Question NBN speeds slow on just one device

[pofazs]

Hi guys, I'm not amazing with tech so bare with me but I recently ran into an issue with my NBN connection. I just moved places and at my old house I had 5G Home Internet and never had a single issue. In the new apartment however, 5G wasn't available so I now have NBN (FTTN if that makes any difference).

Now, all my devices have no issues what so ever except for my PC. It has frequent disconnections to the Wifi and runs on incredibly low speeds (between 0.5-5mbps when my plan is 100mbps which I usually hit on my other devices). I've also noticed this ONLY happens with the NBN Wifi as it has no connectivity issues or speed loss with my phone's hotspot. I have also tried two different wifi adapters one of which was new but that did not change anything. I have also tried the "obvious" stuff I've seen in other forums like resetting network settings, reinstalling wifi adapter drivers, flush DNS and others. Does anyone have any other idea how to go about fixing this issue or potentially point me towards the right direction? Thanks

 

[Colif]

nbn - National Broadband Network (So glad I don't have to use it)
FTTN - Fibre To The Node

where is router in relation to the wifi antennae on PC? maybe you need a range extender?
networking isn't my strong point.

 

[bill001g]

I bet you tested your hotspot right next to the PC.

If this is a desktop you have a massive metal case blocking the wifi signals. Very tiny difference in placement of antenna can make a huge difference in the signal you get so even turning the machine might help.

Nothing helps when the problem is the signal is being absorbed by the walls or ceilings between you and the router.

Best option if you can do it is to not use wifi. Ethernet cable is the best option. If you have coax cables in both rooms you can use MoCA. You might also consider powerline networks. As a very last option you can consider things like extender or mesh. This may or may not help it all depends on placement of the equipment. You must be able to place the extender in a area it gets good signal but can still provide a signal to remote room. This sometime is impossible if a wall absorbs a lot of signal. Even if it works unless you buy very expensive mesh systems that have a extra radio chip to talk between the router and the extender you will cut your speed in half.

So again if you can find any way to run a ethernet cable that is going to be your best option.

 

[pofazs]

I bet you tested your hotspot right next to the PC.

If this is a desktop you have a massive metal case blocking the wifi signals. Very tiny difference in placement of antenna can make a huge difference in the signal you get so even turning the machine might help.

Nothing helps when the problem is the signal is being absorbed by the walls or ceilings between you and the router.

Best option if you can do it is to not use wifi. Ethernet cable is the best option. If you have coax cables in both rooms you can use MoCA. You might also consider powerline networks. As a very last option you can consider things like extender or mesh. This may or may not help it all depends on placement of the equipment. You must be able to place the extender in a area it gets good signal but can still provide a signal to remote room. This sometime is impossible if a wall absorbs a lot of signal. Even if it works unless you buy very expensive mesh systems that have a extra radio chip to talk between the router and the extender you will cut your speed in half.

So again if you can find any way to run a ethernet cable that is going to be your best option.

Thanks for the help. I have since managed to stop the Wifi from dropping to such low speeds but now instead if just drops out all together for a few seconds (2-5 seconds) every now and again. The router is one room away (so one wall away) so not very far. My old router when I had a 5G home connection was much further (not sure if thats helpful info). My wifi adapter is an external USB so not inside the PC case either. I have had other people recommend a powerline adapter and then run an ethernet cable so I will try that and hopefully the issue will go away!

 

[bill001g]

I guess you could move the pc into the other room to test to see if maybe you have a defective nic. Not real likely. There also is a small chance it is the wifi autoconfig stuff but you can no longer really disable that, and microsoft claims they have fixed that problem.

Wifi is so unpredictable. The exact same setup works very differently in different houses. It takes very little to block wifi. Could be there is some small amount of metal in the paint on the walls. When you consider your microwave over also works on 2.4g and can put out 1000 times the power allowed by your router but the amount the goverment mandates that can get out is a tiny fraction of what your router puts out all the time. In addition you can still see through the front glass door.