Slow network Wifi on one PC. WHere to start?

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

So I have a really nice internet connection in the house. Most PC's get around 50 Mbps down and 10 up.

However my primary PC is only getting between 20-35 down and 3-5 up. It's the most powerful system in the house. 6 cores, 16 GB, dual solid state drives, the works. It sits 6 feet from the router/hub.

At one point I deleted the card from device manager (windows 7) and let it re-add it and got the 50. Tried it this time and went from 20 to 35 down.

Stumped as to why this one computer isn't getting the bandwidth. Not sure where to start working.

Any ideas???

atcjorg · atcjorg's Garage

first thing I would do if it was 6 feet from the router is run a cable, hardwire is more reliable than wifi, get the latest drivers for your wifi card

stomachmonkey · 01-13-2014, 02:35 PM

Are the other PC's wired?

What other wireless devices and do you know if they are a, b, g, n?

A wireless network will fall back to the speed of the slowest device on the network.

If your big bad new box is n and you have a wireless b device in the mix they'll both only see b.

This is actually on my list for "clean up" projects this week.

Adding a second router to handle my slower non a/b/g devices and a dedicated router for my faster n devices.

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

Answering the questions:

1. It's 802.11n on the main pc.
2. The laptop sitting right next to the desktop gets a reliable 50 every time.
3. I would us a cable, but the hard wired port on the computer doesn't work. I'm not even sure it's actually connected. No lights when I plugged in a cable last time.

Most of the devices in the house (phones, media, etc..) I force through a range extender so I can limit their bandwidth if needed. The only devices on the main router are the PC in question, my laptop (which gets 50) and the playstation (which is hardwired cause I don't want lag in gaming).

Thanks,

stomachmonkey · 01-13-2014, 05:33 PM

This could be so many things.

The obvious, make sure you have the latest drivers for the wireless NIC.

Is this an external, USB, WIFI adapter or internal card?

If the USB type plug it into the laptop and see what you get, try and rule out the NIC itself.

N runs over 2.4 or 5 ghz, cordless phones can cause interference / degrade performance.

Check your router / laptop /desktop for their / any difference in their operating frequencies.