Wifi network connectivity wildly inconsistent with one of my PCs

[Muse]

It's a fairly new rig, a midlevel Win10 64bit mini-tower. The issue doesn't appear to be with the wifi adapter, because (while having the problem this morning for ~2 hours) I tried ejecting the USB wifi adapter and inserting a different one, had similar if not same issues. The two adapters are a PremierTek and a Comfast. The former is purportedly USB 3.0, the other USB 2.0, but I get similar speeds, when they are operating OK (best being downloading 239MB file in 15 seconds via wifi to the local machine from my Synology NAS via wifi).

Problem is, sometimes I get spotty connection to my network, even internet, like today.

Could I be getting interference from neighbors' networks? Could I try different channel or something on my Asus RT-AC1750 router? I'm using the 5ghz band, could use the 2.4ghz band, but think the 5ghz is faster.

Downloading the same 239MB file from my Synology DS214play NAS yesterday and today I got wildly different speeds, when I was even able to copy at all. Times ranged from fastest at 15 seconds to 28 seconds, over a minute, to 10 minutes or more and one time it even failed near the end after 10 minutes or more.

After a couple of hours this morning the problem suddenly seemed to clear up with no reason why. I'd tried restarting everything and nothing had helped, including the machine, the Synology NAS, the router, the modem (DSL with ~4.5mbps, but my ISP support told me that my line looked really good).

I'd tried making Windows "forget" my wifi band and reconnecting, to no avail. Have no idea why things started working again. Of course, I need to stop this from happening, it's very frustrating and really a show stopper if I have things to do.

 

[Muse]

Just copied the same 239MB file from the NAS to the local machine and instead of the 15 seconds it took last time it took 46 seconds. The speed shown during the download varied quite a bit during the download from ~3MB/sec to over 6MB/sec. Had to be higher than that when it did the download in ~15 seconds.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm the one who sold him the rig, and have been attempting to assist as best I can by PM. But this kind of has us both somewhat stumped.

I suspect interference. Or the (used, refurb) router is just flaking out. What other explanation could explain everything just suddenly "working" without changing anything?

 

[mxnerd]

Wi-Fi is just for convenience purpose, I'll use wired ethernet whenever I can.

There will always be interference unless you don't have neighbors.

OP please check if the router's channel was set to auto.

Also make sure there is as little as obstacle between Wi-Fi client and the W-Fi router.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Also make sure there is as little as obstacle between Wi-Fi client and the W-Fi

It should be mentioned that the router is a floor and several rooms away, correct me if I'm wrong, Muse.

 

[VirtualLarry]

What other explanation could explain everything just suddenly "working" without changing anything?

OP please check if the router's channel was set to auto.

That could be the reason too, I suspect. If the router was set to "AUTO" channel, it may cause disconnects, and may choose a semi-congested channel from time to time.

Muse, please try setting a fixed channel number, for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. Be aware that the only three non-overlapping 2.4Ghz Wifi channels in North America, are 1,6,11.

Also, some of the higher 5Ghz channels are what is known as "DFS", and not all devices may support those channels.

Also, how many other Wifi networks can you see, with either adapter? 10? 20? 50?

 

[Muse]

It should be mentioned that the router is a floor and several rooms away, correct me if I'm wrong, Muse.

The router is on top floor (2nd), the machine is on first floor, i.e. one floor down, and is about one room over, i.e. approximately 25 feet over from where the router is, on a horizontal basis, so maybe 32 feet or so "as the crow flies." There are walls and a floor between. Construction is pretty standard. Wood framing, maybe some lath and plaster.

Also, how many other Wifi networks can you see, with either adapter? 10? 20? 50?

I'll check that and post. Seems to vary, but I'll check. From memory, generally 5-10.

 

[mxnerd]

What was the connection speed? I have a room PC for guest use with Wi-Fi and wired connection. The 150Mbps USB adapter can drop to 3Mbps if is behind the PC . It's only 40ft away from the router. I'm using a low tech 150Mbps travel router though.

 

[Muse]

I saw file transfer speeds anywhere from ~350kbps to as high as 8MB/sec downloading a 239MB WAV file via wifi from my NAS--->router-->PC. The fastest download of the file was 15 seconds. Many well over a minute.

 

[mxnerd]

Was talking about connection speed, not transfer speed.

Watch the connection speed window while you are transferring files.

 

[piasabird]

I have seen some issues if you use a wireless keyboard and mouse and then the wireless adapter is close to it. For really large files like say the Microsoft USB install download you might want to use a computer connected directly with a wired Ethernet cable. If you do have an older computer you could put it next to the Modem/switch.

 

[Muse]

I have seen some issues if you use a wireless keyboard and mouse and then the wireless adapter is close to it. For really large files like say the Microsoft USB install download you might want to use a computer connected directly with a wired Ethernet cable. If you do have an older computer you could put it next to the Modem/switch.

Hmm. Yeah, I'm using a wireless keyboard and mouse with that machine. One of my upstairs machines is using a wired keyboard and I have a wired mouse attached but actually use a wireless mouse with it instead of the wired mouse. That machine is near the modem and router. I have wired keyboards but they are relatively large, which would be kind of a problem downstairs where I have my computer stuff (kitchen table).

I have a laptop on the kitchen table next to the kitchen mini-tower rig computer, next to the wireless keyboard I'm using with the rig. I just used that laptop to run an app that the rig can't, being 64bit. For some odd reason the laptop was downloading mail really slowly. I checked and it was about 50mbps connection speed, which seems really slow. As low as in the 30's. I switched to the 5ghz band and it was a little faster, up to around 80mbps, only one bar showing. Will see if it keeps working, had problems using the 5ghz band with that laptop down there. The desktop rig has kept its connection in recent days. Maybe there's a problem with the laptop's internet adapter. It used to be a lot faster, I think, but I never checked the connection speed before.

 

[mxnerd]

Connection speed at 30-50Mbps or 1 bar signal strength is pretty bad.

Could it be your ASUS router's issue?

Try to adjust antennas directions for router and adapter or move them around to see if signal strength and connection speed improves.

==

My travel router just died (only WiFi part, SSID completely disappeared) yesterday, what a coincidence?

No wonder my tablet always has connectivity issue (not speed issue),

it will not reconnect if waking up from sleep, but I always blame the tablet.

Finally gave me a reason to buy a new router.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Connection speed at 30-50Mbps or 1 bar signal strength is pretty bad.

Could it be your ASUS router's issue?

It may not be all the unusual, especially for 5Ghz signals, and depending on house construction, being that the router is one floor and several rooms over. I deployed a router at a (now late) friend's place, and the downstairs roommates couldn't access it very well, even though it was only one floor up.

I'm pretty lucky, my current place is only one floor, so my wifi works well.

That being said, the router was a refurb, and slightly used besides, and I'm more than willing to replace it with a new one of similar capabilities. Got a nice BNIB D-Link here, that I also hooked my Mom up with one of those.

He's tried two different AC USB wifi dongles, so it's either a signal strength / interference issue, or it's most likely the router acting up.

Edit: The kind of weird part, is that he said that it was "suddenly working fine". Without changing anything.

 

[mxnerd]

OP seems not very familiar with WiFi network since he never checked the connection speed, really can't tell what's going on.

My upstairs PC with Wi-Fi adapter 30 foot away from the router was able to achieve full speed 150Mbps and maintain 5 bar signal, but most of the time (99.9% ?) I use wired gigabit ethernet.

 

[mnewsham]

Wifi is highly dependant on several factors that you probably can't control.

Your house's building materials, interior wall layout, RF noise from other signals in the area, etc.

Personally for me, I can get ~300-400mbps in the same room as my wifi access point, but ~15-20 feet away and down 1 floor and I'm lucky to break 150mbps. At 30 feet unless I switch to my other access point, my speeds drop well below 100mbps into the 30-70mbps range.

 

[Muse]

OP seems not very familiar with WiFi network since he never checked the connection speed, really can't tell what's going on.

My upstairs PC with Wi-Fi adapter 30 foot away from the router was able to achieve full speed 150Mbps and maintain 5 bar signal, but most of the time (99.9% ?) I use wired gigabit ethernet.

Yeah, I'm pretty unfamiliar with WiFi networking, it's very true.

I'm right now typing on my Lenovo T61 Win10 64bit laptop (which is on my lap!), whose adapter I replaced with what the gurus told me was the one to get. Got it from China, New Intel Ultimate-N 6300 633ANHMW WiFi Wireless Card, and it stopped the BSOD's I was getting!!! I just checked the connection speed (thanks, mxnerd, for that linked video, I didn't know about that) and it's showing 300mbps, is showing all-bars. Now, I'm on the same floor as the router, am probably less than 30 feet from it.

When I downloaded the same 239MB file from my NAS to this T61 the other day it accomplished it in 13 seconds, which is faster than the best speed I have gotten to the downstairs rig, which was 15 seconds. Most of those downloads were way slower, pretty wildly inconsistent speeds, which makes me suspect I have interference issues here!

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just checked the connection speed (thanks, mxnerd, for that linked video, I didn't know about that) and it's showing 300mbps, is showing all-bars. Now, I'm on the same floor as the router, am probably less than 30 feet from it.

When I downloaded the same 239MB file from my NAS to this T61 the other day it accomplished it in 13 seconds, which is faster than the best speed I have gotten to the downstairs rig, which was 15 seconds. Most of those downloads were way slower, pretty wildly inconsistent speeds, which makes me suspect I have interference issues here!

Can you physically take that laptop, and move it to where the rig is, and try the same download test? See if you still get it in 13 seconds, and what your connection speed reports? That might give use a ballpark of what we should be shooting for in terms of connectivity / wifi performance with the USB adapters on the desktop rig.

It could be as simple as needing a short USB3.0 shielded USB extension cable, to be able to place the USB wifi adapter safely above and away from the back of the metal desktop chassis.

 

[Muse]

Can you physically take that laptop, and move it to where the rig is, and try the same download test? See if you still get it in 13 seconds, and what your connection speed reports? That might give use a ballpark of what we should be shooting for in terms of connectivity / wifi performance with the USB adapters on the desktop rig.

It could be as simple as needing a short USB3.0 shielded USB extension cable, to be able to place the USB wifi adapter safely above and away from the back of the metal desktop chassis.

Good ideas. Yeah, I can test that. I use this T61 laptop with AC adapter but have a battery in the fridge I can use to bring it downstairs. Will do now... Well, maybe should wait until a test I'm doing on a new flash drive finishes... am using h2testw on a 16GB USB drive, should finish in ~1/2 hour.

 

[Muse]

So, just took T61 downstairs (powered by battery) and with it on my lap sitting next to the rig and the T60 Win10 32bit laptop, downloaded the same 239MB WAV file. It took 33 seconds and the connection speed said 120mbps. That probably varied, but I just glanced it near the end of the download.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So, just took T61 downstairs (powered by battery) and with it on my lap sitting next to the rig and the T60 Win10 32bit laptop, downloaded the same 239MB WAV file. It took 33 seconds and the connection speed said 120mbps. That probably varied, but I just glanced it near the end of the download.

Do you know, do those stats correspond with the 5Ghz band, or the 2.4Ghz band? All in all, not too bad really, for a floor up and some rooms over. (I'm guessing, 2.4Ghz?)

So, obtain a USB3.0 shielded extension cable, maybe 1.5', maybe 3', I have a few 1.5' ones I just purchased that I could send you one.

It doesn't sound so much like the router's flaking out, from that test with the laptop. I hope that it's not the board in the PC, you mentioned some USB ports not working, and then suddenly working? How did you test that they were working? Keyboard / mouse? Or Wifi adapter, and sometimes it didn't work? I'm trying to get a bigger picture here, and figure out what is and isn't working.

 

[Muse]

Hmm. The T61 brought downstairs and on battery power was using the 5ghz band. The router's a floor up and kind of a room and a half over. I'd say in the horizontal measurement, over maybe 25 feet.

I have a USB extension cable, but likely not USB 3.0. Is the Comfast actually USB 3.0? I don't recall seeing anything saying it is. However, the best download speed I've gotten down in the kitchen for that file was 15 seconds, and that was with the Comfast. The best I have gotten down in the kitchen with the PremierTek was 17 seconds.

How did I test that those two upper USB 2.0 ports on the back of the rig were working after not working? I plugged some USB device into it, and it was working, don't remember what. It wasn't a keyboard, maybe a mouse. And then I plugged the Comfast adapter into one of them and it was working. So whatever made them not work "went away," somehow.

 

[mxnerd]

USB 2.0 is 480Mbps, don't think either Comfast or PremierTek can crack that speed, so USB 3.0 port probably won't help.

There are 2 USB devices tools, don't know if they help determining whether USB devices work or not.

https://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtreeview_e.html#download

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

 

[VirtualLarry]

How did I test that those two upper USB 2.0 ports on the back of the rig were working after not working? I plugged some USB device into it, and it was working, don't remember what. It wasn't a keyboard, maybe a mouse. And then I plugged the Comfast adapter into one of them and it was working. So whatever made them not work "went away," somehow.

But how did you determine that they weren't working?

 

[Muse]

But how did you determine that they weren't working?

Port acted as if dead as a door nail. IOW, device was as if not plugged into anything. For example, the Comfast didn't have it's LED flashing, for one thing. I tested both of those ports at the time.