I recently got a new phone, and its Wi‑Fi connection is extremely slow. My old phone still works normally on the same network, and my sister is having the same issue with a phone she bought a month or two ago. Turning off Wi‑Fi on the older devices didn't help. On the new phones, YouTube barely plays and downloads are painfully slow, while mobile data works at full speed. What could be causing this, and how can we fix it?
3 Answers
A small speed reduction from supporting older Wi‑Fi devices usually wouldn’t make YouTube unusable, so it’s worth checking the actual numbers first. If the new phones show a strong signal but much lower speeds than the old ones, compare their Wi‑Fi standard settings and install any available phone or router updates.
Start with a speed test on both an old and a new phone while standing in the same spot. That will show whether the problem is actually slower Wi‑Fi or just poor performance on the new devices. Also try connecting the new phone to the router’s 5 GHz network, if it has one. If that doesn’t help, forget the Wi‑Fi network and reconnect, or reset the phone’s network settings.
Your router may be broadcasting both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi‑Fi under one combined network name. Try separating them into two names in the router settings, then connect the new phones specifically to the 5 GHz network. It usually offers better speeds, as long as the phones aren’t too far from the router.
Log in to the router’s configuration page or use its companion app, open the wireless settings, and give the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks different names. The exact steps depend on the router model, so check its manual if the option isn’t obvious.
How do I separate the two Wi‑Fi bands? I’m not familiar with those router settings.