Windows 10 wifi slows down until reboot

Anonymous
2019-08-16T12:11:47+00:00

Hello

i have noticed a problem with my Lenovo Legion laptop

After a while the internet connection completely slows down to the point it is pretty unusable, however a simple reboot fixes he issue until of course it slows again over time.

i've tried lots of things to rectify that i have seen online, but nothing has resolved the issue. i have all the latest window updates and network driver updates as far as i can tell. i've disable my AV and tested and that makes no difference.

Can someone help please?

Cheers

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Internet and connectivity

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Anonymous
2021-01-29T20:57:32+00:00

I found a very possible solution.

Go to settings - > network -> status -> change adapter options

select your wifi adapter.  right click and select "properties"

select the first "configure" button

go to the "advanced" tab.  select "preferred band" and select "prefer 5GHz band"

This will force your wireless adapter to stay on the 5GHz band of your router.

If all your devices intend to use the 5GHz band, disable the 2.4GHz band on the router (although not recommended as many other devices such as IoT uses the wider, slower band)

The BUG:

I appears that windows will constantly hunt for the stronger signal even if it is the slower signal.   For example, if you were moving around your house with your laptop, you may have started on the 5GHz band, but it picks up the 2.4GHz as stronger, and goes on there.  Your network speed instantly drops.  (this will even happen if you are stationary).  

HOWEVER, even if you go back to an area with strong 5GHz coverage, windows does not return to the 5GHz speeds.  For whatever reason, the speed stays limited to the slower output.  That's why if you reboot or turn off and on the adapter, it resets it and you get max throughput again.

Microsoft should really fix this bug.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-05-17T07:18:44+00:00

    Hi, KrisBolton,

    I am Aditya a tech-savvy and spend most of my life finding out bugs in Windows 10!

    I have also experienced this annoying problem and spend half of my life solving this however I have a good news that finally I have found out 3 ways to fix this. Do the method no.1 first as it is the easiest and the most effective one also!

    Method 1:

    1. Open Settings > Network & Internet > Mobile Hotspot (On the sidebar) > And turn off hotspot!
    2. Open Settings > System > Projecting to this PC (On the sidebar) > And under "Some Windows And Android devices can project to this PC when you say it's OK" Click on dropdown and select "Always Off".

    Problem solved? Still not!

    Method 2:

    1.Press Win_Key+X or Right click on Start

    2.Click Device Manager > Expand "Network adapters" > Right click on "Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #" > Disable device

      Note: After disabling the driver another Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct driver may pop up! Make sure you disable that also!!!!

    Drawback of this method is that you cannot use hotspot or project your PC screen. To again use these things just enable the driver again!

    This method is bit tricky! (Not recommended, Method 2 is enough)

    Method 3:

    1.Go to Task Manager > Services > Open Services (At the bottom left corner) > Find Windows Mobile Hotspot Service and right click on it > Properties > Under "Startup type" select Disabled and click "Stop"

    Drawback: Same as Method 2!

    I hope that your problem is fixed! This problem is mainly caused by wi-fi virtual adapter which allows you to use wi-fi and hotspot together using one network card but the speed gets sacrificed!

    However, if you are happy with this reply then give a like 👍.

    Thank you!!!!

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-04-12T00:34:25+00:00

    I've not had this issue lately- don't think I did anything specific to fix it, however.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-04-11T23:42:26+00:00

    I'm running:

    Windows version 20H2

    Laptop: Asus Zenbook Flip 15

    Wireless Adapter: Intel AX201

    I have this problem and I was convinced it was my wireless adapter. Now I see (after hours of research) this is 100% a windows issue.

    The MIMO wireless adapter settings had the biggest impact on me and I am able to have good internet for quite a while before the tank. When it drops I have to enable airplane mode and then turn off airplane mode and it is good again. I've never had to do a complete restart to get normal speeds and my internet never cuts out just goes from 250Mbps down to 30Mbps while all other devices are maxed out all the time. The low speeds seem to happen randomly. Cell phone (pixel3a) always has max bandwidth (250Mbps) according to google speed test and fast.com yet Windows will start at 250Mbps and then drop to 160Mbps then drop down to 30Mbps like clockwork over the course of 2-3 hours. 

    One person said he thought chrome caused the issue so I am going to use edge for a while exclusively and see what happens. 

    I changed my MIMO settings to No SMPS instead of auto. This prevents your antennae from going to sleep. This had a huge impact. But didn't completely fix issue. I also changed roaming aggressiveness to lowest setting so adapter isn't searching for other AP's. I'm currently testing some other settings on wireless adapter but I'm convinced this is a windows issue affecting numerous manufacturers and wireless cards both ethernet and wireless. 

    The only remedy I see is to go to an older version of windows. But that is a last resort for me. This machine is 3 months old and I noticed wifi problems since day one. I thought I was going crazy and had a defective machine. Nope....just windows. I can't believe you guys have been dealing with this for a year.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-02-01T01:03:03+00:00

    This fixed it for me! With a nominal speed of 100Mbps down, forcing the band to 5GHz produced 118Mbps down. In contrast, I set the band to 2.4GHz and the speed crashed down to 33Mbps. Frustrating that the adapter can't figure things out on its own, but glad that this fix seems to work.

    5GHz speed test:

    2.4GHz speed test:

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