I've just moved into a new house where I have gigabit internet, but I'm facing a weird issue with my desktop PC. It has a WiFi card built into the motherboard (B650 Wifi Pro from MSI), and I've noticed that while my laptop and iPhone get impressive speeds between 400 and 800 Mbps, my desktop struggles to even reach 25 Mbps, even though it's in the same room as the router. I've already tried updating drivers, including the chipset and WiFi adapter drivers, and even replaced the WiFi card with a new Aorus GC-WBAX 210. Unfortunately, the new card hasn't improved my speeds either, despite disabling the built-in adapter to limit any interference. What could be causing this significant difference in download speeds for my desktop?
4 Answers
Just to be sure, you did attach the antennas to your WiFi card, right? Sometimes that can be easy to overlook and make a huge difference in signal strength.
Try conducting a speed test by placing your phone right next to the PC's WiFi antenna. If your phone still gets good speeds, then the issue might be with the PC's settings or hardware.
I did that, and my phone reached over 500 Mbps, even when touching the antenna. So it seems the signal is fine!
First off, check if you're using the 2.4 GHz band. If your PC is set to that, it could be causing slower speeds. You can usually find this setting in the WiFi settings on your PC. Sometimes, devices can automatically default to the lower speed band if it's more reliable, but it might not be the best option here.
I checked the device manager, and it's set to all bands. Is there another place I should look for this?
If you're not keen on running Ethernet cables yet, consider trying powerline Ethernet adapters. Sometimes, motherboard WiFi can be unreliable. Also, double-check your router settings; make sure your desktop is connected to a 5 GHz network if available. A clean Windows install could also help if all else fails.
I have a single combined network that should work across multiple bands. My router's app says I'm connected to the 6 GHz network.
Yep, I made sure they're connected!