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Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 limited speed

SDunh1
Beginner
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I recently updated my ISP from 250Mbps to 1Gbps.

Mobile devices are now achieving 300+Mbps connections using speedtest.net

My Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming laptop is only achieving 131.49Mbps, which is about the same as prior to the ISP and modem update.

I have updated to the latest intel drivers. I have enabled U-APSD support. There are no device priorities configured in the ISP modem.

Here is the netsh wlan show interface:

netsh wlan show interface

There is 1 interface on the system:

Name : Wi-Fi

Description : Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165

GUID : 654901e8-f155-481a-8ea2-f619835a9070

Physical address : f8:34:41:2b:1a:ab

State : connected

SSID : Munzee

BSSID : a8:9f:ec:22:6c:8d

Network type : Infrastructure

Radio type : 802.11ac

Authentication : WPA2-Personal

Cipher : CCMP

Connection mode : Auto Connect

Channel : 48

Receive rate (Mbps) : 351

Transmit rate (Mbps) : 351

Signal : 99%

Profile : Munzee

Hosted network status : Not available

I am attaching the latest SSU scan.

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idata
Employee
5,049 Views

Hello sdunhom,

We understand you have recently upgraded your Internet service speed, and are able to accomplish better download speeds from all connected devices except for your laptop using the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165.

It's important to note that this adapter is mainly intended for productivity, not high performance usage, as it uses a 1x1 antenna configuration (one antenna supporting one data stream). Other devices on your network may use the more common 2x2 antenna configuration, allowing for better download speeds (throughput).

Looking at the reports you've shared, it seems your adapter is not communicating with your router at it's theoretical maximum of 433 Mbps, but it's not terribly far from it.

Adapter: Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 (1x1)

 

PROSet\Wireless Software: Version 20.40.0

 

Driver: 19.51.11.2

Security: WPA2-Personal CCMP

 

Radio: 802.11ac

 

Band: 5 GHz

 

Channel: 48

 

Signal: 99%

 

Rx/Tx Rate: ~ 325 to 351 Mbps

The main difference between connection (receive/transmit) rates and download speed, is that download speed is a simple average measuring how fast a small file is downloaded from the test server. Download speed does not account for network overhead and environmental factors such as routing, encryption, RF interference, and user congestion. Your connection rate, on the other hand, measures the overall speed at which you're currently able to transmit data between your computer and your router.

Your maximum download speed can be roughly estimated at around half (~50 to 60%) of your connection rate. Depending on your wireless router, user congestion will have a greater or smaller impact on user experience.

Here we can make the following recommendations:

  1. Modify the following https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005585/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html advanced adapter settings:
    1. Channel Width for 2.4 GHz: 20 MHz
    2. Channel Width for 5 GHz: Auto (your current setting)
    3. Roaming Aggressiveness: 1. Lowest
    4. U-APSD Support: Disabled. (This is a https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005615/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html power saving feature, aimed at VoIP users, it may limit performance in favor of battery life).
  2. For your router:
    1. Manually set your wireless channel, choosing a different non-overlapping, non-DFS (dynamic frequency selection) channel such as: 36, 40, 44, 149, 153, 157, or 161.
    2. Make sure that your router is running on the latest firmware available.
    3. If your router has QoS (quality of service) options, test by enabling or disabling and see when your system works best.

Please let us know if this helps.

Best regards,

 

Carlos A.
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idata
Employee
5,049 Views

Hello sdunhom,

 

 

We haven't heard back from you. Did our suggestions help improve your wireless performance/throughput issues?

 

 

Best regards,

 

Carlos A.
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NGeac
Beginner
5,049 Views

I have the same problem with one of my laptops with the dual band ac-3165 adapter. getting only about 20mbps upload. Another laptop running simultaneously with a dual band ac-8265 adapter gets over 350mbps on the same network. What could cause this and how do i improve the performance of the ac-3165. Both laptops were purchased at the same time about 18 months ago.

 

Thanks

Nick

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