Slow wifi speeds

[LesCM19]

My Acer Aspire 5349 W7/64 machine has been losing bars on the signal strength for a while now, occasionally disconnecting.

In the same room as the router it’s 35M, pretty much what I always used to get, over ethernet 55M but in the next room over wifi it’s usually 1-2M but sometimes as high as 17M. My netbook and phone both agree that wifi in the next room should be 35m at least, so it’s a problem with the laptop?

So I swapped out the Intel Centrino N100 adapter for an N6205 (as this is more readily available than the older N100) and it works but same problem with speed, 1-2 bars signal strength and usually 1m download speed.

It’s not like I’ve recently started using the laptop in a walk in safe or anything, o why has my speed degraded but only on this laptop?

[Malnutrition]

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[Bruce]

some things to also try…

reboot the modem/router.
take the laptop into the same room as the wifi router to prove it’s not a distance thing, or something interfering.

[LesCM19]

reboot the modem/router.
take the laptop into the same room as the wifi router to prove it’s not a distance thing, or something interfering.

Router has been rebooted, including when BT got involved. AS in OP, the connection is decent in the same room as the router but falls off to next to nothing with a wall in between. Didn’t do it before and other devices aren’t affected.

[LesCM19]

MTB log attached, getting 2-3 bars and 15M download at the moment :unsure:
Links: GSI, Catbox

[Bruce]

make/model of modem/router?

[LesCM19]

m
Bruce:

make/model of modem/router?

BT Home hub 5.0B

See attached for network details from Speccy

[Bruce]

have you logged into the menu of the BTHub5 and seen if you can change the power level of the wifi signal?

those signal strength figures in the report are very low for something that is only one room apart.
make sure the BTHub is as high as it can go and there is nothing around it, specifically metallic, electronic, or human as we are mostly water and absorb the wireless radiation very well !
since it has internal aerials that you can’t control, try turning the whole unit slightly to different spots and see if the signal strength improves.

[Malnutrition]

Uninstall the following with Geek Uninstaller. You can reinstall Microsoft Security Essentials after a reboot. Sometimes for no particular reason an antivirus will slow a machine and removing and reinstalling will often fix the issue.

Acer Registration (HKLM-x32...\Acer Registration) (Version: 1.04.3502 - Acer Incorporated)
Acer Updater (HKLM-x32...{EE171732-BEB4-4576-887D-CB62727F01CA}) (Version: 1.02.3500 - Acer Incorporated)
Intel Driver && Support Assistant (HKLM-x32...{578E6A4F-CA2B-42D1-BDA7-0890885BD753}) (Version: 22.7.44.6 - Intel) Hidden
Intel(R) Computing Improvement Program (HKLM...{EFE4A88A-FF8B-4D0E-8354-E0B7C3ED9E50}) (Version: 2.4.08840 - Intel Corporation)
Microsoft Security Essentials (HKLM...\Microsoft Security Client) (Version: 4.10.209.0 - Microsoft Corporation)
uTorrent

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Disable from startup these, if you could. They are constantly running and use bndwidth, you can start these any time you want manually.

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/what_run_in_startup.html

Dropbox
MEGAsync
DAEMON Tools Lite
Google\Drive File Stream

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Adobe Flash Player is no longer supported and is a security risk.

[ul]
[li]Download Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller and save it to your Desktop[/li][li]Right click on the icon and select Run as administrator[/li][li]Click Uninstall then Done to reboot your computer.[/li][/ul]

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Uninstall this left over driver, if you can not find it, then use Everything Search Engine. You may need to boot into safe mode to remove it, as it is active.

C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\phantomtap.sys

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Open your device manager and uninstall your wireless driver, then reboot your machine. Do not tick the box that reads delete the driver software for this device. Once you reboot the machine, windows will auto reinstall it and clear any setttings appended to it; starting you fresh.

Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6205 = Wireless Network Connection 4 (Connected)

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Find the best DNS server for your machine.

https://pchelpforum.net/r/how-to-find-the-best-dns-server-for-my-computer.221/

[Malnutrition]

@LesCM19 any update?

[LesCM19]

Will try these suggestions soon. I’m thinking broken antenna as this model only has one,especially as I swapped the adapter.

[Malnutrition]

Ok. Thanks for the update. Let us know. ???

[Bruce]

Both adapters, N100 & N6205, should have 2 antennas attached.
What do you mean when you say ”broken antenna as this model only has one”?
as it only ever had one, or was it broken when you swapped the adapters?
and broken how - at the push on plug or the cable?

[LesCM19]

Both adapters, N100 & N6205, should have 2 antennas attached.
What do you mean when you say ”broken antenna as this model only has one”?
as it only ever had one, or was it broken when you swapped the adapters?
and broken how - at the push on plug or the cable?

True, both old & replacement adapters have 2 sockets but there’s only 1 antenna and always has been, or that’s what was there when I took the back off. Plugged into socket 1 on the original. So I’m starting to think maybe it’s got a break at the hinge where it gets bent every time the lid opens.

But I’ll try to do the power increase thing on the modem once I log in. Password on the back of the router seems to have been changed.

[Bruce]

changing the default factory password on modems/routers should always be the very first thing anyone does when setting up those devices.
if you can’t remember its password, you are going to have to hit its reset button, but then you’ll lose your internet connection details if your provider requires any.

I can’t recall ever seeing a wifi adapter with only one cable - always thought one was for transmitting and the other for receiving.
maybe some others have some more insights - @PeterOz @Bastet @Pyro @Malnutrition