wireless-AC 7265 5x slower in Windows 10 vs Linux Mint 17.3

[kken2]

my old laptop has a atheros wireless chip inside.

my current laptop has an intel 7265. latest drivers installed.

Both are synced with the router at 150mbps.

From the same position on my desk, same TPLINK wr841n N-router, same modem, downloading the same speed test file ..... http://speedtest.choopa.net/1GBtest.bin http://speedtest.choopa.net/1GBtest.bin

The intel only gets 700K/s, while the Atheros gets 2900K/s

With 8 parallel threads, I can't even max out my internet connection with the Intel. I get 5300KB/s.

With 2 threads, the Atheros gets 5300K/s, and 3 threads maxes out my connection at 7MB/s.

Why does the Intel run 4x slower than the atheros? It feels like the Intel is capped.

It's consistently slower. Single thread performance is terrible.

For example, downloading Nvidia driver package, the Intel only does 3.6MB/s, whereas the Atheros maxes the connection out at 7MB/s. The Atheros could probably go faster if I had a faster broadband connection.

How can I get the Intel to perform similarly to the Atheros

I already have the wireless on max power setting in Power options.

What settings and hacks do I need to implement?

throughput booster setting does nothing

[ASouz7]

link626,

Speed tests such as the one you have performed are usually better when all the background apps that use Internet are turned off for better results. For example, if you have many tabs open into the Internet browser doing different things such streaming misic, gaming or video, they may impact directly in those readings. With that being said, we invite you to take a look at these solutions online as it may contain information that may increase your experience with this adapter.

1. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005615.html?wapkw=3160&wapkwg=featured TechNote: Access Point Interoperability Issue with uAPSD

2. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005585.html Advanced Wi-Fi Adapter Settings

3. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005582.html?wapkw=technote Resolving Wi-Fi Connection Issues

4. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005493.html Quick Checks That Might Improve or Fix Connection Issues

Addtionally, we recommend to turn off Bluetooth* if not need as it and Wi-Fi shares the same antennas and this can also impact on your speed. Next, do the following:

1. Change the channel on the router for one less crowded. Usually most routers come by default set to channel 6 or 11. You can use the tool of your prefence and trust to check the channels.

2. Make sure you router is away from other electronic devices such as cordeless phones and microwave oven as they are know to cause some interference.

3. Check with the router manufacturer for the latest firmware as it may contain new features and improvements for a better experience with your connectivity.

4. Test your connection with this adapter without a password as depending on the type of encryption, it may afect your speed. Check this out: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000006697.html Data Rate Won't Exceed 54 Mbps When WEP or TKIP Encryption is... We invtie you to take a look at this piece of information so you can learn more about it: http://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/security Security | Wi-Fi Alliance and these ones as well: https://www.wi-fi.org/file/the-state-of-wi-fi-security-wi-fi-certified-wpa2-delivers-advanced-security-to-homes The State of Wi-Fi® Security: Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ WPA2™ Delivers Advanced Security to Homes, Enterprises and Mobile Devices… - https://www.wi-fi.org/download.php?file=/sites/default/files/private/Wi-Fi_Alliance_Technical_Note_TKIP_v1.0.pdf Technical Note - Removal of TKIP from Wi-Fi* Devices

Moreover, since you already informed you have checked the power setting and set to maximum performance, here are other steps that you can do in order to improve your experience with the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265.

1. Go to Device Manager >> Network Adapters >> Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265, then right click on it and select Properties.

2. Once you're there, select the Advanced Tab and look for the option that say U-APSD Support and change it to Disabled. the link # 1 above explains more about it.

3. Change the value of Transmit Power and make sure it is set to 5. Highest.

4. Set the Wireless Mode to 802.11 a/b/g and choose the wireless mode according to the support mode of your router.

5. Set the Preferred Band to Prefer 2.4 GHz band.

6. Set the HT Mode to HT Mode for 802.11n compatibility. HVT Mode is for 802.11ac compatibility.

7. Set the 802.11n Chennel width for 2.4 GHz to limited 20MHz even though it has smaller bandwidth than 40Mhz, its penetration capabilities are much better which may improve your connection signal.

8. Set the value of Roaming Aggressiveness to Lowest.

9. Set the value of Ad Hoc QoS Mode to WMM Disabled.

Please, let us know if this helped you resolve the issue.

[kken2]

2. Once you're there, select the Advanced Tab and look for the option that say U-APSD Support and change it to Disabled. the link # 1 above explains more about it.

3. Change the value of Transmit Power and make sure it is set to 5. Highest.

4. Set the Wireless Mode to 802.11 a/b/g and choose the wireless mode according to the support mode of your router.

5. Set the Preferred Band to Prefer 2.4 GHz band.

6. Set the HT Mode to HT Mode for 802.11n compatibility. HVT Mode is for 802.11ac compatibility.

7. Set the 802.11n Chennel width for 2.4 GHz to limited 20MHz even though it has smaller bandwidth than 40Mhz, its penetration capabilities are much better which may improve your connection signal.

8. Set the value of Roaming Aggressiveness to Lowest.

9. Set the value of Ad Hoc QoS Mode to WMM Disabled.

2. apsd already disabled by default.

3. already 5 by default.

4. already set by default.

5. done

6. done

7. done

8. done

9. already set by default.

Windows 10 task manager shows Wifi is using 0kb/s, so no background apps are interfering.

downloading the speedtest file from choopa again.

and......

these modifications did absolutely nothing.

Intel wifi still capped at 700 KB/s, even if I move closer to the router.

makes no difference when i turn off bluetooth.

While the old laptop right next to it still does 2700KB/s.

The reason I used this speed test file to test speed is that it is single threaded.

All other speed tests at speedtest.net and Ookla are multithreaded, and do not give an accurate assessment of download speed since most http downloads are single threaded.

I could download files from other sources, for example Nvidia driver packages.

From nvidia, intel wifi gets 2.8 MB/s, while the atheros right next to it gets 3.5MB/s.

It's better, but still slower.

I guess this is the best the 7265AC can do... no more hacks or driver tweaks

[idata]

link626,

Could you be so kind and let us know whether this adapter is the one installed by factory or was it installed later

[idata]

link626,

We haven't heard from you in 5 days so we would like to know if you still need our assistance regarding the issue presented. Please let us know as soon as you can.

[kken2]

yes, the intel wifi chip was installed by factory.

antenna wires and everything are secured. I can eventually saturate bandwidth if I run multiple threads.

it's single thread performance that is not up to par

[idata]

link 626,

Considering you are using Windows®10, it has a feature called WUDO also known as http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/windows-update-delivery-optimization-faq Windows Update Delivery Optimazation that may impact speed. This feature is designed to help users to get faster software updates which is quite a good idea to handle massive Internet traffic of up to 40 Terabits per second (TBps).

It pretty much works as a torrent. A computer running Windows®10 is used as part of a peer to peer network to deliver software updates faster to others, each Windows®10-based computer distributing a little bit of the files acrsoss multiple computers and helping everyone donwload updates quickly but that utilizes a lot of bandwidth.

Let's try to disable this feature on your OS and see if you are going to have better performance after that. The picture below illustrates how to disable it. Please let us know if this worked for you.

[kken2]

I knew about that torrent update behavior, and it was the first thing I disabled when I got this computer.

so, it was already disabled before this thread was started.

I'm also sitting within 10 feet of the modem router in direct line of sight, for testing purposes.

7265AC Single thread speed is still slower than my Atheros-equipped laptop, which is 30ft away behind several walls.

Even behind all those walls, the Atheros AR9285 can still get 2.9MB/s downloading the same test file, whereas the 7265AC can't break 700KB/s 10ft away in direct line of sight.

I have tested two different routers with the same result.

I should say, not everything is throttled at 700 KB/s though.

But in this thread, I wanted to do an apples to apples comparison with the only difference being the wireless card.

The other speedtest I did was at testmy.net, which is singlethreaded, unlike ookla.net speed tests which cheat by using multithreads.

With location and bluetooth turned off, the 7265AC gets 9.2 mbit/s from testmy.net

whereas the atheros AR9285 gets 29.6 mbit/s, tested immediately after the 7265AC. Again, every parameter being equal except the wifi cards themselves.

Nothing is running on my computer or the network that would compromise bandwidth. Win10 task manager shows wifi at 0 KB/s before testing, and tops out at 10mbit/s during testing at testmy.net

Downloading the same video from youtube server, exact same url, (actual video server https://r5---sn-n4v7sn7l.googlevideo.com/ https://r5---sn-n4v7sn7l.googlevideo.com/....)

the 7265AC gets 22Mbps whereas Atheros AR9285 gets 51Mbps, everything else being equal.

You might think... Ok, 22Mbps is not bad; surely beats the 6Mbps I was getting from the choopa.net speedtest file.

but 7265AC is just blown away by this cheap Atheros AR9285 that is ubiquitous in millions of cheap laptops.

Still hoping Intel can squeeze out more performance from the 7265AC, though reading feedback online, it doesn't look too good.

I'm hoping the hardware is good and just needs better software.

[idata]

link626,

Based on this last piece of information, we recommend to check the router configuration and see if there isn't any restriction that might be affecting its performance. Also, we would like for you to use this tool: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility Intel® System Support Utility which is a tool that performs a detailed scan, report and analysus of your computer system information and also produces an output file that can be saved, viewed by the user. Once you have those logs, please be so kind and send us here so we can take a even closer look into this situation for you.

[kken2]

I've used SSU before

[idata]

link626,

Thank you for the the information. We are going to analyze it and will advise as soon as possible. In the meantime, feel free to ask us any questions you may have while we check this for you.

[idata]

link626,

Thank you for your time. The logs information indicates that the adapter is operationg in 2.4GHz band 802.11n and the driver version detected is 18.20.0.9.Our recommendation based on the information provide is to update the drivers to the latest drivers from http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/OEMs.html computer manufacturer first. Should the issue persists, you may try a clean installation utilizing our generic latest drivers. This is how you can do it:

1. Download and save https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25833/Intel-PROSet-Wireless-Software-and-Drivers-for-Windows-10?product=83635 Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Windows® 10 version 18.40.0

2. Then, go to Control Panel, Programs and Features and Uninstall "Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software", if it is installed. When prompted, choose the option to "Discard settings".3. In Control Panel, Device Manager, Network Adapters, right click on the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 and Uninstall it. Make sure you mark the option to "Delete the driver software for this device".4. Reboot the PC or scan for hardware changes, check device manager and if an older driver is detected and installed, repeat the actions to uninstall and delete it as well. Repeat this process until the OS does not allow deleting the driver, or until the controller shows as Unknown Device.5. Reboot or scan for hardware changes, then uninstall and delete any older driver versions as you did for the Wireless adapter.6. Install the Intel® Wireless driver. During the first steps of PROSet/Wireless installation, make sure to customize the installation and install all the 3 driver components.7. Once all this is done, please make sure to set the HT Mode to HT Mode

[kken2]

Sorry, that was an old xml output. I've had the newest drivers installed for a while.

I also have a 5ghz 802.11ac router, and for the exact same single thread speed test, results are the same, if not slower.... sitting 10 ft away from the router in direct line of sight.

Updated SSU xml attached.

and just FYI, it says 60% signal because I ran the SSU from several rooms away from the router, through several walls.

For actual download testing, I sat 10ft away from the router, and still could not get more than ~700 KB/s for that particular file, even with 100% signal.

[idata]

link626,

Thank you for the information. We are going to check the logs and will advise as soon as possible. Should you have any additional information you would like to share please don't hesitate to letting us know it.

[idata]

link626,

Looking at the logs we noticed that the file is not complete. Please send us the full log files extracted from the Intel® SSU (Intel® System Support Uitlity). Another important point is to confim with the Access Point (AP) manufacturer if it is running the latest version as well and if possible, please let us know the firmware version number.We are looking forward to hearing from you soon.

[idata]

link626,

We haven't heard from you in a while so we would like to know if you still need our assistance. If so, please send us the full file so we can analyze it i order to help you with this situation,

[kken2]

full ssu output

[idata]

link626,

Thank you for the information. We are going to analyze it and will advise as soon as possible. In the meantime, should you have any additional information, please let us know.

[idata]

link626,

Thank you for your time. From the log, the adapter drivers and settings look normal. The adapter appears to be configured correctly. The radio is 802.11ac, 5 GHz, but the speed obtained from the router is the one for wireless-N. It is advised to contact the Access Point manufacturer and make sure you are using the most recent firmware. Additionally, you may want to check the router for the following: 1. In some cases, if there are 802.11n devices connected to the network, it does not allow the AC devices to use their full speed. If possible, create a dedicated SSID for 802.11ac. 2. Also, verify the router configuration, since some AP's have a whitelist of known devices, devices that are not in the list will get a lower priority and slow connections. Radio Type: 802.11ac Channel: 36 Receive Rate: 144.4 Mbps Transmit Rate: 144.4 Mbps

[idata]

link626,

We haven't heard from you in a while so we would like to know if you still need our assistance. Please let us know as soon as possible.

[kken2]

I am opening this thread back up because I have new findings. I should have tried this sooner.

I installed Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon 64bit on this computer. dual boot

Using default drivers that came with Mint, I can download the same 1GB test file at http://speedtest.choopa.net http://speedtest.choopa.net with firefox at 3-4 MB/s single threaded, not accelerated !!

With Windows10, I'm still stuck at <700 KB/s downloading the same file. According to Windows task manager, nothing else is using bandwidth. Wifi connection is at 0 KB/s before download testing. It's a clean system. No viruses.

Everything is exactly the same except operating system. Same 802.11n router, same computer, same location of computer.

But linux downloads 4-5.5x faster than in Windows.

So I think it's safe to say that the Windows driver sucks big time.

Perhaps you can look at the default wifi driver that comes with Linux Mint, reverse engineer it, and find out why Linux lets me download so much faster than in Windows, using the same wifi card.

Can we ever expect driver updates for the AC7265 in the near future?

I'll bet that if you did a speed test comparison in your lab between 2 identical PCs, one running Linux Mint and the other running Windows 10, you'd get much better wifi performance from the linux system.