Can a pc's wireless become faulty and slow, or do they just work or not work?

rjbell

rjbell

Suspended / Banned
Messages
4,421
Name
Robert
Edit My Images
Yes
My PC seems to have slowed down online. Broadband testers are giving readings of less than 20mb where i should be getting 50mb. I've just used the same test site on my phone and getting 49mb so the connection is fine.

What do think is going on here, can my wireless card only handle 20mb?

Can the wireless card deteriorate, and slow down, or do they either work or not work?
 
if it's just for browsing 20mb shouldn't really show any obvious difference in usage from 50mb.

Even streaming etc should be fine at 20 so it could be a different issue with the computer rather than the wireless card

The card could have a problem though which is causing traffic collisions/packet drop. Best thing to do is connect it up to the router with an ethernet cable so you can see if it's the PC or the wireless card.
 
rjbell said:
My PC seems to have slowed down online. Broadband testers are giving readings of less than 20mb where i should be getting 50mb. I've just used the same test site on my phone and getting 49mb so the connection is fine.

What do think is going on here, can my wireless card only handle 20mb?

Can the wireless card deteriorate, and slow down, or do they either work or not work?
Click to expand...

Attach your computer to the broadband by means of wired cable like LAN cable and check the speed. If it is fast, then yes, something wrong with your wireless equipment, if it is slow, then it could not be your wireless equipment, it could be the phone socket itself, could be your computer itself, could be the services itself.

Remember that you can't see the airwaves itself, you can't see the data travelling over wireless signals, so you can't test the radio waves, therefore how do you know if there is something wrong with the wireless if you can't see the radio waves, hence check using a cable, to help know if it is the wireless equipment or if it is the phone line or services.
 
Firstly, I know nothing about computers or wireless routers :D but I've been having exactly the same problem all week on mi laptop,very slow to load pages, whilst mi missus hadn't had a problem using her phone.
Last night we found a re-set button on the router. After re-setting it, the router up graded its self and the problem was instantly cured. :banana:(we only knew it was upgrading because she looked in the book to see what the flashing light meant :D)

Its a BT home hub 2.0 that we've had a couple of years and its the first time we've reset it :rolleyes:
 
Moved to Computers & stuff (yes we do have one of those :D )
Hopefully to reach a wider audience.
 
A wireless card is a radio, it can become susceptible to noise and interference which will cause it to decrease the data rate. As someone else suggested try a wired connection to the router and check the speed.
 
When you say you are getting 50mb/s from your phone, is that also connected to the same wi-fi hot spot as your PC?

What signal strength does your PC say you are getting from your wi-fi access point? Have you added any new devices to your home network recently? Installed any new software? Has another wireless network popped on the same channel up in your vacinity recently? You can check this with something like WiFi analyser on your phone.

What OS are you using?
 
I have had broadband of some varying speed since 1995 when Cabletel where about (now virgin) 512kb at the time.
Since then I have had others from 2mb & lots of different speeds in between up to my present 50mb with virgin.

However, I have always noticed a stark difference between using the wireless router via wifi & using the same router with an ethernet (cat5e rj45) cable.
The cable system I have found to be consistently more reliable & faster every time.
My current 50mb connection usually gives 53mb with a cable, yes more! & via the wifi 33mb!!
So as above, if you can use a cable...
 
Firstly in answer to the OP to me it sounds like your wireless card is of the 802.11g variety (which I have typically hit a max of 20mb/s in testing). My recommendation would be to use 802.11n or even 802.11ac if possible. Obviously in both these cases the router has to be compatible. To be more helpful could you answer these questions:

What is the make/model of router (or which ISP provided it)?
Is your machine a desktop or laptop?
How far is your router from your machine?
How old is your house? (this might seem an odd question but older houses have thicker internal walls that wifi struggles with)

One thing I would recommend is to look at the wireless channels operating in your locality. I have Virgin's mark 2 superhub that broadcasts both a 2.4ghz and a 5ghz signal. I used the Wifi Analyzer app as recommended by http://www.howtogeek.com/197268/how...nnel-for-your-router-on-any-operating-system/ . Which showed far less interference on the 5ghz band (actually I was the only network in range). Therefore any devices which support 5ghz I use on that band. 5ghz has a harder time getting through walls though.

As a networking geek I recommend wired Ethernet of the gigabit variety where possible. Followed then by 802.11ac and 802.11n from the wireless end. Powerline can also be quicker than wireless but that is dependent on factors relating to your house's wiring.
 
Wireless AC is not necessarily better than Wireless N. It uses exclusively the 5G band which is not so good at penetrating walls, ceilings, floors etc. YMMV.
 
Try using inSSIDer app on your laptop - it will tell you what channels other wifi networks in the area are using - it maybe that lots are using the same channel, by moving to a less congested channel your speed may improve.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top