[SOLVED] 700-800 download speeds on Laptop and phone...PC? 54...What gives?

Aug 28, 2021
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I am getting 800 download on Phone
Getting 750 on MacBook (both in same room as PC)

I purchased a new gaming PC last week. The day I set it up I tested the speed and got about 150 download speed. Well today when I went to install a new game...it's at 48-54mb and taking a year to download 90gb and won't go past it no matter what I change. (Realtek 8821CE wireless 802.11

I watched every video out there doing 5-6 steps.

Changing DNS settings
Unplugging all Bluetooth devices.
Shutting down Windows auto updates
Going into task manager to see is anything is using it in the background/
Went into command prompt to change a few things and restarted with no changes.
Enabling and disabling the Wifi card

Had trouble changing windows bandwidth because it wouldn't recognize my command.

Going mad I can't get more than 50+... Windows had a new update today I downloaded and wondering if that was anything?

And when i reset my modem...I did a speed test and it was at 200...next test down to 56...for a brief moment I got almost normal speeds....
 
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Solution
It is actually kinda strange you get such high speeds on your phone and your macbook. To do that it either needs to be the newer 802.11ax (wifi6) or it is very close to the router and also can do stuff like 3x3 mimo.

In general most people only see about 300mbps on the best 802.11ac....unless you sit on top of the router where you should be using a ethernet cable anyway.

The wifi card you have is a fairly standard 2x2 802.11ac device. 150-200 is not a uncommon speed with good signals. Not sure why you would get only 54mbps.

The most common issue with desktop machines is antenna are being blocked. First be sure the antenna are not loose and then try to face the antenna toward the router.
It is actually kinda strange you get such high speeds on your phone and your macbook. To do that it either needs to be the newer 802.11ax (wifi6) or it is very close to the router and also can do stuff like 3x3 mimo.

In general most people only see about 300mbps on the best 802.11ac....unless you sit on top of the router where you should be using a ethernet cable anyway.

The wifi card you have is a fairly standard 2x2 802.11ac device. 150-200 is not a uncommon speed with good signals. Not sure why you would get only 54mbps.

The most common issue with desktop machines is antenna are being blocked. First be sure the antenna are not loose and then try to face the antenna toward the router.
 
Solution
Aug 28, 2021
9
0
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It is actually kinda strange you get such high speeds on your phone and your macbook. To do that it either needs to be the newer 802.11ax (wifi6) or it is very close to the router and also can do stuff like 3x3 mimo.

In general most people only see about 300mbps on the best 802.11ac....unless you sit on top of the router where you should be using a ethernet cable anyway.

The wifi card you have is a fairly standard 2x2 802.11ac device. 150-200 is not a uncommon speed with good signals. Not sure why you would get only 54mbps.

The most common issue with desktop machines is antenna are being blocked. First be sure the antenna are not loose and then try to face the antenna toward the router.


Yeah I pay for 1000 Mb download and I get most of that pretty much but not on this PC. I can't for the life of me figure out the PC issue and it has had an impact on online gaming so I need a fix.

I am wondering if I need to try and restore from the beginning....or buy a USB wifi adaptor and try that instead?
 
Gaming does not care about speed other than when you first download. A game cares about a extremely stable latency which all wifi has issues with. When you are running most online games they use well under 1mbps some are as low as 300kbps.

A USB adapter might work worse. The huge problem with a desktop machine is that the metal case blocks radio signals. You can get short extension antenna cables that let you place the antenna on top of the case. A usb in some ways is easier to extend away since it is a simple cable but USB wifi devices are generally designed for portable equipment. This means they have tiny antenna and low power transmitters to save battery. The best USB device tend to have large external antenna and already come with a extension and base.

If you are going to spend money I would consider looking for a way to not use wifi at all when you plan to play online games. Your best options is ethernet. If that is not available and you have coax cables in both room you look at moca. The newer moca units can run full gigabit. If that is not a option you then consider powerline like av1000 and av2000 units. These will only get about 300mbps max but you will not get the random lag spikes in games you do with wifi.

Make sure you have the latest drivers from the chipset vendor. It is not likely it is a driver issue. It is likely a signal issue, look at the connection rate on the wifi status. Your best case is going to be 867, you will be very lucky to get even 1/2 that.
 
Aug 28, 2021
9
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Gaming does not care about speed other than when you first download. A game cares about a extremely stable latency which all wifi has issues with. When you are running most online games they use well under 1mbps some are as low as 300kbps.

A USB adapter might work worse. The huge problem with a desktop machine is that the metal case blocks radio signals. You can get short extension antenna cables that let you place the antenna on top of the case. A usb in some ways is easier to extend away since it is a simple cable but USB wifi devices are generally designed for portable equipment. This means they have tiny antenna and low power transmitters to save battery. The best USB device tend to have large external antenna and already come with a extension and base.

If you are going to spend money I would consider looking for a way to not use wifi at all when you plan to play online games. Your best options is ethernet. If that is not available and you have coax cables in both room you look at moca. The newer moca units can run full gigabit. If that is not a option you then consider powerline like av1000 and av2000 units. These will only get about 300mbps max but you will not get the random lag spikes in games you do with wifi.

Make sure you have the latest drivers from the chipset vendor. It is not likely it is a driver issue. It is likely a signal issue, look at the connection rate on the wifi status. Your best case is going to be 867, you will be very lucky to get even 1/2 that.

Yeah Ethernet isn't an option unfortunately. I will look into the powerlines. Don't seem that expensive but even if it boosts it to 100 I'd be happy with that. Although I want to test my PC on ethernet first. If it stays at 55ish even on ethernet...something in the PC is slowing this so I am going to put it next to router and hook it up and see


It's weird because the first 2 and possibly 3 days I was getting 125-150 download speeds. I was downloading a massive new game file and could play online in the background with no issues or lag. It seemed something changed because the same 40gb file that took 20 min...now takes almost 2 hours. And i really can't do anything online when it's downloading...it slows the internet to a crawl so i have to wait to play anything online for a few hours until the download is done.

So is my issue common? I see it posted a lot with windows 10 and newer PCs wondering the same. I know it's wifi and can be tricky. Just laptops and other things in that room get full strength but not the PC
 
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Aug 28, 2021
9
0
10
Gaming does not care about speed other than when you first download. A game cares about a extremely stable latency which all wifi has issues with. When you are running most online games they use well under 1mbps some are as low as 300kbps.

A USB adapter might work worse. The huge problem with a desktop machine is that the metal case blocks radio signals. You can get short extension antenna cables that let you place the antenna on top of the case. A usb in some ways is easier to extend away since it is a simple cable but USB wifi devices are generally designed for portable equipment. This means they have tiny antenna and low power transmitters to save battery. The best USB device tend to have large external antenna and already come with a extension and base.

If you are going to spend money I would consider looking for a way to not use wifi at all when you plan to play online games. Your best options is ethernet. If that is not available and you have coax cables in both room you look at moca. The newer moca units can run full gigabit. If that is not a option you then consider powerline like av1000 and av2000 units. These will only get about 300mbps max but you will not get the random lag spikes in games you do with wifi.

Make sure you have the latest drivers from the chipset vendor. It is not likely it is a driver issue. It is likely a signal issue, look at the connection rate on the wifi status. Your best case is going to be 867, you will be very lucky to get even 1/2 that.


OK so update...I just tested again after turning on for first time...it's getting 234 now....I didn't change a thing but looking at network properties...it's using 5G now from router vs 2.4 when I looked last night.
 
You need make sure is uses different SSID so you can always force it to use the 5g.

With a 2x2 802.11ac card is very common to get under 300mbps unless you sit on top of the router. Your other devices I have no clue how you mange speeds that high unless it is wifi6
 
Aug 28, 2021
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You need make sure is uses different SSID so you can always force it to use the 5g.

With a 2x2 802.11ac card is very common to get under 300mbps unless you sit on top of the router. Your other devices I have no clue how you mange speeds that high unless it is wifi6

Sorry. a bit confused by that first part. It's connected to the same network that was showing me 72mb under wifi properties last night...which has now moved to 433 since whatever happened.

I was looking last night how to force my wifi card to use 5g vs 2.4 that it was set to last night, and it switched on it's own...?
 
I assumed you were using speedtest to get the rates.

The numbers you see in the status for the connection more represent the coding method rather than a true speed.

You need very exact numbers but you can look this up in what is called a MCS table.

What is strange is both the number you list only match a rate that is using 1x1 mimo. Does your router support more than a single data stream. Your card can do 2x2 mimo. If the router can also support more than 1 stream I would check that you do not have a antenna disconnected on your card.

Pretty much the only difference is the 72 is using 20mhz channels and the 433 is using 80mhz. That would be common moving from 2.4 to 5.
 
Aug 28, 2021
9
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10
I assumed you were using speedtest to get the rates.

The numbers you see in the status for the connection more represent the coding method rather than a true speed.

You need very exact numbers but you can look this up in what is called a MCS table.

What is strange is both the number you list only match a rate that is using 1x1 mimo. Does your router support more than a single data stream. Your card can do 2x2 mimo. If the router can also support more than 1 stream I would check that you do not have a antenna disconnected on your card.

Pretty much the only difference is the 72 is using 20mhz channels and the 433 is using 80mhz. That would be common moving from 2.4 to 5.

Yes speed test. Test though xfinty was also very similar. Not sure what the Xfi router can do. both antennas are connected.


Quick specs I found on router:

  • Model Numbers: CGM4331COM and TG4482A
  • Friendly Model Name: XB7
  • Gigabit Ethernet Ports: 4
  • Dual-Band WiFi Option: Yes
  • 2.4 GHz Connected Client Limit: 75
  • 5 GHz Connected Client Limit: 75
  • Maximum Data Throughput: 2.5 Gbps
  • WPS (WiFi Protected Setup): Yes
  • Gateway/ Network Management Tool (http://10.0.0.1): Yes
  • Xfinity xFi Eligible: Yes
  • Xfinity xFi Advanced Security: Yes
  • Xfinity app Activation: Yes
  • Two Total Telephone Ports: Yes (separate Alarm Port)
  • Battery Backup Capability (Xfinity Voice Only): No
  • Link Cordless Phones (CAT-iq 2.0*): Yes
  • Home Hotspot Capable: Yes
  • Compatible with Xfinity Home : Yes
 
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eldridgep2

Commendable
Dec 24, 2020
31
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1,545
If the wi-fi card is built into the PC may I suggest it may not be the best?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ziyituod-B...dchild=1&keywords=ax200&qid=1630426042&sr=8-4

Get something like the above put it into a free PCIe slot assuming you have one and if required create separate SSID's on you wireless for 5Ghz and legacy 2.4Ghz devices and set your PC to connect to the 5GHz network only. The device is probably auto scanning and joining the stronger network you can either set a preference to join only 5Ghz/2.4Ghz or if unsure create separate SSID's and only give it the details for the 5G one.

Having the latest wi-fi 6 ax standards will help in the future and the larger external antenna will also help. Btw you don't need to find the relevant companies drivers just download the latest Intel AX 200 ones and you should be fine. I'm around 15-20ft away from my router and regularly connect at over 800Mbps.
 
Aug 28, 2021
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I assumed you were using speedtest to get the rates.

The numbers you see in the status for the connection more represent the coding method rather than a true speed.

You need very exact numbers but you can look this up in what is called a MCS table.

What is strange is both the number you list only match a rate that is using 1x1 mimo. Does your router support more than a single data stream. Your card can do 2x2 mimo. If the router can also support more than 1 stream I would check that you do not have a antenna disconnected on your card.

Pretty much the only difference is the 72 is using 20mhz channels and the 433 is using 80mhz. That would be common moving from 2.4 to 5.


So I usually put the comp to sleep overnight. Last night I shut it down and now It's connected to the 2.4 on it's own with the horrible speeds again. Can I force it to use 5G like before?

Under the wifi properties I see no option to choose 5G like in all the videos I am watching to force it to use 5G but it was using it

Edit: I created a 5G profile under my router and looks like I can now switch to 5G network...if that's the best way to do it
 
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You should use different ssid for 2.4 and 5. The device will always choose the strongest signal which is almost always the 2.4g radio when the ssid are the same. The issue is 2.4g has smaller radio bands so it can carry less data than a weaker 5g signal. With different SSID you can force it to connect where you want rather than depend on a device to be "smart?"
 
Aug 28, 2021
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You should use different ssid for 2.4 and 5. The device will always choose the strongest signal which is almost always the 2.4g radio when the ssid are the same. The issue is 2.4g has smaller radio bands so it can carry less data than a weaker 5g signal. With different SSID you can force it to connect where you want rather than depend on a device to be "smart?"

So I set up another network for 5G or ssid to connect to vs the 2.4. So this should solve my issue going forward correct? The new 5G network has link speed of 250 vs 75 for the 2.4 ssid.
 
Aug 28, 2021
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It should since you will be in full control. There are situations where the 2.4g can be faster if the signals are very weak.

Thanks again for your help. It's been weird. Fast for 5 days...slow for 5...auto connect to 5g one random night and now setting up own 5g network.

My router for Xfinity says will choose best internet but 10 ft away though 1 wall was awful on 2.4 vs my other devices and it was random when it would switch....at least now I can force it when needed.