I think something else is going on here. I can think of no technical explanation why your ping is going from 500ms to 50ms (approx) by "Bridging". As said earlier, bridging does not increase bandwith or reduce ping, but creates a "link" between 2 network segments. What you are doing is creating a "loop", which is a rather odd situation.
1./ The ping from your ISP to your router must be the same. It doesnt change whether your laptop is PC is hardwired or on wireless.
SUGGESTION: Test the true ping by moving your PC to the router temporarily and with a direct cable connection, test the ping again. My guess is that it will be about 25ms.
2./ This means your router to wireless is adding 25-475ms. These figures are INSANE unless you are in a very heavily congested wireless area.
SUGGESTION: Try moving the channel away from the default (ch 11?) and selecting another "free" channel. Scan the local area to find an unused channel and set your router and card to that channel (e.g. ch 2).
3./ BRIDGING as you have done, SHOULD, in theory, cause you problems. Why? Because you have now created a "network loop", which if not properly managed, can cause a headache of problems. A managed router/switch would use "Spanning tree protocol" to avoid these loops bringing a network down.
SUGGESTION: Rather than pinging FROM your PC, try using another PC or laptop on your LAN to ping TO the problem PC. Try single wireless connection, then try with your bridge. I bet there is no difference.
4./ I think there may be a problem with the drivers. If you "BRIDGE" maybe the PC uses the MS standard drivers rather than the OEM drivers.
SUGGESTION: Try removing ALL wireless drivers from the system, download the lastest, and try a standalone card.
5./ There may be a fault with the router. By bridging and creating a loop, you are somehow "keeping it awake" rather than it falling back into a sleep state. The BRIDGE LOOP is not a solution, only a fix of a bug in the router.
SUGGESTION: Try to borrow someone elses router to see if that fixes the problem.
6./ Could you possibly have fiddled with some of the advanced settings on the wireless, like "beacon interval" etc.?
SUGGESTION: Post your advanced settings here.
7./ A bug in speedtest. The algotihms may be confused by a "double connection".
SUGGESTION: Try another internet ping test utility.
8./ Perhaps we should have discussed this earlier. Limit the scope of finding the problem. Do all your ping tests on your LAN until you have found the issue and found the best solution.
SUGGESTION: Run ping test on your own LAN first... between 2 machines, or between the PC and a print-server or NAS, for example.
9./ You might have some nasty MALWARE on your PC. It is hogging and intercepting/processing or doing some HOSTS redirection on the FIRST network card it finds. The second network card is not trapped and can therefore work without the slowdown.
SUGGESTION: Thorough malware/antivirus scan. Try booting safe and uninstalling network drivers, cleaning, and reinstalling network drivers in a controlled environment.
and honestly it wouldnt be the 1st time windows was wrong now would it?
