Only getting 200 mbps on a 400 mbps wired desktop connection

[katah1969]

Recently upgraded my internet speed to 400 mbps from 200 mbps. When doing a speed test my PC never goes above ~170 mbps, but all other wired computers on my network easily reach 400 mbps. At this point I'm simply not sure what is left to try.

I've taken a working Ethernet cable from a working 400 mbps computer and connected it to my PC that is only getting `200 mbps, but that did not solve it so I think I can safely say it must be either my network adapter or a setting within Windows 10 that is not configured properly. All network drivers were un-installed and re-installed from Asus for my motherboard.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ferre Vekemans]

That's weird, are you sure your motherboard supports that speed?

 

[katah1969]

That's weird, are you sure your motherboard supports that speed?

I'm pretty sure. I'm using the ASUS ROG STRIX X99 GAMING and the networking specs from the product page show Intel® I218V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller - Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Supports dual band frequency 2.4/5 GHz Supports MU-MIMO. But I'm using wired with a cat5e cable.

 

[Ferre Vekemans]

Maybe something was downloading in the background? Something like steam updates?
There's also this new windows update thing where it uses a P2P network and uses lots of bandwith.

 

[katah1969]

Maybe something was downloading in the background? Something like steam updates?
There's also this new windows update thing where it uses a P2P network and uses lots of bandwith.

I thought the same so made sure steam was closed and no Windows updates were found. Still the same. Went into the bios to see if maybe there might be a setting there, but only an option to enable/disable.

Thinking maybe the best thing to do at this point is to order a new network card from Amazon and try that. I'm guessing if it still does not go beyond 200 mbps then at least maybe it can then be narrowed to a configuration issue although I've looked through all setting I can think of and everything appear correct.

 

[birne]

you mentioned swapping cables, but try also connecting directly to the router to see if that changes anything. or swapping to a port from one that gets full 400.

 

[katah1969]

you mentioned swapping cables, but try also connecting directly to the router to see if that changes anything. or swapping to a port from one that gets full 400.

I did unplug my cable from a computer getting ~400 mbps and tried plugging it into my the PC that is only getting ~200 mbps. I also totally bypassed my router and plugged directly into the cable modem. Such a frustrating issue.

I do want to thank everyone trying to help me troubleshoot this. You all are the best!

 

[das_stig]

In device manager, try setting the link in network card properties from Auto to 1000mbps Full, with TX & RX offloading.

 

[Achint2000]

This might be another classic case of Windows Update hogging internet bandwidth in the background. Start+R > type "resmon.exe" and hit enter. Go to the Network tab and see network activity.

You're most likely to see svchost.exe taking up ridiculous amounts of bandwidth. That, sir, is Windows Update, running in the background.

If that's the case, disable windows update by using Start+R > "services.msc".

Find a service named "Background Intelligent Transfer Service", right click and stop, then right click > Properties > Startup Type = Disabled.

Do the same with a service called "Windows Update". Restart your system and make sure these services have stopped. Then run your speedtest and everything should work normally.

Note - If Windows Update is downloading an update so aggressively, you might have an older version of Windows. Update to the latest version as early as possible for security reasons, etc.

 

[katah1969]

In device manager, try setting the link in network card properties from Auto to 1000mbps Full, with TX & RX offloading.

Thanks for the suggestion! Tried and sadly no change =(

 

[katah1969]

This might be another classic case of Windows Update hogging internet bandwidth in the background. Start+R > type "resmon.exe" and hit enter. Go to the Network tab and see network activity.

You're most likely to see svchost.exe taking up ridiculous amounts of bandwidth. That, sir, is Windows Update, running in the background.

If that's the case, disable windows update by using Start+R > "services.msc".

Find a service named "Background Intelligent Transfer Service", right click and stop, then right click > Properties > Startup Type = Disabled.

Do the same with a service called "Windows Update". Restart your system and make sure these services have stopped. Then run your speedtest and everything should work normally.

Note - If Windows Update is downloading an update so aggressively, you might have an older version of Windows. Update to the latest version as early as possible for security reasons, etc.

Thanks! I had not tried this.
Looking at the network tab the most activity I see is 10 kbps. I'm using the latest Insider version of Windows, but to be safe I went ahead and disabled the Windows Update services you mentioned, but it's still capping at about ~200 mbps.

 

[birne]

i wonder what will happen when doing a file transfer from your computer to another on the LAN, and also the other way around.