(Please Help) Never Ending Wi-fi Problems with Windows

[lemoncarbonate]

Hi, I kindly need your expertise on a frustrating issue.

It seems like I always have never ending unknown wi-fi problems with Windows, both W10 and W11.
Suddenly my wi-fi connection became weird with these issues (sorry for the wall of text, I'm trying to describe the issues as detailed as possible)

• Download speed seems to be limited by something. My internet bandwith is 175 Mbps, wi-fi router is on 1st floor, PC is on 2nd floor. Usually I can get 40 Mbps (DL)/25 Mbps (UP) on 2.4G and 60 Mbps (DL) /30Mbps (UP) on 5G. Yesterday suddenly it won't go above 15 Mbps, averaging at 5-8 Mbps, while my upload speed stays the same (25-30 Mbps).
• It's very not stable and inconsistent, when I do speed test, the speed fluctuates so much, starting and staying at 3-5 for few seconds struggling to reach higher speed, and going up to 14 and down again to 11-12. Like revving a car. Meanwhile the UP speed will immediately go to 25-30, in instant.
• Lowest I see DL is 0.5-1, even googling becomes very slow.
• The 5G network was the fastest, now it became useless can't event start speed test.
• Tested the same wi-fi with a 7yo phone on the same spot, easily reached 30 Mbps, and 40-60 Mbps with my Samsung Note 10+
• Turning off and on the modem & wi-fi seems to temporarily fix the problem, but it comes back after few hours, like Windows is really trying to kill my DL speed.

I've done everything I found on forum and internet including the winsock and dns flush thingy, wlan/wwan autoconfig, reinstalled the driver, clearing CMOS, etc, nothing works.
I also don't think it's signal problem because I was fine before and get full signal on 2.4G.
Besides, that upload speed means my wi-fi works properly, it's just something in Windows is limiting or breaking the DL speed.

Previously I had the same problem and clearing CMOS magically fixed it. Now it doesn't.
I'm tired of this, Microsoft can't get a simple wi-fi connection right.

- PCIE Wi-fi adapter: TP Link Archer T6e V2 (Latest Driver)
- Router: Asus AC58U
- MB: Gigabyte AX370 Gaming 5, F51 BIOS
- Signal: Full on 2.4G, 1-2 bar on 5G.
- W11 x64 latest update.
- AV: Bitdefender Internet Security (tried without it)

Please let me know if you have any idea. Thank you in advance.

Edit: Left my PC for dinner, came back and it fixed itself. This is really weird.
But this happens multiple times. It would be good to know what's causing it.

 

[Shou Miko]

Have you tried untagging "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" ?

This is the first thing I do when I have any WiFi issues, plus have you done a wifi scan to check if there are other using the same wifi channels?

 

[natr0n]

Put a fan blowing on it.

wifi parts do get hot or overheat. a google on it shows a heatsink so it gets hot already so fan cool it perhaps

 

[Hyderz]

there are several factors to wifi interference, what kind of house do you live in?
i have a relatively small apartment and i installed a wifi extender to boost signal but the speed is at best 30mbps... its useable..
when i go into the toilet and shut the door even though the router is only 5meters away i dont have any 5g connection and resorted to 2.4g and its 2bars
open door and i get access to 5g again but i will hear from my 3year old daughter ohhhh dad its smelly... *chuckle*
i'm no expert on wifi and routers but i have read articles that Mesh Wifi setup is the best option for a house and good wifi capability to almost every corner of the house
when i move into a bigger place i might start there

 

[lemoncarbonate]

Have you tried untagging "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" ?

This is the first thing I do when I have any WiFi issues, plus have you done a wifi scan to check if there are other using the same wifi channels?

Yes, I untagged that since long ago and first after resetting network, as I said, I've tried most of the common solution.
How to do a wi-fi scan?

Put a fan blowing on it.

wifi parts do get hot or overheat. a google on it shows a heatsink so it gets hot already so fan cool it perhaps

My case should have good airflow, but I might try this later with small fan.

there are several factors to wifi interference, what kind of house do you live in?
i have a relatively small apartment and i installed a wifi extender to boost signal but the speed is at best 30mbps... its useable..
when i go into the toilet and shut the door even though the router is only 5meters away i dont have any 5g connection and resorted to 2.4g and its 2bars
open door and i get access to 5g again but i will hear from my 3year old daughter ohhhh dad its smelly... *chuckle*
i'm no expert on wifi and routers but i have read articles that Mesh Wifi setup is the best option for a house and good wifi capability to almost every corner of the house
when i move into a bigger place i might start there

It's a concrete house. with ceramic flooring. Distance from my PC on 2nd floor to the router on 1st floor probably 4-5 meter. It's right above the router.
This has been fine for forever, but sometimes Windows just decided to kill the speed out of nowhere.
Mesh wifi huh? Thanks, I'll take a look into it. The IT guy I know also mentioned that Access Point is better than extender, extender reduces speed but AP retains.

 

[Assimilator]

This is a typical symptom of poor WiFi signal that will almost certainly be fixed with an extender or AP.

 

[Shou Miko]

Yes, I untagged that since long ago and first after resetting network, as I said, I've tried most of the common solution.
How to do a wi-fi scan?

On Windows you can use this free app from the Microsoft Store: https://www.microsoft.com/store/productid/9NBLGGH33N0N

I used this in the past there are properly also Android and iOS app but I don't have one on hand right now.

 

[Frick]

This is a typical symptom of poor WiFi signal that will almost certainly be fixed with an extender or AP.

Or an overheating or dying NIC.

 

[lemoncarbonate]

This is a typical symptom of poor WiFi signal that will almost certainly be fixed with an extender or AP.

It's just on my PC though, Everything else next to my PC is totally fine and speedy. This also happened last time, problems persisted even after clean install. Clearing CMOS fixed it.

On Windows you can use this free app from the Microsoft Store: https://www.microsoft.com/store/productid/9NBLGGH33N0N

I used this in the past there are properly also Android and iOS app but I don't have one on hand right now.

Thanks! Will give it a try.

Or an overheating or dying NIC.

Is there any software for monitoring NIC's temp?
Although I don't think it's temperature, this problem occurs even after first boot in the morning after exposed to AC the whole night.

 

[Lost_Troll]

Have you tried untagging "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" ?

This is the first thing I do when I have any WiFi issues, plus have you done a wifi scan to check if there are other using the same wifi channels?

These are the two things I would look at first.

On Windows you can use this free app from the Microsoft Store: https://www.microsoft.com/store/productid/9NBLGGH33N0N

I used this in the past there are properly also Android and iOS app but I don't have one on hand right now.

Then look at this second.

The third is getting Wireshark and looking at what is on your network and seeing if something is spamming it or you are being hit with radar (Speed Traps). TV's are notorious for broadcasting connections for streaming devices.

The last thing if you find none of this works, is too see if there is an issue with the wifi card or router that would cause this. You might also want to try an intel based wifi card and see if it has the same issue since they are cheap now, like 20 dollars.

 

[agent_x007]

Get this card : LINK (or similar AX201/AC9260 with PCIe adapter + relocatable type aerial), and put it's antenna in open space and as fas from PC as possible (closest to your AP/Router).
Cheaper alternative would be to simply swap old antennas with something that has a long cable to put in better place. This will not help when WiFi card simply hangs due to software/hardware issue.

Side note : When I see a massive heatsink on AC speed WiFi card I have serious doubts about it's quality/design.

 

[lemoncarbonate]

These are the two things I would look at first.


Then look at this second.

The third is getting Wireshark and looking at what is on your network and seeing if something is spamming it or you are being hit with radar (Speed Traps). TV's are notorious for broadcasting connections for streaming devices.

The last thing if you find none of this works, is too see if there is an issue with the wifi card or router that would cause this. You might also want to try an intel based wifi card and see if it has the same issue since they are cheap now, like 20 dollars.

Thank you, I will try those when the problem occurs again. I never tried checking what's on my network.

Get this card : LINK (or similar AX201/AC9260 with PCIe adapter + relocatable type aerial), and put it's antenna in open space and as fas from PC as possible (closest to your AP/Router).
Cheaper alternative would be to simply swap old antennas with something that has a long cable to put in better place. This will not help when WiFi card simply hangs due to software/hardware issue.

Side note : When I see a massive heatsink on AC speed WiFi card I have serious doubts about it's quality/design.

That looks better than my current one, and affordable as well, Wifi 6 and Bluetooth included.
Honestly Gigabyte never came to my mind when looking for network adapter..lol. Thanks, I put this on my wish list for upgrade.

I thought heatsink just a preventive measure of overheating? Just to be safe, although I don't know how hot AC wi-fi can get.

EDIT: it's happening again out of nowhere, and it's worse. I was watching youtube and suddenly the video stopped buffering. Tested the speed and got this result.

I reset the PC, router, and modem, nothing works.
Connection is fine on my Phone and Tablet.
Additional experiment: I tried tether from my phone mobile data, and my Wi-fi adapter seems to be working fine. Windows got problem with this particular Wi-fi only

Tried the Wi-fi Analyzer, but I don't know how to read the software.

 

[agent_x007]

There are few other PCI-e cards that are based on AC9260 or AX201 Intel WiFi cards (aside from Gigabyte).
Neat thing with those is that you can swap your WiFi card in the future with anything else that fits the slot on PCI-e adapter.

I thought heatsink just a preventive measure of overheating? Just to be safe, although I don't know how hot AC wi-fi can get.

That is correct, however have you ever seen (on ebay or google), a laptop "AC" class WiFi card with a heatsink ?

 

[1freedude]

The output of the software shows one wifi signal, on channel 6 of the 2.4GHz band. The signal strength is ~ -60 dBm. dBm is decibel•meters, a RF field measurement unit. The closer to zero, the stronger the signal is received by the uhh, receiver. That is a perfectly acceptable signal strength. What suprises me is the utter lack of other signals.