Question USB3.0 Ethernet adapter - slow WAN fast LAN

Feb 23, 2020
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I've had the ethernet adapter that I linked below for months now and never really cared until recently that I am getting no where near the speeds that I should see with the device. I use it on an older Intel i7 laptop that doesn't have a gigabit ethernet connection. My home internet speed is a 400/20 connection.

When I run speed tests with any of the common speed test websites speedtest.net or fast.com I am seeing download speeds in the range of 60-80 Mbps. I have tried uninstalling the device, swapping between 6 different network adapter drivers, updating various USB related drivers, changing USB ports, and changing ethernet connections (different port on the switch and different cable). The laptop with a native gigabit connection that is connected to the other switch port that I tested the "slow computer" on is seeing 400-500 Mbps normally.

Where things seem odd to me is that I can transfer files between the two laptops on the LAN and see speeds that range between 200-650 Mbps depending on the files and duration of the transfer. System resource utilization (cpu and ram) is quite low <25% on average during the transfers. If I pull data from Gdrive using Rclone with the "slow computer" directly I am seeing approximately 65 Mbps down, yet I can use the fast laptop to download from Gdrive using Rclone where I am saving direct to the slow laptop over the LAN and I am seeing sustained 200+ Mbps.

Not sure if that is all clear - but essentially the adapter seems like it is performing substantially on the LAN but really poor on the WAN. I've tried moving the adapter to a USB2.0 port on the "slow laptop" as well and was seeings similar download speeds to when it was on USB3.0 which makes me question if it isn't an issue with the laptop.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/questions/insignia-usb-3-0-to-gigabit-ethernet-adapter-white/3510527
 
Feb 23, 2020
3
0
10
I would try booting on a linux live cd and see if that changes anything. If it does, then it is some sort of windows software issue. If it stays the same, it's a hardware issue.
Ran Ubuntu from a USB drive and sure enough saw 300+ Mbps download speed. So it is a Windows thing. Any idea what it would be?
 
Ran Ubuntu from a USB drive and sure enough saw 300+ Mbps download speed. So it is a Windows thing. Any idea what it would be?
Sweet, so it's not hardware.

Well, fixing windows can be a bear. I would completely remove the drivers from windows, boot multiple times to make sure they are gone and then remove the hardware. Let it reboot several times like this without the hardware and then see if adding it back installs the drivers again. If it doesn't, I don't know much more to try, but someone else more knowledgeable than me can probably help.
 
I found that one component of the issue was AGV web shield. I uninstalled AGV and am seeing 160 Mbps max. Still not 100% but can't find what's causing it.
Yeah, back in the day windows was much simpler and I could guide you to fixing it. But today it's a big hairy mess that continually morphs into a bigger mess so someone else will have to help you out in that area as I don't have many ideas besides scrapping the windows install and starting over.
 
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