Partner's laptop is throttling my internet

[Luke876]

She has a new laptop which is totally killing my ping when she has it on. I play a lot of online games and my ping just nose dives to the point that any game I am playing is unplayable because of the lag. My Sky Go Player also starts buffering constantly.

Her connection seems stable enough, web pages and whatnot load but her download is not very good (Virgin Media, I get about 20mb/s, she gets only maybe 3 mb/s though).

I've checked for the latest drivers on her wireless adapter and they are all up-to-date but the issue persists. I'm wondering if the adapter is a faulty one. The laptop is a 'gaming' one but was cheap, about £550, and I wondered if it used cheap, third party components, hence a faulty adapter.

If the intel drivers are up-to-date I'm not sure what else the issue could be? Both our phones run absolutely fine on our network (my PC is wired) so I don't think it's to do with my router.

Any ideas?

 

[jojesa]

Which router do you have?
You could prioritize your computer over other in the network.
Enter your router configuration and assign a static IP address to your computer.
Enable QoS (Quality of Service) for your computer MAC/IP address and set to highest priority available.

 

[Luke876]

Which router do you have?
You could prioritize your computer over other in the network.
Enter your router configuration and assign a static IP address to your computer.
Enable QoS (Quality of Service) for your computer MAC/IP address and set to highest priority available.

The issue isn't to do with my router being unable to manage traffic. I have my xbox connected streaming Sky whilst I game (no issues at all) and I can browse on my phone, as can my partner, whilst I game and Sky is on, no problems.

The second her laptop 'connects' suddenly my entire connection is throttled massively. This is not a router issue, else I would have this problem using my phone, or Sky, or any other device. It's clearly to do with her laptop.

I run a Superhub 2 of Virgin, not that I believe it matters.

 

[jojesa]

If her laptop is using a WiFi adapter with a slow 802.11 standard (e.g. 802.11g or 802.11b) it could slow everyone on the network.
If her is a slower than the WiFi standard used by the other devices (e.g. 802.11n or e.g. 802.11ac), the router will default to the lowest denominator and slow everyone down.
You could change the WiFi adapter on her device or plug a USB WiFi adapter that supports a faster Wifi standard.

 

[Luke876]

If her laptop is using a WiFi adapter with a slow 802.11 standard (e.g. 802.11g or 802.11b) it could slow everyone on the network.
If her is a slower than the WiFi standard used by the other devices (e.g. 802.11n or e.g. 802.11ac), the router will default to the lowest denominator and slow everyone down.
You could change the WiFi adapter on her device or plug a USB WiFi adapter that supports a faster Wifi standard.

I don't think Super Hub 2 allows for Quality of Service.. Not sure about setting up top priority either.

 

[jojesa]

wow! this router is using legacy WiFi hardware. The Sky Hub 2 has a single 2.4GHz WiFi band, setting up top priority won't help.

Does your ISP has any dual band WiFi routers available?
Do they allow you to use your own router?

 

[Luke876]

wow! this router is using legacy WiFi hardware. The Sky Hub 2 has a single 2.4GHz WiFi band, setting up top priority won't help.

Does your ISP has any dual band WiFi routers available?
Do they allow you to use your own router?

Huh? As I said, Virgin is my ISP and provide Superhub 2...

 

[jojesa]

The QoS won't work on that modem/router.
The superhub 2 has 2.4 and 5GHz bands.
Are you able to have her device connected to one band and the rest , maybe 2.4GHz, and the rest using the 5GHz band?

 

[Luke876]

The QoS won't work on that modem/router.
The superhub 2 has 2.4 and 5GHz bands.
Are you able to have her device connected to one band and the rest , maybe 2.4GHz, and the rest using the 5GHz band?

Something to consider. Oddly enough I've just looked at Device Manager and her adapter in Advanced settings shows 802.11 a/b/g Wireless Mode AND 802.11 n/ac Wireless Mode. Can it have both? It appears to be set to the former, hence the issue.

 

[jojesa]

Use the 802.11 n/ac Wireless Mode so it could match other devices speed.
802.11 a/b/g will bring your router speed down for everyone connected to that band.

 

[Luke876]

Use the 802.11 n/ac Wireless Mode so it could match other devices speed.
802.11 a/b/g will bring your router speed down for everyone connected to that band.

I understand that but my point is that it doesn't appear to let me select it as an option. I find it a bit strange that it's listed in the table though. Any ideas?