[SOLVED] One device has Lower -dBm but slower connection?

[tomas.sherrington]

Hello, In my room I have two devices, a desktop and a HP laptop. The desktop has around -54 dBm but is only getting 20mbs download and 37 upload. The laptop has around -63 dBm and is getting 70mbs download and 35 upload. I have a 100/40 internet plan. Would anyone know what's causing the slow download speeds on the desktop? Thanks

 

[Ralston18]

More information needed:

Desktop and laptop hardware specs and OS information.

Router: make and model?

How are the -dBm's being measured? How are the upload and download speeds being measured?

Use Resource Monitor and Task Manager (use both but only one at a time) to examine the overall performance of the desktop and laptop.

Not necessarily a comparison between the two devices but just to look for something that the desktop is doing (or not doing) with respect to what the laptop is doing or not doing.

 

[tomas.sherrington]

More information needed:

Desktop and laptop hardware specs and OS information.

Router: make and model?

How are the -dBm's being measured? How are the upload and download speeds being measured?

Use Resource Monitor and Task Manager (use both but only one at a time) to examine the overall performance of the desktop and laptop.

Not necessarily a comparison between the two devices but just to look for something that the desktop is doing (or not doing) with respect to what the laptop is doing or not doing.

Hey, here is some more information:

Both devices are running windows 10 with build 19042.1288
The laptop has a Intel Dual Band wireless-AC 7265 card
The desktop has a netgear A6210 usb adapter.

Router is one that came with my internet package. Optus Ultra wifi.

The -dBm's were measured with wifi analyzer an app from the windows store, and down/up speeds were measured with the Ookla speed test.

On task manager and resource manager I couldnt notice anything out of the ordinary on both devices, Just like 5-10 apps that are using sub 50 B/sec network utilization.

 

[bill001g]

Be sure both devices are connecting to the same radio...ie 2.4 and 5. Do you use different SSID.

Look at the status of the wifi it should show you a connection "speed" . This number actually represent the data encoding. This is as important as the db number. A very weak signal with little interference will work as good as a stronger signal with more interference.

It really doesn't matter the wifi will attempt to connect at the fastest data encoding it can negotiate and there is not much you can do to change it. Since the desktop adapter has a USB cable try to place the unit in a slightly different locations and see if it changes anything. You want it away from the big metal box of your computer to avoid blocking the signals.

It would be nice if you could get diagnostic information as to what is going on, like how much data re transmission there was but this is all locked up inside the wifi radio chips. Not sure why they are so restrictive but many years ago people used to hack the chips to exceed the legal power levels.

 

[Ralston18]

And I will ask, just for the record, what specific wifi analyzer app for dBm's?