why did my wireless speed slow down

[vdelfabbro]

I have a Lenovo G500s Touch laptop that came with Windows 8 pre-installed. I do not like Windows 8 and wanted to go back to Windows 7 but there was no option unless I did a complete install of Windows 7 on it. Now I didn't have a copy of Windows 7 to do so, but I grinned and bared it. Then I got the Windows 10 automatic update, which I didn't want, but the 8.1 was slightly better. Now when windows 10 was initially loaded, I was getting speeds of around 100 Mb/s down. Now I'm lucky if I get 6 Mb/s down. I am using Suddenlink as my ISP, but according to them, my signal from the curb was too hot, so they came out and adjusted the db voltage. It was after then that I noticed that my WiFi speed went downhill.So it is clear that I'm using Windows 10. My laptop doesn't have "official support" for Windows 10, so I'm assuming that is the problem. I have an ASUS Darkknight RT-N66U router running both 2.4 and 5GHz streams, as I have always done. My connection speed is 200 Mb/s. On my phone I'm getting a steady 50 Gb/s down in the living room down on the 2.4 spectrum, which is still slower than it used to be, but as I said above, it used to be 100 down.
My educated guess is that the network adapter is the culprit and I need to downgrade for driver optimization
In the house I have 2 laptops, 2 Playstation 4s, one is using 5G, Amazon Fire (connected via ethernet), the high speed Tivo Actiontec transmitter, and 3 Kindles
Lenovo G500s Touch running Windows 10 home, latest update (3D as of about a week ago)
ASUS Darkknight RT-N66u 3x3 Gigabit router
Qualcomm Atheros AR945WB-EG Wireless card (factory) driver version 3.02.201
ISP is Suddenlink communications 200Mb/s
Anything else I've forgotten to mention?

Thanks in advance

 

[Ralston18]

Connections being:

ISP ---coax ----> cable modem ----> ethernet cable --->[WAN] ASUS router [LANs] -----> ethernet devices and ~~~~wireless ~~~> Lenovo and other devices.

What make and model is the cable modem?

As I understand your thread all Suddenlink did is reduce (perhaps) the signal strength coming into your cable modem.

The wireless signal speed/performance between the ASUS router and your Lenovo G500 is a separate matter.

If the ISP's adjustment truly had some negative effect then all devices would be affected. Which does seem to be the case. Could be something was done to or happened to the cable modem.

Take a closer look at the Lenovo's wireless adapter settings. Match to the ASUS router as best you can. Use manual settings versus auto. Or if now auto, try manual.

Goal is to get the Lenovo's wireless performance up to what you expect or at least as high as you can. May remain "stuck" at the current levels or may improve.

Disable IPv6 on the adapter if you do not have or use IPv6.

Try shutting down other devices and work only with your Lenovo. Then start adding back wired and wireless network devices one a time. See if there is some "threshold" number of devices where wireless again slows.

The bottleneck could be the router. Need to prove or disapprove if possible. Then look at the cable modem as the next step.

 

[vdelfabbro]

I appreciate such a fast response.

First, the modem is made by Arris, model CM-820, the Suddenlink standard for my DL speed, any higher than 200M would require them to give me a different one. Ive had it replaced like three times. Only drawback on the modem is that it's not a 64 bit modem; something the service lady on the phone told me it is probably the bottleneck. I believe her, but he next day when the rep came over he replaced it with the exact same one, said if i wanted a 64 bit one I would have to buy it and they wouldn't warrant it if it went bad, said all of the 200 meg connections use that exact modem grrr.

Supposedly one of the reasons they adjusted the voltage was because a few people in the neighborhood weren't receiving service; I asked him to verify speed and was hitting 200 on his device after the voltage drop. I had him test all four of my LAN ports as well and they all registered 200 meg so I believe that eliminates the LAN part of the equation, so I'm left with WiFi.

Next troubleshooting for me to do is disable all wireless devices as you mentioned, which I thought about, but have yet to do. Although that ASUS router is an older modem, not ac standard, it is still a very good and fast router.

I purchased a different router, an ac one, and that router had no affect on the performance issue so I sent it back, same issue.

Couple questions though. Isn't IPv6 the latest standard? Would I need to adjust the MTU of the router to more closely match that of the wireless adapter? I had to do that for Playstation speeds to increase, adjusted to 1473 from 1500 and changed DNS to Google servers. Also, how would I go about checking my adapter's settings? I'm not dumb, but it's a dumb question, for me at least.

Also, would running dual bands affect the performance of the 2.4G spectrum? I'm thinking no as it's a 3x3 router. Guest is not turned on so that eliminates complete chaos. Would running at 40 Hz bandwidth vs 20Hz be an issue? My router is separated by one wall and I'm running 40Hz wide with a -50db or higher signal

Also, before anyone states the obvious, I am on a separate channel, so I'm not getting neighbors' interference, unless they got a new super powered microwave or perfect cordless phones.

I hope that info could help you help me. I just backed up my system as I was about to put Win 7 64 on it. As I stated previously, which you/we are trying to achieve, is to optimize my wireless card with my router settings as that would be perfect, I hate to do re-installs, but dang this is a nightmare for me. Nobody else in the house cares, except for me, but I want to get speeds like I was before as pages aren't loading as fast as they need to be on such a fast connection. I would love to optimize my ethernet adapter as well so I can get 200 down on it, because if i'm downloading a large file I will just go plug it in and BAM done.

 

[Ralston18]

IPv6 is primarily a means to providing more IP address "space".

Here is a link with more information:

http://www.ipv6now.com.au/primers/IPv6Advantages.php

As I understand it you are receiving 200 meg via the router wired LAN ports. So wired is okay.

That leaves wireless. Wireless is inherently slower than wired in any case. However, as you are experiencing, wireless can be unreasonably slow and due to any number of factors: e.g., interference, configuration errors, bandwidth demand....

I do not have a Playstation but I easily found links regarding MTU settings. Seems to be a variety of options and opinions - some are related to what appear to fixes for what are now non-existent problems. Do not remember doing any MTU "tweaks" either for performance or to fix a problem.

As for the frequencies: 5 GHz is for speed at shorter distances. 2.4 GHz is for distance/coverage and can be slower.

Channel/width - starter link:

https://help.cloudtrax.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000257084-How-does-channel-width-affect-my-network-

My suggestion is that you plan out some specific wireless test settings/configurations to try and then test the speed/performance for each configuration.

Change only one thing at a time and run each configuration several times to obtain some average performance values.

Try to find the configuration that provides the fastest wireless speed and corresponding download speed for your environment.

Work with one device first - find the "peak". Then start adding other wireless devices and observe the network's wireless performance.

May be okay until some threshold number of devices and then the drop is dramatic. Especially if one of those devices is not correctly configured.

 

[vdelfabbro]

Okay update;

I disabled every wireless device, PS, all kindles, other laptop, and ran test again...still 5-6 down.

So I tried the other laptop, ASUS running Windows 7, and got 100 down, same spot as when i initially tested mine.

So I turned on all the wireless devices again and re-tested; still 5-6 down. Still 90-95 on the other laptop.

Next step, browser. The other laptop is running Firefox, mine is running Waterfox, the 64bit version of Firefox. So to make things even Steven, I uninstalled Waterfox, using REVO uninstaller so I could remove any trash, and put Firefox on my laptop; still 5-6 down, so I put Waterfox back on. 64 bit programs typically run best on 64 bit processor, OS, so all is matched up. 5-6 down.

Ok, so now dreaded MS Edge. 5-6 down, no change, now I'm beyond livid.

So in my head, since my Lenovo doesn't officially support Windows 10, I should head on back to an OS where the drivers are optimized, unless I can somehow sync my wireless adapter settings with my router, as you earlier suggested.

My question however, is how do I go about checking my adapter settings, because if I have to turn on QoS, then I will for my laptop only. Also, IPV6 is/was turned off on my router.

I have searched for how to check adapter settings and I keep getting what I already know, cpl---> check device---> make sure device is set to on and try again, or cpl---> disable device---> re-enable device and try again. I know that stupid troubleshooting guide, I want to sync settings, if possible, but it's looking like a downgrade is my solution.

Great, now I've got to change my file-structure from UEFI, however, under disk management, my Windows 10 partition is NTFS, and a downgrade requires me to install drivers. Also, I made a system image, so, if I did want to return to Windows 10, will the image put the UEFI partitions back?

 

[vdelfabbro]

OR, better yet, do you think I should get a 5GHz USB dongle?

 

[Ralston18]

Probably should slow down some - more for my sake than yours.

Need to be very methodical and focus on one thing at a time and change only one thing at a time.

First we need to take a look at your wired and wireless adapters on the Lenovo. Only one or the other should be enabled - not both.

To access the adapter settings go to Windows Settings ( press WIN + I) and then select Network & Internet. When the next Window opens you should see "Ethernet" listed to the left. Select that and you should find your network(s) name. To the right are "Related Settings" the topmost being "Change adapter settings". Click to open another window.

You will need to right-click your network name again and then select "Properties". The Window that opens will have all sorts of configurable options. Just explore at first and see what is what. E.g., speed and duplex settings via the IPv4 checkbox.

The goal is to coordinate the configuration settings between your router and the Lenovo so they can handshake and communicate over your network. Be that communication either wired (faster) or wireless (inherently slower). I recommend wired as that will be simpler and remove (or set aside for the moment) any wireless issues such as interference.

Basic setting via IPv4 is to tell the Lenovo's network adapter where to go to obtain an IP address. I.e., What router or modem/router to request an IP address from.

Also, please run and post the results of "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) from the Command prompt. That information will be very helpful.

 

[vdelfabbro]

Ok, so I went into the wireless adapter settings and disabled IPV6, also ran a diagnostic on the machine, the result was fixed an issue with the wireless router. ran another speedtest, still 5-6 down did ipconfig, wouldn't let me copy and paste, weird because I could do that in Win 7, so I had to do a print screen, I copied and pasted into paint, saved the file and cannot for the life of me figure out how to paste it here. Idk what the problem is with pasting it here, I pasted into paint fine, saved, copied, pasted here and nada.

I've done what I know is best, but Win 10 won't highlight the text in cmd prompt dang it, unless you have a solution for this? God I'm starting to hate this OS now

 

[Ralston18]

"Pipe" the output to a text file and copy & paste the text into your post.

Or use Powershell: After "ipconfig /all" executes you can directly copy & paste the results into your post.

And (full disclosure) had another thread where the OP discovered and resolved a problem by setting HT (High Throughput) Mode in the adapter settings.

 

[vdelfabbro]

ok, Powershell did the trick

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : idea-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 16-FD-52-D0-21-F1
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Qualcomm Atheros AR9485WB-EG Wireless Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 24-FD-52-D0-21-F1
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.77(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, July 16, 2017 1:37:40 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, July 18, 2017 5:58:40 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 13:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Teredo Tunneling Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:2cfb:142:b493:7a6c(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2cfb:142:b493:7a6c%12(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 201326592
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-19-4E-AC-B3-20-89-84-A0-F1-83
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

 

[vdelfabbro]

OK, another update...Unplugged mouse as it runs on 2.4 and got 38 down but nowhere near the 99 down that the other laptop has with that mouse plugged in.

 

[Ralston18]

Your wireless adapter is receiving a DHCP assigned IP address (192.168.1.77) from the router at 192.168.1.1 with the subnet masks being 255.255.255.0. All good.

However go back into the wireless adapter settings and use 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (both Google) as your preferred and alternate (respectively) DNS servers.

Also - what wireless standards are set on the Asus and the wireless adapter. And check the HT Mode setting on the wireless adapter. What is it set at?

 

[vdelfabbro]

Ok, now I'm not sure how to adjust the settings on my wireless adapter, will have to look that up. I'm aware that DNS should be set to Google for fastest speed, so if you could lead me through how to do so, I'd greatly appreciate it. My router is set to N only, and the transmit power is set to max.

Also, in the router settings, I have the option to change the DNS server then below that I have a WINS server option.
The DNS doesn't have primary and secondary options (as it should), just DNS then below it WINS. Don't think that has anything to do with me thou. I will have to do some extensive research on how to adjust my adapter settings, didn't know that was possible.

 

[Ralston18]

Here are a couple of "starter" links:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-manage-wireless-network-connections-windows-10

More specifically:

http://www.tp-link.com/us/faq-41.html

Read the links and, if and as necessary, google for more.

And look for User Guide/Manual specific to your system's wireless adapter (Qualcom).

Then simply explore your settings to see how your wireless network adapter is currently configured.

Good chance that you will note something that is not correct or not as you may expect.

Investigate that and make a change as warranted. Only change one thing at a time and keep notes so you can reverse the change should something else go wrong.

Also there is a setting HT Mode that may need to be looked at. It's setting can make a difference.

 

[vdelfabbro]

Thank you for pointing me at how to change the DNS server to Google's server. When I unplugged my wireless mouse (no 2.4 GHz interference) I am getting 66 down. With the mouse receiver plugged in, I'm now getting 5 down. Was having trouble with the gateway so I left it as automatic. My router's direct address is 192.168.1.1, yet when I plug those values in, I got an error message saying it's not the correct setting, so at this moment I'm just furious about the whole thing. Think I will be downgrading.