2022
Posts: 154
Likes: 198
From: England
Dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) usb WiFi6 adapters are cheap these days (less than £10), and with a extension cable would allow you to try a different placement. Tri-band and WiFi7 are more expensive, but pointless unless your router supports them too.
I personally haven't had much luck with the USB3 ones and find USB2 more stable. USB2 should be good for at least 20MBytes/sec (200Mbit/sec) in the real world.
I personally haven't had much luck with the USB3 ones and find USB2 more stable. USB2 should be good for at least 20MBytes/sec (200Mbit/sec) in the real world.
