[SOLVED] Slow wifi connection on my PC but not on my other devices

[OzziMa]

Hi everyone,
I have gone through many similar forum posts regarding this issue, but none of the solutions seem to help me, so I've decided to make a post here.

My problem is that the internet connection on my PC is significantly slower than all my other devices.
I have tested internet speeds on different devices from the same position in my house and found that my phone and laptop will reach 100mb/s, while my PC can only reach 40 mb/s. On top of this, my connection is unstable, as I experience lag spikes whilst playing games online.

This problem hasn't been around forever, previously I was able to reach 100mb/s on my PC but around 3-4 months ago my speed dropped. This prompted me to purchase a new wireless adapter for my PC, the Asus PCE-AC56, which did not fix the problem.

Some more information about my connection and what I have done so far in order to try to fix the problem:

• My router is on the other side of the house and the signal has to travel through a few walls (I know this is suboptimal but there is no other option at this point in time)
• I have both a 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz network, and while it seems that the 2.4Ghz network would be better for me, I can only reach speeds of around 10mb/s and it is extremely unstable, so that isn't and option either.
• I have uninstalled my wireless adapter and reinstalled drivers several times and the speeds remain low.
• I have done a full scan with both Malwarebytes and Windows Defender in order to see if there was any malware that was causing the problem, however there were no detections.

ROUTER INFORMATION:
Model: Technicolor DJA0231 (Telstra)
My ISP is Telstra.
There are 13 devices usually connected to the network.

MY PC SPECS:
CPU: i5 7600
Motherboard: Gigabyte h270 HD3
Graphics Card: GTX 1070
PSU: Corsair CX550M
OS: Windows 10 Home
Wireless Adapter: PCE-AC56
Previous Wireless Adapter; TP-Link Archer T6e
Driver details for device Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter:
Date: 2/06/2013
Version 6.30.223.256


Thank you in advance for trying to assist me with my problem, I am extremely grateful for any help that you provide!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Just to rule out that the issue is not caused by the walls and the distance between router and PC, try getting either the router closer to the PC or the PC closer to the router and see if your speeds improve. You might want to see if the router has a firmware update pending though I'd like to stick with troubleshooting the PC.

Make sure you're on the latest BIOS update for your motherboard. What version of Windows 10 are you on? We're on version 20G2. Make sure your chipset drivers are reinstalled in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.

How old is the PSU in your build?

 

[Ralston18]

And I will add the suggestion to run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command Prompt.

Post the results.

Check that you only have one network adapter (either wired or wireless as intended) enabled. Not both adapters at the same time.

 

[OzziMa]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Just to rule out that the issue is not caused by the walls and the distance between router and PC, try getting either the router closer to the PC or the PC closer to the router and see if your speeds improve. You might want to see if the router has a firmware update pending though I'd like to stick with troubleshooting the PC.

Make sure you're on the latest BIOS update for your motherboard. What version of Windows 10 are you on? We're on version 20G2. Make sure your chipset drivers are reinstalled in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.

How old is the PSU in your build?

Thanks for the response!
From what you have suggested I have gone to the Gigabyte website and downloaded the latest BIOS update for my motherboard, as well as the chipset drivers (Intel INF installation is what it was called, not too sure if I installed the right thing or not). On top of that I found that I was on Windows 10 version 1909, and I updated to the latest version. In terms of repositioning the PC in order to see if the position is the problem, I have already tested different devices from this same position and the speeds on those devices are fine, however I will move my PC closer to the router the next opportunity I get and I will let you know about the results. The PSU in my build is around 4 years old.

In terms of results, updating the BIOS and chipsets didn't result in any changes, however after updating to the latest Windows 10 version, I was able to achieve 100Mb/s while downloading games on steam. This only lasted for around 3 minutes and I am back to only hitting 40-50Mb/s.
Another weird thing occurred when downloading stuff on steam, I briefly connected to my 2.4Ghz and then swapped back to the 5Ghz network mid download, and the download speed hit 100Mb/s for about a minute before going back to 40.

I will test the speed of my connection when I move it closer to the router and let you know.

 

[OzziMa]

And I will add the suggestion to run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) via the Command Prompt.

Post the results.

Check that you only have one network adapter (either wired or wireless as intended) enabled. Not both adapters at the same time.

Thanks for the suggestion!

I have disabled all other network adapters in device manager.
Here is the results of ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP-VCBEOJ6
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : modem

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 06-D9-F5-7B-86-72
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 06-D9-F5-7B-8E-72
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter WiFi:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : modem
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 04-D9-F5-7B-86-72
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:8003:4850:d200:6148:cb94:f78:af2f(Preferred)
Temporary IPv6 Address. . . . . . : 2001:8003:4850:d200:e572:da68:4f6e:a3e2(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6148:cb94:f78:af2f%20(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.147(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 10 February 2021 3:37:30 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 10 February 2021 4:37:30 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : fe80::22b0:1ff:fe37:f47c%20
192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 721738229
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-20-55-51-01-1C-1B-0D-95-A0-3C
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:8003:4850:d200::1
192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Connection-specific DNS Suffix Search List :
modem

 

[OzziMa]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Just to rule out that the issue is not caused by the walls and the distance between router and PC, try getting either the router closer to the PC or the PC closer to the router and see if your speeds improve. You might want to see if the router has a firmware update pending though I'd like to stick with troubleshooting the PC.

Make sure you're on the latest BIOS update for your motherboard. What version of Windows 10 are you on? We're on version 20G2. Make sure your chipset drivers are reinstalled in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator.

How old is the PSU in your build?

Sorry to make a whole new reply, but I just tested the internet speed when moving my PC right next to the router.
Using the wireless adapter I am still only reaching speeds of around 40-50Mb/s, however using an ethernet cable I was able to reach a max of 109Mb/s.
So it appears that the interference of walls is probably not the issue.
Considering I had experienced slower speeds on my old wireless adapter as well, do you think it is safe to assume it is a driver problem?
I know that my wireless adapter driver is dated from 2013, which is concerning, however when I go to update it, Windows says that the driver is up to date, and the driver from the Asus website is from 2012, and when I installed that driver (about a week ago) it caused my entire PC to crash multiple times.

 

[Ralston18]

If your ISP does not offer IPv6 - disable IPv6.

======

From "ipconfig /all"

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter

Look for that driver and be very wary of any sites that do list or otherwise offer the driver as a download or fix.

 

[OzziMa]

If your ISP does not offer IPv6 - disable IPv6.

======

From "ipconfig /all"

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter

Look for that driver and be very wary of any sites that do list or otherwise offer the driver as a download or fix.

Thanks for following up,
I have been looking for that driver, and I cannot find an up to date driver for it. If I try to update it through Windows I'm being told that the driver is up to date, despite it being 8 years old.
At this point I'm stumped, it's almost as if there's no support for this particular adapter...

 

[Ralston18]

Looking/ reading back:

From "ipconfig /all"

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 10 February 2021 3:37:30 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 10 February 2021 4:37:30 PM

On your router, change the lease time to 7 days (168 hours). Or whatever number of hours is configurable.

 

[OzziMa]

Looking/ reading back:

From "ipconfig /all"

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 10 February 2021 3:37:30 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 10 February 2021 4:37:30 PM

On your router, change the lease time to 7 days (168 hours). Or whatever number of hours is configurable.

I changed the lease time on my router to 168 hours, I was able to achieve a peak of 106 Mb/s however it only lasted around 30 seconds before dropping back to 50Mb/s.

 

[OzziMa]

I have another update regarding this issue. I have found that after stopping the card from being used for a minute or so (usually from changing some setting or restarting it), I am able to achieve speeds of 110Mb/s before they drop back after around 30 seconds - 1 minute.
Do you think it could be an overheating issue?
The wireless adapter is placed directly underneath the graphics card in my build.

 

[Ralston18]

Are you able to see the speed drops via Task Manager and Resource Monitor? Any corresponding changes with what the GPU or some other component is doing?

Can you monitor any temperatures.

I know that wireless USB network adapters can become quite problematic as the age. Generally, for me, that has included the wireless USB network adapter getting very warm or even quite hot. One fix has been to use a USB extension cable to move the USB wireless network adapter up and away from the host USB port.

Try opening the case and using a small fan to circulate more air around your wireless adapter and GPU. See if that can make a difference.

 

[OzziMa]

So basically, I moved my wireless adapter a few slots down on my motehrboard, and observed slightly higher speeds, but they still weren't as high as my other devices.
I monitored Task Manager while downloading games on steam and did not see any correlation between the point when my speed dropped from 110mb/s to around 60mb/s.
Any other ideas?

 

[Ralston18]

Temperature can be a problem for those small wireless network adapters.

Are you able to borrow or purchase an external USB wireless network adapter? One with antennas and a cable (or use a USB extension cable) that will allow you to place the adapter up and away from the host computer?

As I have seen noted several times within these forums the problem seems to the transmission (TX) weakness common to those small "nano" wireless network adapters.

They may receive (RX) well but the signal the device sends out is not strong enough and incomplete. Thus needing to be resent which in turn slows performance.

Note the following thread in this Forum:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/whats-causing-wifi-time-outs.3686668/

And specifically post #8 by @bill001g regarding wireless network adapters.

 

[OzziMa]

Temperature can be a problem for those small wireless network adapters.

Are you able to borrow or purchase an external USB wireless network adapter? One with antennas and a cable (or use a USB extension cable) that will allow you to place the adapter up and away from the host computer?

As I have seen noted several times within these forums the problem seems to the transmission (TX) weakness common to those small "nano" wireless network adapters.

They may receive (RX) well but the signal the device sends out is not strong enough and incomplete. Thus needing to be resent which in turn slows performance.

Note the following thread in this Forum:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/whats-causing-wifi-time-outs.3686668/

And specifically post #8 by @bill001g regarding wireless network adapters.

My current wireless adapter has an antenna which is connected by a cable to the wireless adapter, it is fairly close to the computer. I will move it further away and see if it helps.
This is my model: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1053128-REG/asus_pce_ac56_ac1300_dual_band_wireless_pci.html

 

[Ralston18]

Also ensure that the adapter card is fully seated in the slot and that the antenna connectors are fully and squarely screwed in. "Squarely screwed in" meaning that the connector is not tilted in any way once threaded on.

The connector should easily screw on and off with little force necessary.

Inspect the cords and plugs for signs of damage.

 

[OzziMa]

Also ensure that the adapter card is fully seated in the slot and that the antenna connectors are fully and squarely screwed in. "Squarely screwed in" meaning that the connector is not tilted in any way once threaded on.

The connector should easily screw on and off with little force necessary.

Inspect the cords and plugs for signs of damage.

The cords don't seem to be damaged, and I'm sure that the card is fully seated.

 

[Ralston18]

Turn off all other network devices (wired and wireless)

Determine if you can establish a stable, at speed connection.

Then start adding back other devices one by one allowing some time between additions. Pay attention to if and when the speed drops again.

Are you familiar with the "arp -a" command?

(Example reference: https://www.pcwdld.com/how-to-scan-network-for-ip-addresses)

Create a list of the devices (wired and wireless) on your network.

Name, IP address, static or DHCP, and MAC (physical address). Look for any duplicates.

 

[OzziMa]

Turn off all other network devices (wired and wireless)

Determine if you can establish a stable, at speed connection.

Then start adding back other devices one by one allowing some time between additions. Pay attention to if and when the speed drops again.

Are you familiar with the "arp -a" command?

(Example reference: https://www.pcwdld.com/how-to-scan-network-for-ip-addresses)

Create a list of the devices (wired and wireless) on your network.

Name, IP address, static or DHCP, and MAC (physical address). Look for any duplicates.

Okay so I tried disconnecting the devices from the internet and slowly adding them back, unfortunately this didn't seem to have any effect. Even with this PC being the only device connected to the network my speed was still slower.
I also used the arp -a command and didn't find any duplicates.

I did another test today to try and see if I found anything new.
I was downloading a game on steam and was reached a peak of around 110Mb/s, and it stayed around that speed for about 2 minutes, before the speed dropped to 0 for a few seconds, rising to a constant 20Mb/s, and then rising again after around 10 seconds to a constant 50Mb/s.

Does that give any possible clues to what's going on?

 

[Ralston18]

Look in the router's logs (if available and enabled). Determine if there are any log entries corresponding to the speed changes.

Also: I came across the following link- appears relevant to your router:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lDGZ83oZ19Y98rHINe2I7QFqWyaQO9WL/view

The document is (as is clearly stated) not an official document. And do verify that the document is, for the most part, applicable to your router.

However, I think the document is worth reading through and comparing what you read and see to your router's configuration.

You do not need to (nor should you start making any immediate changes. Just make a list of settings that are not as they should be or expected to be.

Then carefully and methodically address each setting one at a time.

=====

Are you able to run Powershell on your computer?

If so (or at least to verify) start Power shell and run the following cmdlet at the PS> prompt:

Get-NetIPConfiguration

There are other "Get" Powershell cmdlets that can be used for diagnostic purposes.

Those cmdlets can be applied to delve deeper into the current network related settings.

"Gets" are informational only and no changes should take place on the system.

 

[OzziMa]

Look in the router's logs (if available and enabled). Determine if there are any log entries corresponding to the speed changes.

Also: I came across the following link- appears relevant to your router:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lDGZ83oZ19Y98rHINe2I7QFqWyaQO9WL/view

The document is (as is clearly stated) not an official document. And do verify that the document is, for the most part, applicable to your router.

However, I think the document is worth reading through and comparing what you read and see to your router's configuration.

You do not need to (nor should you start making any immediate changes. Just make a list of settings that are not as they should be or expected to be.

Then carefully and methodically address each setting one at a time.

=====

Are you able to run Powershell on your computer?

If so (or at least to verify) start Power shell and run the following cmdlet at the PS> prompt:

Get-NetIPConfiguration

There are other "Get" Powershell cmdlets that can be used for diagnostic purposes.

Those cmdlets can be applied to delve deeper into the current network related settings.

"Gets" are informational only and no changes should take place on the system.

I read through that document and went through and compared the settings with the settings that I have on my router currently, and I couldn't find anything that seemed to be causing an issue.

In terms of running PowerShell, I ran the NetIPConfiguration command on my PC and compared the results with my laptop (which is connected to the same network but has a faster and more stable connection) to see any differences. I also did a traceroute to see if I could find anything that was different, but I couldn't discern anything that could be the problem.

 

[Ralston18]

Nothing in the router's logs?

Have you run "ipconfig /flushdns" on the PC?

Another tool is netsh.

Reference (and you can easily find other similar tutorials and "how-to's):

https://www.webservertalk.com/netsh-wlan-commands

https://www.troubleshootingcentral.com/netsh-wlan-commands-to-manage-wireless-networks/

Run the commands and options on both the PC and laptop.

Be careful not to run any commands that make changes.

The immediate objective is to just learn more about your wireless network and how your devices "see" the network.

Again look for some difference: not so much in the hardware per se (differences expected) but in the configuration or other reported results.

 

[OzziMa]

Okay, I have found something that while using netsh commands on both my PC and laptop.
I did "Netsh WLAN show interfaces", and found that the signal strength was around 66-76%, while my laptop has 99%.
This is pretty confusing considering that both my laptop and PC are basically right next to each other.
I will check the signal strength again with my PC right next to the router, but considering that from previous tests the speed has still been slow, even right next to the router, I think that it will remain low.
Now I guess I have to find the reason that the strength is so low.

 

[OzziMa]

Okay, I have found something that while using netsh commands on both my PC and laptop.
I did "Netsh WLAN show interfaces", and found that the signal strength was around 66-76%, while my laptop has 99%.
This is pretty confusing considering that both my laptop and PC are basically right next to each other.
I will check the signal strength again with my PC right next to the router, but considering that from previous tests the speed has still been slow, even right next to the router, I think that it will remain low.
Now I guess I have to find the reason that the strength is so low.

I also tried "Netsh WLAN show wirelesscapabilities"

These are the results:


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wireless System Capabilities
----------------------------
Number of antennas connected to the 802.11 radio (value not available)

Max number of channels the device can operate on, simultaneously (value not available)

Co-existence Support : Unknown


Wireless Device Capabilities
----------------------------

Interface name: WiFi 4

WDI Version (Windows) : 0.0.0.0

WDI Version (IHV) : 0.0.0.0

Firmware Version :

Station : Supported

Soft AP : Supported

Network monitor mode : Supported

Wi-Fi Direct Device : Supported

Wi-Fi Direct GO : Supported

Wi-Fi Direct Client : Supported

Protected Management Frames : Supported

DOT11k neighbor report : Unknown

ANQP Service Information Discovery : Not Supported

Action Frame : Not Supported

Diversity Antenna : Unknown

IBSS : Supported

Promiscuous Mode : Supported

P2P Device Discovery : Not Supported

P2P Service Name Discovery : Not Supported

P2P Service Info Discovery : Not Supported

P2P Background Discovery : Not Supported

P2P GO on 5 GHz : Unknown

ASP 2.0 Service Name Discovery : Not Supported

ASP 2.0 Service Information Discovery : Not Supported

IP Docking Capable : Not Supported

FIPS : Supported

Instant Connect : Supported

Dx Standby NLO : Supported

Extended Channel Switch Announcement : Unknown

Function Level Reset : Not Supported

Platform Level Reset : Not Supported

Bus Level Reset : Not Supported

MAC Randomization : Not Supported

Fast Transition : Not Supported

MU-MIMO : Unknown

Miracast Sink : Unknown

BSS Transition (802.11v) : Not Supported

IHV Extensibility Module Configured : Not Supported

SAE Authentication : Not Supported

WPA3 SUITE-B Authentication : Not Supported

WPA3 SUITE-B FIPS Mode : Not Supported

OWE Authentication : Not Supported

FTM as Initiator : Not Supported

MBO Support : Not Supported

Number of Tx Spatial Streams : 0

Number of Rx Spatial Streams : 0

Number of Concurrent Channels Supported : 2

P2P GO ports count : 1

P2P Clients Port Count : 1

P2P Max Mobile AP Clients : 128

Max ANQP Service Advertisements Supported : 0

Co-existence Support : Unknown



C:\Windows\System32>Netsh WLAN show wirelesscapabilities Wi-Fi 3
One or more parameters for the command are not correct or missing.

Usage: show wirelesscapabilities

Remarks:

Shows the wireless capabilities of the system

Examples:

show wirelesscapabilities


C:\Windows\System32>Netsh WLAN show wirelesscapabilities 1
One or more parameters for the command are not correct or missing.

Usage: show wirelesscapabilities

Remarks:

Shows the wireless capabilities of the system

Examples:

show wirelesscapabilities


C:\Windows\System32>Netsh WLAN show wirelesscapabilities

Wireless System Capabilities
----------------------------
Number of antennas connected to the 802.11 radio (value not available)

Max number of channels the device can operate on, simultaneously (value not available)

Co-existence Support : Unknown


Wireless Device Capabilities
----------------------------

Interface name: WiFi 4

WDI Version (Windows) : 0.0.0.0

WDI Version (IHV) : 0.0.0.0

Firmware Version :

Station : Supported

Soft AP : Supported

Network monitor mode : Supported

Wi-Fi Direct Device : Supported

Wi-Fi Direct GO : Supported

Wi-Fi Direct Client : Supported

Protected Management Frames : Supported

DOT11k neighbor report : Unknown

ANQP Service Information Discovery : Not Supported

Action Frame : Not Supported

Diversity Antenna : Unknown

IBSS : Supported

Promiscuous Mode : Supported

P2P Device Discovery : Not Supported

P2P Service Name Discovery : Not Supported

P2P Service Info Discovery : Not Supported

P2P Background Discovery : Not Supported

P2P GO on 5 GHz : Unknown

ASP 2.0 Service Name Discovery : Not Supported

ASP 2.0 Service Information Discovery : Not Supported

IP Docking Capable : Not Supported

FIPS : Supported

Instant Connect : Supported

Dx Standby NLO : Supported

Extended Channel Switch Announcement : Unknown

Function Level Reset : Not Supported

Platform Level Reset : Not Supported

Bus Level Reset : Not Supported

MAC Randomization : Not Supported

Fast Transition : Not Supported

MU-MIMO : Unknown

Miracast Sink : Unknown

BSS Transition (802.11v) : Not Supported

IHV Extensibility Module Configured : Not Supported

SAE Authentication : Not Supported

WPA3 SUITE-B Authentication : Not Supported

WPA3 SUITE-B FIPS Mode : Not Supported

OWE Authentication : Not Supported

FTM as Initiator : Not Supported

MBO Support : Not Supported

Number of Tx Spatial Streams : 0

Number of Rx Spatial Streams : 0

Number of Concurrent Channels Supported : 2

P2P GO ports count : 1

P2P Clients Port Count : 1

P2P Max Mobile AP Clients : 128

Max ANQP Service Advertisements Supported : 0

Co-existence Support : Unknown

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried the same thing on my laptop, and there were far less "Unknowns", the Firmware version was not empty, and the WDI Versions were different numbers rather than 0.0.0.0

 

[Ralston18]

04-D9-F5-7B-86-72

Asus (AsusTek COMPUTER INC.)

Reference:

https://macvendors.com/

[Copy the MAC and paste into the macvendors link.]

All I can think of for now is that there is some driver or firmware issue involved.

https://icr-am.asus.com/webchat/icr...-US&treeId=AM.US.EN-US.Network&tenantId=EN-US

Search "wireless network adapter firmware"