Slow speed on same wifi network

[Ravenpoe]

You might remember me posting that I needed to replace my laptop. I did, and the new one works great. So great, in fact, that it gets about double the download speeds than my desktop, which is connected to the same wifi network.

What could be causing the slower speeds on my desktop? A wired connection is not an option, the only available internet connection comes from an LTE hotspot. Testing has been done with each being the only device connected to the hotspot, and are fairly consistent. Where do I even start looking?

 

[Dave]

Firewall?

 

[Ravenpoe]

Firewall?

Just the built in windows firewall (both machines are running Windows 10), no throttling or anything of the sort set.

 

[Dave]

NIC drivers?

 

[figmentPez]

You might remember me posting that I needed to replace my laptop. I did, and the new one works great. So great, in fact, that it gets about double the download speeds than my desktop, which is connected to the same wifi network.

What could be causing the slower speeds on my desktop? A wired connection is not an option, the only available internet connection comes from an LTE hotspot. Testing has been done with each being the only device connected to the hotspot, and are fairly consistent. Where do I even start looking?

Are the devices using the same revision of WiFi and the same frequency? If your desktop only has a 2.4Ghz radio and your new laptop is connecting on 5Ghz, then that would easily account for getting twice the speed.

 

[Ravenpoe]

Are the devices using the same revision of WiFi and the same frequency? If your desktop only has a 2.4Ghz radio and your new laptop is connecting on 5Ghz, then that would easily account for getting twice the speed.

I actually have no idea, or how to check.

 

[grub]

what are the brands and models?

 

[Ravenpoe]

what are the brands and models?

This is my desktop adapter, which claims to support 5ghz

Amazon product

 

[PatrThom]

It could even be something as stupid as one being closer to your refrigerator than the other.
There are any number of free stumbler/wifi analyzer utilities to help you find out how strong the signal is from your problem location, as well as reveal the protocol, channel, and frequency.

--Patrick

 

[strawman]

I'd look at the specific adaptors in use. Perhaps the old laptop is only 802.11n while the LTE hotspot and new laptop support 802.11ac (or worse, old could be g...).

As others point out, 2.4ghz vs 5ghz makes a difference.

The number of antennas also matters. If your old laptop only has one wifi antenna and the new one and the hotspot have 2 or 4 that would affect total throughput.

Also there could be driver issues. Installing the latest drivers may magically upgrade the old laptop.

What are the speeds you're getting on each, anyway?