Question One computer in home much slower internet connection than all other devices?

Jan 25, 2024
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The issue:

All devices (mobile, laptop, PCs) in my home have correct speed (About 400-600MBps) except my own PC, which gets between 10-40 usually. This has been going on for years and I've tried so many things and just can't work out what is wrong. In addition to it being slower, it sometimes takes 5-10 seconds to load a web page (even things like the router hub page, which doesn't have to go out to the internet), then other times it's instant. And it sometimes drops my WIFI connection out and has to reconnect, or just fails to load a page.

In the time it took to make this post, the wifi on my PC dropped out twice.

Note: I don't currently have the option to use ethernet in this room.


Things I have tried:

- Using a different WIFI adapter (Tried about 4, including the one which works with correct speeds on other PC)
- Disabled 2.4GHz band on router and connected to 5GHz - Issue persists on both bands
- Run troubleshooter on Internet Connection and WIFI Adapter - No issues found
- Updated Network Adapter drivers - latest installed
- Ran various commands to reset network and other bits:
```
netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled
netsh winsock reset and press Enter
netsh int ip reset and press Enter
ipconfig /release and press Enter
ipconfig /renew and press Enter
ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter
```
- Changed DNS from Auto to Open DNS
- Reset network from Settings page
- Did a Clean Boot with no start-p programs or non-microsoft services
- Changed internet entirely - Moved house and got new router and same issue occurs on this one
- Disabled Windows Defender Firewall
- Tried using a Ethernet Through Power adapter - This increased speeds a bit, but dropped out sometimes.
- Deleted all old Network Adapters that were disabled
- Made sure IPV6 is enabled on the wifi adapter
- Checked for driver updates
- Uninstalled all Network Adapters from Device Manager and rebooted PC and let them reinstall
-


Device Details
Custom Built PC
```
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name TYR
System Manufacturer System manufacturer
System Model System Product Name
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU SKU
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor, 4000 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 3003, 09/12/2019
SMBIOS Version 3.2
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
BaseBoard Product ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING
BaseBoard Version Rev 1.xx
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United Kingdom
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.3636"
Time Zone GMT Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.93 GB
Available Physical Memory 4.58 GB
Total Virtual Memory 18.9 GB
Available Virtual Memory 13.7 GB
Page File Space 11.0 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualisation-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and the device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA-capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualisation Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes
```

Router Details
This happened previously on a different router, but this new one is an EE router, with the following info in the Hub:

```
Connection type:
External (FTTX)

App version:
1.9.0

Firmware version:
r1.21.1-R-940596-PROD-83002r 1 . 2 1 . 1 - R - 9 4 0 5 9 6 - P R O D - 8 3 0 0 2



WAN link speed:
1000 Mbps

Network uptime:
1 Day 17 Hrs 10 Mins

System uptime:
1 Day, 17 Hrs 10 Mins
```

As of the time of posting this, there are 3 devices connected, all wirelessly - my PC and 2 phones. But the wife's PC will also connect via WIFI and that has correct speed.



Here are some other bits of info I have screenshotted:

adapter-properties.png


network-adapters.png



I am completely out of ideas, if anyone can help. It's very annoying paying for this internet connection and I'm the only one who doesn't get to use it properly :(
 

JohnMGotts

Reputable
Dec 7, 2020
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24
4,615
I'd say it's likely the placement of your desktop might be an issue. Interference sounds likely.
That said, I would offer this. For under $20, you can order a 50' ethernet cable to have on hand.
I find it comes in real handy when trying to figure out how fast your PC can run, period. You might
consider a USB dongle extension cable and see if the ones you bought can be moved away from the
desktop cabinet.
 
Jan 25, 2024
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I don't think it's going to be interference. This has happened in 2 houses now, with different layouts. And the wife's PC which is in the same room works fine.
 
Just a guess but try to disable the IPV6 support and set the DNS to 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1

Your wifi speed if it is correct looks ok. Maybe try to copy a file from one of your other pc in the house and watch the network tab in the resource monitor. Be careful though some of those values are in BYTES/sec.

This would eliminate the wifi if it was fast which means it is something else in the software
 

JohnMGotts

Reputable
Dec 7, 2020
217
24
4,615
I don't think it's going to be interference. This has happened in 2 houses now, with different layouts. And the wife's PC which is in the same room works fine.
Well, it would be easy to move it across the room and see. BTW, I just noticed you mentioned this is a custom built PC. Is there an internal antenna in use? Did the system ever work properly? Is there a device on your table interfering with the signal? Does the dropout occur less frequently on the 2.4 band?
 
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Jan 25, 2024
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- IPV6 - This was disabled originally I think and I enabled it as part of trying to fix it.
- Internal Antenna - No. I use a USB wifi dongle. But I've tried about 4 or 5 different ones.
- I don't remember if the speed was ever correct, because I only noticed it after a while when I realised my wife's PC was much faster.
- Does it occur less on 2.4 band - No, it's basically the same.
- Anything on desk that would interfere - Not as far as I know. Just 2 monitors. Keyboard. Mouse.

Just to note, I have plugged it in via my ethernet through power adapter, and the dropouts have stopped, but the speed remains the same. Using the same speedtest I get between 10-40, she gets 100-200. So it may not be the wifi specifically, if it's still slow using ethernet through power, so maybe something internal is just not working properly? I don't know enough about hardware to know really.
 
That is pretty much expected difference between powerline and wifi. Powerline tends to not have as much bandwidth but it has much less random data loss and latency spikes.

That though does not explain why one computer would run 100mbps and the other 20mbps on the same powerline units

Athough it is likely just going to confirm that it is a software thing I would get a linux USB boot image. These run from the USB stick and most have a browser pre installed so you can run speedtest without installing anything. If this also has issue you would be looking at something more hardware related or maybe power saving related in the bios or something.

Unfortunately if linux works but windows does not you are still stuck trying to find what in the massive pile of crap of windows is causing the problems.

Key programs to look for would be anything that claims to favor one kind of traffic over another. Asus is one of the worst offenders of loading stuff with the bloatware that comes with the motherboards. A common name is cfosspeed but anything that talks about QOS or limiting traffic you want to uninstall.

It could also be browser settings, maybe use something like steam and watch the download rate (steam is in BYTES/sec). Steam uses its own client that ignores browser setting...At lest I hope they don't use stuff like proxy etc.
 
Jan 25, 2024
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I will look into getting the Linux boot and get back to you on that.

Just to note, the wife's PC which gets higher speed is just using WiFi.

Also, have tried different browsers, and things like Steam and other game clients are all about the same speed (Steam is usually slower than speedtests for some reason).
 
Mar 29, 2024
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With everything you have done, it seems like a possible hardware or software issue. USB dongles working on other pc's are ok but not on yours. USB related hardware or possible software driver for usb. BiOS update for motherboard. Maybe defective motherboard.

My pc is twice as slow as my wife on wifi and it's only a few years old. Same room too. But it isn't that slow. Depending on time of day up to 250mbps. Hers 480mbps.
 

lantis3

Distinguished
Nov 5, 2015
399
75
18,770
Tried several adapters and reset network multiple times and still didn't work? it doesn't make sense.

USB ports malfunctioned? If you tried everything and nothing works, try wifi extender instead.



You also tried powerline adapters? What model? It could be too much noise on your particular electric wire.
 
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