I'm struggling to understand why my PC's WiFi download speed is significantly slower than my other devices. I'm subscribed to an 800 Mbps internet plan but I'm only getting between 220-275 Mbps on my PC. I have a 3-extender mesh WiFi system with one extender located in my office. The router is on the same floor but on the other side of the house.
Initially, I used the integrated WiFi on my MSI Z790 Pro-A motherboard, and after noticing the slow speed, I tried various solutions: I moved an external antenna around for better reception, bought a PCIe WiFi 6E card and tested it with both an extended antenna and a blade antenna, and even attempted a direct Ethernet connection to the extender, which only showed minor improvement. I also forced my PC to connect to a different extender by disconnecting the one in my room, but it barely made a difference.
Curiously, my roommate's PC, which is further from the router/extenders, gets around 500 Mbps, while my phone manages to hit 600-700 Mbps in the same office as my PC. I can't figure out what's causing the significant speed difference—any suggestions?
4 Answers
Is your PCIe WiFi card possibly in power-saving mode? After I re-pasted my CPU, my PCIe card defaulted to a power-saving setting and it really slowed down my WiFi. That might be worth checking in BIOS and Windows settings.
Have you checked your Windows settings? Sometimes, if your connection is set to metered or you're stuck on a 2.4 GHz signal, it can really slow things down. Make sure in the device manager, your network card is set to prefer 5GHz and check that the channel width is set to auto. This can make a significant difference.
I went through those settings and everything looks good. Metered connection is off, and channel widths are on auto. I also set the 'Preferred Band' to 5GHz + 6GHz, but unfortunately, the speed test results remained the same.
It sounds like you might be facing an issue with the extender setup. If you're only getting around 270 Mbps when connected directly via Ethernet to the extender, that could indicate a limitation on the extender's connection to the router. It might be worth checking if the extender is actually causing the bandwidth drop.
Also, if your roommate's using the same extender wirelessly and getting around 500 Mbps, it could suggest that the issue lies with your PC or its connection settings.
Every hop in a mesh network can reduce your speed by half. For your setup, if the router sends 800 Mbps to an extender, you're likely only getting a fraction after that. I recommend running an Ethernet cable to your most important devices—like your PC, game console, etc.—while using WiFi for less essential gadgets like phones or tablets. It really helps with speed and stability.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by power-saving mode for the PCIe WiFi card. Are you saying there’s a BIOS setting that could turn it on for specific PCIe slots?