Why Is My Ethernet Connection Much Slower Than Wi‑Fi?

First check the actual negotiated link speed in your network adapter’s status panel. It should say 1.0 Gbps, or at least 100 Mbps depending on the hardware. Manually selecting 1 Gbps full duplex doesn’t necessarily mean the connection successfully negotiated at that speed. If it shows 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps, check the router port, wall jack, cable path, and Ethernet adapter. Also install the correct LAN driver from the motherboard or network-card manufacturer rather than relying only on Windows updates.

Check the router’s QoS, parental-control, guest-network, or device-profile settings. Some routers apply bandwidth limits to unknown devices or place them in a restricted group. Make sure the desktop is recognized as a normal trusted device and doesn’t have a download cap.

Windows can sometimes have a corrupted network configuration. Try searching Settings for “Network reset,” run it, and restart the computer. Afterward, reconnect to the network and check the Ethernet status and link speed. A proper gigabit connection should normally show 1000/1000 Mbps on a compatible network.

Since the problem happens in more than one browser, the browser probably isn’t the cause. Try another Ethernet port on the router and test with the computer connected directly to it. If the negotiated link is 1 Gbps but speed tests remain near 20 Mbps, compare results using another test server and temporarily check whether security software or a VPN is limiting the connection.