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Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165. Normal WIFI download throughput of around 135Mbps but this randomly reduces to around 30Mbps. Temporary fix: Turn WIFI Off and back On. Is there a permanent fix please?

RFell2
Beginner
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  • My fibre broadband provides upto 150Mbps download with minimum guarantee of 100Mbps
  • Using Ookla Speedtest to check throughput.
  • Wifi network adapter in HP Pavilion notebook running Windows10 (64bit)
  • Turning Wifi Off and then back on again in Windows always restores throughput back to around 135Mbps - but this is short lived
  • Random reduction occurs on average twice per day
  • Installed latest Intel driver 19.51.28.1
  • Wireless adapter power saving mode now set to Maximum performance

Hopefully a setting change can provide a permanent fix but I am reluctant to randomly tinker. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

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AdrianM_Intel
Employee
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Hello RFell2,

 

Thank you for submitting your question on this Intel® Community. 

 

Please run the following tool and attach the reports generated. 

 

1. Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) 

  • Intel® SSU Download link 
  • Open the application and click on "Scan" to see the system and device information. By default, Intel® SSU will take you to the "Summary View". 
  • Click on the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View". 
  • To save your scan, click on "Next", then "Save". 

 

It's worth mentioning that the speed is up to and it uses a 1x1 antenna configuration (one antenna supporting one data stream) and the actual wireless throughput will vary depending in your specific operating system, hardware, and software configuration.

 

Do you get the same speed when is wired connected?

 

Best regards,

 

Adrian M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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RFell2
Beginner
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Hi Adrian, Thanks for trying to help me with this issue. Please find System Information File attached. Note: I understand the wireless adapter has a theoretical maximum throughput of 433Mbps. My Wired Network Card has a maximum throughput capability of 100Mbps and so this is why Wireless download is faster than Wired (for a while until it dramatically drops). Current Speedtest results: Wireless: Ping: 11ms Download: 34.82Mbps Upload: 29.79Mbps Wired: Ping: 10ms Download: 94.65Mbps Upload: 31.22Mbps Results after turning off WI-FI and turning back on: Wireless: Ping: 10ms Download: 124.53Mbps Upload: 31.31Mbps Wired: Ping: 10ms Download: 94.98Mbps Upload: 31.26Mbps When download speed is poor, turning off Wi-Fi (Via the Wi-Fi Icon in my system tray) and then turning back on again always dramatically increases Wi-Fi download throughput (but this is short lived - See attached spreadsheet). _____
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AdrianM_Intel
Employee
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Hello RFell2,

 

Thank you for your input.

 

Upon checking the thread it seems that the file was not attached, could you please do it one more time?

 

It seems that this behavior might not be related to the Intel wireless card, this might be related to the ISP since they guarantee 100Mbps and based on the 2 test performed 

when there is wired connectivity it is not getting higher than 100Mbps you might try to change some settings in advanced wireless card settings.

 

  • Can I have the model of your router?
  • Have you tested a different WIFI network?
  • Just confirming, is this the original adapter that came installed on the computer?

 

You might try the following:

Access the advanced adapter settings in Windows® 10

  1. Right-click Start in the bottom left corner.
  2. Click Device Manager.
  3. Click the > sign to expand the Network adapters entry.
  4. Right-click the wireless adapter and click Properties.
  5. Click the Advanced tab to configure the advanced settings.

 

  • Change Channel Width for 5GHz
  • Make sure your Access Point (AP) or Wi-Fi router supports the 5 GHz frequency band and configured for 11ac mode.

 

You can try Advanced Intel® Wireless Adapter Settings and change the settings like 802.11n/ac/ax Wireless Mode or HT Mode.

 

Recommended Settings for 802.11ac Connectivity

 

Best regards,

 

Adrian M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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RFell2
Beginner
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Hi Adrian,

I replied by email and attached 2 files to the email.

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AlHill
Super User
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"I replied by email and attached 2 files to the email."

 

You cannot respond like that. Attach the files to this thread, and do not respond via email.

 

Doc

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RFell2
Beginner
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Hi,

Sorry - I am new to this forum. I replied by email because the email I received suggested I could. See screenshot below

I will attach my files in this forum but if you can only attach one file I will need to sort out a Zip App first.

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AlHill
Super User
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You have not attached anything yet. And, yes, you will need to two posts, one for each attachment.

 

Doc

 

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RFell2
Beginner
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See attached System Information file

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RFell2
Beginner
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See also Speed test results attached.

Screenshot included in previous post did not display.

In response to Adrian - I have the latest BT Smarthub.

The network adapter is the original supplied in the laptop.

I do not know of anyone else with broadband speeds above 100Mbps to test my laptop on.

You will note that my hub is capable of delivering at least 136Mbps by Wifi as I can receive this.

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AdrianM_Intel
Employee
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Hello RFell2,

 

Thank you for your input.

 

Upon checking more about the BT Smarthub, I can see that this for expanding the signal all around the home and it helps to get faster connectivity based on their website they say that It’s important to know that the speed ranges we show are an estimate. They’re based on homes but there are other things than can affect the speed you will get – like how many people are using your broadband connection at the time, and whether you’re using a wireless or cable connection.

 

 

Now even if the speeds drops it's still fine since the minimum guarantee is 100Mbps and it's up to 135Mbps second that can be variable depending on the environment.

 

I don't think this is related to the drivers or the wireless card but you can try a clean installation of the drivers provided by the system manufacturer of your laptop since the ones installed on your computer are generic drivers.

 

Clean Installation of Wireless Drivers 

  

Step 1: Get the latest system-specific driver from your computer manufacturer support. 

HP Pavilion Notebook - 15-ab271sa version 21.40.2.2

 

Disconnect the computer from internet access while doing the installation to avoid Windows* automatic updates.

 

Step 2: Uninstall your Wi-Fi driver. 

 

Windows* may have an inbox Wi-Fi driver for your wireless adapter. You can't uninstall an inbox driver (you won't see the "Delete the driver software for this device" option). Proceed to the next step if you start seeing the same version of the driver installed automatically after it’s uninstalled. 

  

  • Go to Device Manager. 
  • Expand the Network Adapters category. 
  • Right-click your Intel Wireless Adapter and choose to uninstall it. 
  • Make sure to select the option to Delete the driver software for this device. 
  • Restart your computer. 

  

Step 3: Driver installation

Locate the driver you downloaded back in Step 1. Run as administrator, and follow the wizard to completion. 

 

Did you try the settings previously suggested in the post above?

Advanced Intel® Wireless Adapter Settings

Recommended Settings for 802.11ac Connectivity

 

Regards,

 

Adrian M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

 

 

 

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RFell2
Beginner
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Hi Adrian,

As you have seen, attachments in previous posts include System information using the SSU and also recent speed results.

The reason I am getting only around 95Mbps on a wired connection is nothing to do with my ISP. As previously stated my wired network adapter has a theoretical maximum of 100Mbps so the maximum actual speed is slightly less than this.

I am confident that the ISP and router is capable of between 120Mbps and 150Mbps and this is what I achieve by wireless provided I have recently turned Wifi off and back on again on the laptop.

I have FTTP and the latest BT Smarthub2 router transmitting on 2.4GHz and 5GHz configured for 11ac.

I do not have access to any other Wifi network providing high speeds for testing purposes.

The laptop has all the original adapters although I did update to the latest wireless driver from Intel (but this did not resolve the problem) I will try a clean install of driver from HP as you suggest and let you know the result.

 

Your previous post suggested I change the Channel Width for 5GHz. Did you mean from the current "Auto" to "20MHz Only" which is the only other option?

 

I had already checked the recommended settings I found on the Intel website before my first post on the forum. (They were all ok).

I did change the Wireless adapter power saving mode to Maximum performance but this did not resolve the problem.

 

Any other thoughts please?

Thanks for your help.

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AdrianM_Intel
Employee
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Hello RFell2,

 

Thank you for your response.

 

After changing all the settings and testing the different options the same behavior happens, we recommend you to contact the ISP so they might be able to guide you with some specific configurations on the router since the wireless card is working properly actually, the wireless card works better than wired connected since it gets more than the minimum guarantee by the ISP.

 

Best regards,

 

Adrian M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

 

 

 

 

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