Have 200mbps Internet, but laptop wifi only gets 45mbps

[feedmelies]

Hey all.

I have 200mbps Internet with everything set up correctly, but my laptop is only getting 45mbps.

I have this laptop with 802.11bgn wireless:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007BY57Y2

I think 802.11bgn can get 200mbps?

Here's what's weird. My cellphone and my girlfriend's computer will get 100+ mbps in the same exact spots as my computer. So it's not the Internet, the router, or device location, as far as I can tell.

It appears to be my computer.

My computer is fairly stout as far as I understand. And I have made sure that my driver for the wifi is up to date.

Anyone have any ideas how I can get my speed up there?

Thanks!

 

[feedmelies]

Yeah, you've accurately identified the culprit. The 802.11n standard runs a HUGE gamut in terms of its bandwidth capability. Almost nobody runs into the problem you're encountering because the majority of North Americans are still getting 2Mbps-10Mbps averages from their internet providers. The best baseline cable internet bandwidths run from 30Mbps-60Mbps such as on Charter.

Even the newest standard, 802.11ac, runs a wide gamut. For example, the latest and greatest phones (ex. iPhone 6s, Galaxy S6) which do have the 802.11ac standard only operate at up to 150 Mbps on a wireless connection.

The cheapest way to upgrade this will be to disable your onboard WiFi adapter, and purchase an external USB adapter with a strong spec rating. The most convenient ones are typically the size of a flash drive, and that should work. If you're crazy about longer reception then there are ones with antennae base stations that usually attach to the USB input via a cord.

Example of the cord type ($40):
http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-Long-Range-Dual-Band-Wireless-External/dp/B00MX57AO4
This one is rated up to 300Mbps on 802.11n routers, or 867Mbps on ac routers.

This one would be much more convenient and cheap ($14):
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WN...&sr=1-4&keywords=usb+wireless+adapter+300mbps
It also boasts up to 300Mbps.

Keep in mind that those numbers, both for the router and the receiving device, are theoretical. You won't see those numbers in reality. For example, go to Speedtest and test your connection via a wired connection. You won't see 200Mbps.

The farther you get away from the router and the more physical interference between the device and the router will drop the effective bandwidth. Also, I have my doubts that TP-Link will yield the same effective rates even a mere 2 feet from the router as the the power adapter above it, but it should be close enough, and I doubt it would botteneck you.

Thanks for all the advice. I bought that little device. Unfortunately... my speed is the same. Not sure what to do now.

 

[faustian]

Do a system restore and don't use your cpu for 2-3 weeks

 

[markulous]

Have you tried plugging in your laptop via ethernet? How are the speeds there? If they are low on your onboard NIC, then you likely have a Windows issue.

 

[Madmick]

Yeah, you've accurately identified the culprit. The 802.11n standard runs a HUGE gamut in terms of its bandwidth capability. Almost nobody runs into the problem you're encountering because the majority of North Americans are still getting 2Mbps-10Mbps averages from their internet providers. The best baseline cable internet bandwidths run from 30Mbps-60Mbps such as on Charter.

Even the newest standard, 802.11ac, runs a wide gamut. For example, the latest and greatest phones (ex. iPhone 6s, Galaxy S6) which do have the 802.11ac standard only operate at up to 150 Mbps on a wireless connection.

The cheapest way to upgrade this will be to disable your onboard WiFi adapter, and purchase an external USB adapter with a strong spec rating. The most convenient ones are typically the size of a flash drive, and that should work. If you're crazy about longer reception then there are ones with antennae base stations that usually attach to the USB input via a cord.

Example of the cord type ($40):
http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-Long-Range-Dual-Band-Wireless-External/dp/B00MX57AO4
This one is rated up to 300Mbps on 802.11n routers, or 867Mbps on ac routers.

This one would be much more convenient and cheap ($14):
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WN...&sr=1-4&keywords=usb+wireless+adapter+300mbps
It also boasts up to 300Mbps.

Keep in mind that those numbers, both for the router and the receiving device, are theoretical. You won't see those numbers in reality. For example, go to Speedtest and test your connection via a wired connection. You won't see 200Mbps.

The farther you get away from the router and the more physical interference between the device and the router will drop the effective bandwidth. Also, I have my doubts that TP-Link will yield the same effective rates even a mere 2 feet from the router as the the power adapter above it, but it should be close enough, and I doubt it would botteneck you.

 

[Gref]

If you have an 802.11ac router you can configure 2 networks on different frequencies (2.4ghz and 5ghz). Then you can setup all your devices on one network and your laptop on the other and compare speeds.

http://pocketnow.com/2014/01/23/5ghz-wifi

 

[Brampton_Boy]

Also make sure you have an AC compatible router.

I encountered similar issues to you, but a friend recommended that I pick up the linksys nighthawk, and it almost tripled my download speed.

As Madmick pointed out though, the weak link in the chain is the built in adapter in your laptop. I am personally a fan of using power bridges and wired ethernet cables for my primary PCs, but it kind of kills the portability of a laptop.

 

[Madmick]

Thanks for all the advice. I bought that little device. Unfortunately... my speed is the same. Not sure what to do now.

Did you disable the onboard WiFi after plugging this one in? If you didn't, then it will almost certainly default to the onboard device if forced to make that decision by itself as an operating system. The For Dummies site gives a nice step by step for this basic process:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-disable-the-original-wifi-adapter.html

I should mention that one of the only things I can think of that I have seen commonly thwart internet bandwidth speeds (when it wasn't a hardware issue or router calibration issue) is malware.

 

[Cygnus A]

Your problem is "theoretical maximum speed" of wifi. Google it. you will be lucky to get half the maximum speeds and 1/3 is pretty typical.

 

[feedmelies]

Did you disable the onboard WiFi after plugging this one in? If you didn't, then it will almost certainly default to the onboard device if forced to make that decision by itself as an operating system. The For Dummies site gives a nice step by step for this basic process:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-disable-the-original-wifi-adapter.html

I should mention that one of the only things I can think of that I have seen commonly thwart internet bandwidth speeds (when it wasn't a hardware issue or router calibration issue) is malware.

Yes.

But... I restarted my computer, let it update, and updated the device's driver, and I saw some improvement. From 45 mbps to 75 mbps. Not what I hoped for, but it is a nice improvement.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

 

[Madmick]

Your problem is "theoretical maximum speed" of wifi. Google it. you will be lucky to get half the maximum speeds and 1/3 is pretty typical.

Yes.

But... I restarted my computer, let it update, and updated the device's driver, and I saw some improvement. From 45 mbps to 75 mbps. Not what I hoped for, but it is a nice improvement.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

This could be it. 75Mb/s is pretty freaking awesome as a real-world wireless bandwidth. What are the peak speeds you're seeing on your phone or your girlfriend's laptop? Is it substantially higher?
To get an idea of your peak actual speeds you should run Speedtest.net via a wired ethernet cable several times throughout the day. What is this best peak speed? What is the average peak speed? What is the average average speed?

Oh, it occurs to me that you're probably butting up against the ceiling of your laptop's capability for write speed to its internal hard drives. Take, for example, the WD Caviar Blue or Seagate Barracuda, the most popular traditional HDD's for desktop computers on the market today. They run around 2.0Gb/s effectively in terms of read and probably closer to 1.0-1.5Gb/s in terms of write speed, and they are SATAIII hard drives. Yours are laptop drives, so they often sacrifice speed to achieve lower heat and greater compactness, and they might even be on the SATA2 standard. Some of those old SATA2 laptop drives made during the Sandy Bridge generation might not even hit 200 Mb/s as a practical real-world write speed for their internal drives.

 

[IFightInVegas]

Your router will never be as strong as your wired connection, so that's important to remember.

I get 100mbps on my desktop, plugged in.

But on my laptop, phone, etc, I get about 20mbps which is still very good for wifi. I got this router off Amazon, and it does the job well.

For the price, it's a steal

http://www.amazon.com/Extender-Repe...d=1449744318&sr=8-1&keywords=medialink+router

 

[Madmick]

Your router will never be as strong as your wired connection, so that's important to remember.

I get 100mbps on my desktop, plugged in.

But on my laptop, phone, etc, I get about 20mbps which is still very good for wifi. I got this router off Amazon, and it does the job well.

For the price, it's a steal

http://www.amazon.com/Extender-Repe...d=1449744318&sr=8-1&keywords=medialink+router

A 1:5 ratio between wired vs. wireless is terrible, IFightVegas. Is that across several walls and the distance of like 4+ rooms? A wireless connection, if capable, should be incrementally slower than a wired connection if the receiving device (i.e. laptop) is just several feet away from the router without any obstructions between them: basically identical.

Like closer to 95 Mbps vs. 100 Mbps speaking in a hypothetical with those figures.

 

[Striderxdj]

Dont theoretical max basically assume you are the only person with that service in your area using the internet? (Ie: generally unlikely to happen but possible)

 

[Cygnus A]

Dont theoretical max basically assume you are the only person with that service in your area using the internet? (Ie: generally unlikely to happen but possible)

There a theoretically maximum speed through your internet provider and across your wifi.

 

[IFightInVegas]

A 1:5 ratio between wired vs. wireless is terrible, IFightVegas. Is that across several walls and the distance of like 4+ rooms? A wireless connection, if capable, should be incrementally slower than a wired connection if the receiving device (i.e. laptop) is just several feet away from the router without any obstructions between them: basically identical.

Like closer to 95 Mbps vs. 100 Mbps speaking in a hypothetical with those figures.

I've never got those speeds on wifi with any router.. How do I do that?

With speedtest, wired I just got 98mbps

but on my laptop I'm getting 22.mbps

 

[Madmick]

I've never got those speeds on wifi with any router.. How do I do that?

With speedtest, wired I just got 98mbps

but on my laptop I'm getting 22.mbps

Well, it's possible that the router's automatic setup calibrates your network on the "g" standard. That seems unlikely to me since "n" has been the new market standard for more than several years, now. There could be some sort of major interference going on, or again, it could be the wireless adapter in your laptop.

Or it could simply be the router itself. This is the problem with things like routers. Sometimes even the specifications are misleading because different units will boast the same specs, and yet they don't perform anywhere close to each other in terms of real world performance. This is why I titled one of the PC building threads, "Stop thinking of your router as a peripheral", i.e. stop thinking it's somewhere where you can cut corners and not expect to get punished. That device is simply too important in any contemporary mainstream computer ecosystem. Everyone is gobbling bandwidth. Everyone is delighted (whether they know it or not) when it is available in abundance.

Here is a very straightforward article on the matter a quick Google turned up that will quickly demonstrate this truth:
http://thecyberfusion.com/internet-speed-comparison-hardwired-vs-wireless/

This is why gamers who want top-tier performance on wireless connections (or users who run heavy duty WLAN networks or media servers) end up looking at some of those routers you see us discuss quite a bit in the PC build thread like the Netgear Nighthawk. There is no spec quoted for things like transmission power, and unfortunately, it's incredibly difficult to find reviews with detailed information across the entire market on things like real-world bandwidth throughput. You just do the best you can, go into tech forums, and you end up narrowing it down to a handful of models on the market in your desired performance range that are known for the build quality begetting the performance you want, and which usually cost a lot more than you wanted to spend ($100+).

 

[ohflow]

Ive always avoided wifi like the plague, but 90-100% just sounds dope as F. What are we talking here, house, small appartment, mansion? I get like ifightinvegas like numbers in a two bedroom apt