Wifi Fix

[RadJames]

Hey guys, i got a issue that i need helping fixing..

I have an old dell prebuilt that i use primarly for old games like Garrys Mod. Unfortunately recently it has started doing anything wifi related extremely slow. This includes playing servers, installing a game, or simply loading loading a tab on chrome

Doing a wifi test I get about 22 MBPS Download and 25 MBPS Upload

I did install a new hard drive which only slighty helped improve download speeds. But it still downloads horribly slow. For a while I had it plugged into Eithernet and that fixed the problem completely but I had to move my computer so now im looking for a wireless solution

I was looking at PCIe wifi cards but if you guys have a suggestion it would be greatly appreciated. 

As previously stated its an old computer so im not looking to buy any new parts like a new motherboard or processor or whatever i have todo to fix this.
And if this sounds like its more then just a wifi card issue, i would like to know aswell for any possible fixes.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited March 18, 2023 by RadJames
Adding more info

[Mystic]

Is it your ethernet cable perhaps?

Are you only using that one HDD or do you have another one your OS is running on? 

Have you tried clearing your cache or opening any ports/port forwarding?

[RadJames]

2 minutes ago, Mystic said:

Is it your ethernet cable perhaps?

Are you only using that one HDD or do you have another one your OS is running on? 

Have you tried clearing your cache or opening any ports/port forwarding?

Idk, I can't use it anymore. My wifi seems find as it works on my laptop and phone fine

I have a HDD for games, and a SSD for OS

Cache on what? Browser yes, Steam yes. I have port forwarded.

I have also defragged my HDD but it didn't change anything. The HDD Installs fine too. 

Seems the network is just slow on the computer. Its over 6 years old.

[Mystic]

4 minutes ago, RadJames said:

Idk, I can't use it anymore. My wifi seems find as it works on my laptop and phone fine

I have a HDD for games, and a SSD for OS

Cache on what? Browser yes, Steam yes. I have port forwarded.

I have also defragged my HDD but it didn't change anything. The HDD Installs fine too. 

Seems the network is just slow on the computer. Its over 6 years old.

Yeah i meant in your things you were going through browser, steam etc. 

Have you ran a virus scan on multiple different apps? Malwarebytes, Avast, Windows defender etc.

Just now, Mystic said:

Yeah i meant in your things you were going through browser, steam etc. 

Have you ran a virus scan on multiple different apps? Malwarebytes, Avast, Windows defender etc.

Spyware and whatnot can slow down your internet

[RadJames]

1 minute ago, Mystic said:

Yeah i meant in your things you were going through browser, steam etc. 

Have you ran a virus scan on multiple different apps? Malwarebytes, Avast, Windows defender etc.

Spyware and whatnot can slow down your internet

Yes i have, but also recently tried factory resetting to see if it would fix the issue. It did not. Only have installed Spotify and Empire at War since.

[Mystic]

14 minutes ago, RadJames said:

Yes i have, but also recently tried factory resetting to see if it would fix the issue. It did not. Only have installed Spotify and Empire at War since.

Do you have Windows 10 or 11? or are you running something older like 8?

[RadJames]

2 minutes ago, Mystic said:

Do you have Windows 10 or 11? or are you running something older like 8?

Windows 10, I can't upgrade to 11 with my current processor.

[Mystic]

8 minutes ago, RadJames said:

Windows 10, I can't upgrade to 11 with my current processor.

It could be a ram issue, your RAM could be going bad as well. Running Windows 10 on a 6 year old prebuilt.

How much RAM do you currently have installed?

 

[RadJames]

Currently 16 GB, With 11 GB available when in GMOD

5 minutes ago, Mystic said:

It could be a ram issue, your RAM could be going bad as well. Running Windows 10 on a 6 year old prebuilt.

How much RAM do you currently have installed?

 

Just quoted here cause IDK if i have too for you too see this

[Mystic]

1 minute ago, RadJames said:

Currently 16 GB, With 11 GB available when in GMOD

Just quoted here cause IDK if i have too for you too see this

Windows 10 requires 4 gigabytes. 16 is the recommended so i don't think thats it.

Have you tried updating network drivers in device manager? perhaps one of those is out of date. Do you have any postponed windows updates?

[RadJames]

Just now, Mystic said:

Windows 10 requires 4 gigabytes. 16 is the recommended so i don't think thats it.

Have you tried updating network drivers in device manager? perhaps one of those is out of date. Do you have any postponed windows updates?

Today I did a BIOS Update, and updated all the outdated drivers. My download speeds have gone up but not significant enough to call it a day. Steam went from installing at 22 Mbps to 28 Mbps. 

[Mystic]

4 minutes ago, RadJames said:

Today I did a BIOS Update, and updated all the outdated drivers. My download speeds have gone up but not significant enough to call it a day. Steam went from installing at 22 Mbps to 28 Mbps. 

are you running wireless right now or wired?

 

[RadJames]

1 minute ago, Mystic said:

are you running wireless right now or wired?

 

Currently Wireless. I cannot hook unto Eithernet anymore.

[Mystic]

1 minute ago, RadJames said:

Currently Wireless. I cannot hook unto Eithernet anymore.

Did the speed decrease when you swapped to wireless or was it fine, then dropped?

[RadJames]

1 minute ago, Mystic said:

Did the speed decrease when you swapped to wireless or was it fine, then dropped?

When wired download and upload speed was between 150-200 mbps, and ping was as low as 30 ms to as high as 60 ms.

I currently get (Wireless) 20 - 30 mbps, and is as low as 60 ms and as high as 150 ms on uptime

[Mystic]

2 minutes ago, RadJames said:

When wired download and upload speed was between 150-200 mbps, and ping was as low as 30 ms to as high as 60 ms.

I currently get (Wireless) 20 - 30 mbps, and is as low as 60 ms and as high as 150 ms on uptime

The drop could just be you cant use wired anymore. id say see if you can find a high quality wifi card or find a different ethernet cable. Unless its your ethernet port then its a motherboard issue

Edited March 18, 2023 by Mystic

[RadJames]

3 minutes ago, Mystic said:

The drop could just be you cant use wired anymore. id say see if you can find a high quality wifi card or find a different ethernet cable. Unless its your ethernet port then its a motherboard issue

When I mean i can't use Ethernet anymore I mean I have moved areas in my home, and cannot move a eithernet cable through it.

Do you have a suggestion for a wifi card replacement?

[Mystic]

3 minutes ago, RadJames said:

When I mean i can't use Ethernet anymore I mean I have moved areas in my home, and cannot move a eithernet cable through it.

Do you have a suggestion for a wifi card replacement?

what's your budget?

Just now, Mystic said:

what's your budget?

If thats the case id say the drop is just because you moved. The drop is likely just you swapping to wireless

[RadJames]

4 minutes ago, Mystic said:

what's your budget?

If thats the case id say the drop is just because you moved. The drop is likely just you swapping to wireless

Budget is like upto around $60, Don't need anything advanced.

I was experiencing wifi before i connected to eithernet, and that's even when I was right next to my router.

I should probably mention what wifi I have currently, as it seems to always yield important info too people.. 
The card is a 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHZ). It cannot connect to 5G.


Update on the ram, when in server i have 6 GB Available

Edited March 18, 2023 by RadJames

[Mystic]

1 minute ago, RadJames said:

Budget is like upto around $60, Don't need anything advanced.

I was experiencing wifi before i connected to eithernet, and that's even when I was right next to my router.

I should probably mention what wifi I have currently, as it seems to always yield important info too people.. 
The card is a 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHZ). It cannot connect to 5G.


Update on the ram, when in server i have 6 GB Available

2.4ghz will always be slower. If you have a 5g network id go for a 5ghz card as it would likely increase your speeds as well

[RadJames]

Just now, Mystic said:

2.4ghz will always be slower. If you have a 5g network id go for a 5ghz card as it would likely increase your speeds as well

Do you have a recommendation for any card in general? I saw Intel made one but IDK if it will work for what I need. 

[Mystic]

4 minutes ago, RadJames said:

Do you have a recommendation for any card in general? I saw Intel made one but IDK if it will work for what I need. 

Whats the motherboard? I'd recommend going for a PCiE card but idk if you have 2 x16 slots or smaller

[RadJames]

3 minutes ago, Mystic said:

Whats the motherboard? I'd recommend going for a PCiE card but idk if you have 2 x16 slots or smaller

I don't know the motherboard as of now, Ill check in the morning.
I do know I have a Big PCiE slot for a graphics card
and then the smaller one cause I had a wifi card but it sucked and didn't work as advertised

[Mystic]

15 minutes ago, RadJames said:

I don't know the motherboard as of now, Ill check in the morning.
I do know I have a Big PCiE slot for a graphics card
and then the smaller one cause I had a wifi card but it sucked and didn't work as advertised

is the big one free? if it is then you have a spare x16. I think the small ones are either x8 or x4

Just now, Mystic said:

is the big one free? if it is then you have a spare x16. I think the small ones are either x8 or x4

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZV2CJL2/?tag=highgroundgaming-20

this seems to have fairly good reviews. There's also an ASUS one i could recommend but i can't find it as of now.

[RadJames]

4 minutes ago, Mystic said:

is the big one free? if it is then you have a spare x16. I think the small ones are either x8 or x4

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZV2CJL2/?tag=highgroundgaming-20

this seems to have fairly good reviews. There's also an ASUS one i could recommend but i can't find it as of now.

Big one is taken by a GPU

Small one is free.

I was thinking this one, what do you think?

https://www.amazon.ca/Intel-Network-AX200-NGWG-NV-AX2002230-Retail/dp/B07ZVYKRW9/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=intel+wifi+6+ax201&qid=1679120162&s=electronics&sprefix=intel+wif%2Celectronics%2C249&sr=1-4

Edited March 18, 2023 by RadJames

[Mystic]

26 minutes ago, RadJames said:

Big one is taken by a GPU

Small one is free.

I was thinking this one, what do you think?

https://www.amazon.ca/Intel-Network-AX200-NGWG-NV-AX2002230-Retail/dp/B07ZVYKRW9/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=intel+wifi+6+ax201&qid=1679120162&s=electronics&sprefix=intel+wif%2Celectronics%2C249&sr=1-4

Does your motherboard have an m.2 slot?

[RadJames]

8 hours ago, Mystic said:

Does your motherboard have an m.2 slot?

After opening my computer, it appears it has a M.2 WIFI slot. Which is taken up by what I assume is my current wireless card.

https://imgur.com/a/OGjllqQ

Ive attached a photo, just incase im wrong

 

[Fizzik]

Do you have a phone? If so, do a wifi speed test in the same area your computer is in. If it's similar to what the desktop is getting, odds are there isn't a single wifi card you can buy that will help significantly.

[RadJames]

1 hour ago, Fizzik said:

Do you have a phone? If so, do a wifi speed test in the same area your computer is in. If it's similar to what the desktop is getting, odds are there isn't a single wifi card you can buy that will help significantly.

I just ran a wifi test on my phone, MacBook and desktop. Here is the results:
Macbook: 280 MBPS Download, 81 MBPS Upload
Phone: 224 MBPS Download
Desktop: 26 MBPS Download, 14 MBPS Upload

All next too each other, at separate times within 5 minutes.

[Mystic]

3 hours ago, RadJames said:

After opening my computer, it appears it has a M.2 WIFI slot. Which is taken up by what I assume is my current wireless card.

https://imgur.com/a/OGjllqQ

Ive attached a photo, just incase im wrong

 

Correct. Then yes, the Intel one wouldnt be a bad buy, I'd just make sure its returnable in case it doesn't solve your issue. As it could very well lie in the computer itself and its age.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Mystic

[RadJames]

44 minutes ago, Mystic said:

Correct. Then yes, the Intel one wouldnt be a bad buy, I'd just make sure its returnable in case it doesn't solve your issue. As it could very well lie in the computer itself and its age.

I checked the return policy, and purchased it. Ill let you know if it works!

[RadJames]

Update: Still hasnt arrived but ping is reaching upwards of 1300 MS with only 22 people online. This is bad.

 

https://imgur.com/a/h8FtJTE

[Zensras]

On 3/17/2023 at 10:32 PM, RadJames said:

I did install a new hard drive which only slighty helped improve download speeds. But it still downloads horribly slow. For a while I had it plugged into Eithernet and that fixed the problem completely but I had to move my computer so now im looking for a wireless solution

 

Installing a new hard drive will never improve your Wi-Fi speeds.   Furthermore,  Ethernet is so much faster than Wi-Fi due to multiple reasons like coverage area, signal strength, multiple devices in the same area, etc.  

I'm guessing your cable isn't long enough and you don't have knowhow or tools to fix it?

Anyhow,  Do me a small favor:
In Windows,  how many bars does it show?   I.E like this:

[RadJames]

56 minutes ago, Zensras said:

 

Installing a new hard drive will never improve your Wi-Fi speeds.   Furthermore,  Ethernet is so much faster than Wi-Fi due to multiple reasons like coverage area, signal strength, multiple devices in the same area, etc.  

I'm guessing your cable isn't long enough and you don't have knowhow or tools to fix it?

Anyhow,  Do me a small favor:
In Windows,  how many bars does it show?   I.E like this:

I have maximum bars strength.

[Xaze]

Does your ping randomly spike. i.e. 30 ping one second, then spikes to 1000 then back down to 30 a minute or seven later? May be interfering routers/aps

Edited March 20, 2023 by Xaze

[RadJames]

2 hours ago, Xaze said:

Does your ping randomly spike. i.e. 30 ping one second, then spikes to 1000 then back down to 30 a minute or seven later? May be interfering routers/aps

When just standing in game, I idle at around 180, when moving it goes upto 300-500, in combat its at 800 and then sometimes spikes 1300 ms.

Last night during the event I was getting 700 average. 

But it usually raises every 10 seconds and drops for 3 seconds

[RadJames]

Upon installing the Intel Wifi card my problems are fixed, im reach upward max of 300 MBPS download wirelessly

 

[Zin]

You are correct, a wifi card is the fix to an issue like this. But obviously an ethernet cable would still be faster.

[Mystic]

21 hours ago, RadJames said:

Upon installing the Intel Wifi card my problems are fixed, im reach upward max of 300 MBPS download wirelessly

 

Nice, With their inexpensiveness i'd opt to grab a relatively new CAT ethernet cable at some point. You'll probably not experience a speed increase just a lower latency and a more stable connection. 

[RadJames]

3 hours ago, Mystic said:

Nice, With their inexpensiveness i'd opt to grab a relatively new CAT ethernet cable at some point. You'll probably not experience a speed increase just a lower latency and a more stable connection. 

Thanks for your assistance, Mystic.