Welcome guest. Before posting on our computer help forum, you must register. Click here it's easy and free.

Author Topic: One laptop too slow on the network.  (Read 2853 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Monstermayank

    Topic Starter


    Rookie

    • Experience: Familiar
    • OS: Windows 8
    One laptop too slow on the network.
    « on: November 25, 2015, 10:37:28 AM »
    Hi,

    I am using two Dell Inspiron N5110 laptops and two smartphones on my home network. I have windows 10 installed on both the laptops with drivers automatically downloaded by windows. Since a week one of my laptops has started experiencing  speeds ranging from 0.211mbps to 1mbps on an 8mbps connection. Speed tests on other devices come in the range of 8mbps. What could be the possible reasons for it, I formatted and reinstalled windows 10 but to no avail. Connecting to the router through cable gives me correct speed.

    Geek-9pm


      Mastermind
    • Geek After Dark
    • Thanked: 1026
      • Gekk9pm bnlog
    • Certifications: List
    • Computer: Specs
    • Experience: Expert
    • OS: Windows 10
    Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
    « Reply #1 on: November 25, 2015, 11:44:34 AM »
    According to your post the difficulty is with your wireless system and not the direct wired connection. As you know, your router really has two separate components and it. One is the switching circuitry used to manage your local area network over Ethernet. The other part is a wireless transceiver that transmits either on the low or high band of the 802.11 standards.
    Normal speed for a wireless connection is usually 54 Mb per second. If it drops down to the speed below 10 Mb per second, it would indicate there is something wrong with the wireless connection. One possibility is interference from other devices in your neighborhood. The other possibility is the transceiver inside your router has gone bad. Another possibility is a broken antenna, but I'm sure you would've noticed that.

    Here are some general observations about wireless. There is no guarantee that wireless connections will always be reliable. In fact, that is implicit with unlicensed devices. With all unlicensed devices there is the risk of unwanted interference. This is because the devices are not registered and nobody has a claim to a certain frequency. From time to time some individuals either deliberately or unintentionally installed defective wireless devices which cause havoc to other nearby wireless users. Normally the power level of these devices is so low that it does not cause any serious interference.
    There have been some notorious cases where individuals making their own experiments have caused serious i nterference to whether radar systems at a certain airport. Of course, that was rare, but it underscore the fact that unlicensed devices can and do cause serious interference. The case in question was because the experimenter was using high gain antenna to extend his range beyond the normal 100 m limit.
    But in your case, the first thing I would suspect would be your router. You could try using a spare router from one of your friends. It doesn't have to be a real sophisticated router. Most all of them have the same power level and same capabilities
     In fact, you can buy some of the older routers at bargain prices. Sometimes less than $20 for one of the older routers that only works on the low been. Which is okay, because most people like the unit lower bed anyhow for its longer-range through walls and foliage.
    Also, in some cases, one of your laptops or computers and heavy defective wireless card that is causing interference to everybody else. You could try a process of elimination by using just one computer at a time and see which one introduces errors into the system.
    Is this of any help?  :)

    Itrenor



      Rookie

      Thanked: 1
      • Experience: Experienced
      • OS: Windows 7
      Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
      « Reply #2 on: November 25, 2015, 12:13:57 PM »
      Another possibility that I have seen before is when, for example, you are sharing a office building with other companies.  Your wireless network may be transmitting on the same channel or is overlapping with that of another company or neighbour.  Try changing the channel to the opposite side of the spectrum and see whether that improves it.  Doing this may eliminate any overlap.

      It's the same as when a wireless mouse, from someone sitting next to you, is transmitting at the same frequency as yours and you have to re-sync the keyboard/mouse with the receiver or the device would work intermittently.

      We all lack knowledge on some or another subject ... it's whether we choose to argue rather than learn that makes us ignorant...

      Monstermayank

        Topic Starter


        Rookie

        • Experience: Familiar
        • OS: Windows 8
        Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
        « Reply #3 on: November 25, 2015, 07:56:41 PM »
        Well, as of now, I have checked that only one laptop is facing this issue, speedtests on the smartphone and the other laptop of the same configuration and OS is as expected, so most probably its the problem with one laptop only. I assume that if the router was faulty, it would have affected all the devices.

        Geek-9pm


          Mastermind
        • Geek After Dark
        • Thanked: 1026
          • Gekk9pm bnlog
        • Certifications: List
        • Computer: Specs
        • Experience: Expert
        • OS: Windows 10
        Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
        « Reply #4 on: November 25, 2015, 08:16:48 PM »
        Your logic is sound.
        Now the choice is what to do with the one laptop.
        USB wireless adapters are now very low cost and are easy to install. You can get them everywhere, even at Walmart. No need to pay over$16 for a good one. Here is a typical model:


        [attachment deleted by admin to conserve space]

        Monstermayank

          Topic Starter


          Rookie

          • Experience: Familiar
          • OS: Windows 8
          Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
          « Reply #5 on: November 25, 2015, 10:34:10 PM »
          Thank you @Geek-9pm, so ataaching this to the laptop will rectify the problem?

          Geek-9pm


            Mastermind
          • Geek After Dark
          • Thanked: 1026
            • Gekk9pm bnlog
          • Certifications: List
          • Computer: Specs
          • Experience: Expert
          • OS: Windows 10
          Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
          « Reply #6 on: November 26, 2015, 03:16:10 AM »
          Yes, these little gadgets are well supported by all versions of windows and require only a simple installation.You shall disable the built-in device.
          Here is a link:
          http://www.uni.edu/resnet/content/disable-your-devices-wireless-card

          Monstermayank

            Topic Starter


            Rookie

            • Experience: Familiar
            • OS: Windows 8
            Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
            « Reply #7 on: November 26, 2015, 05:59:57 AM »
            Thank you guys, just as a last resort, can you guys confirm for me as to which off these network drivers shall I update from this list. There are 9 drivers listed under networks.

            http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/inspiron-15r-n5110/drivers/advanced

            Monstermayank

              Topic Starter


              Rookie

              • Experience: Familiar
              • OS: Windows 8
              Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
              « Reply #8 on: November 26, 2015, 11:09:40 AM »
              Ok, so I uninstalled Windows 10 and installed Windows 7 and the net speed was normal i.e. 8mbps. So there surely isnt a hardware issue and only a driver problem. Sadly the driver that worked with Win7 isnt giving  the same result on win10. It would lead to the conclusion that I just shouldnt use windows10, but a month back it was working perfectly fine, dunno how suddenly the workings got haywired. Please show me the way if any of you figure out what it is.

              The wireless network card is     Dell™ Wireless 802.11b/g/n with Bluetooth v3.0+HS

              Geek-9pm


                Mastermind
              • Geek After Dark
              • Thanked: 1026
                • Gekk9pm bnlog
              • Certifications: List
              • Computer: Specs
              • Experience: Expert
              • OS: Windows 10
              Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
              « Reply #9 on: November 26, 2015, 11:41:41 AM »
              Quote
              Product not tested for Windows 10 upgrade
              Dell is not testing or developing Windows 10 drivers for this product. If you choose to upgrade, some features, applications, and connected devices may not work as expected.
              You just have to wait...

              Monstermayank

                Topic Starter


                Rookie

                • Experience: Familiar
                • OS: Windows 8
                Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
                « Reply #10 on: November 28, 2015, 08:34:44 AM »
                Yeah I saw that.Since the other laptop is working fine I felt this one should too, though they have different Network adapters. I have rectified it for now it seems, I installed windows7 and upgraded it to 10 instead of making a clean install of win10, this way it took the drivers from 7. After 5-6 hours of working fine, it starting giving a new problem though, off disconnecting from the network while displaying "connecting" on the task bar right corner. I dont remember what I did after that,maybe reinstalled the driver and now it's working fine with 8mbps speed with no disconnections, but i need to wait out with this to be sure it doesnt relapse.

                 So the only problem left now is of disconnecting bluetooth mouse after some time. if it's not settled, I might get a new mouse, if the wifi issue erupts again, I might shift to Windows 7, sadly I quite like the look and interface of Windows 10.

                Geek-9pm


                  Mastermind
                • Geek After Dark
                • Thanked: 1026
                  • Gekk9pm bnlog
                • Certifications: List
                • Computer: Specs
                • Experience: Expert
                • OS: Windows 10
                Re: One laptop too slow on the network.
                « Reply #11 on: November 28, 2015, 03:26:39 PM »
                There are a number of things that can mess up your Wi-Fi network. But most of us do not have the kind of equipment it takes to do a forensic investigation.  All we have is trail and error.
                With that in mind, look at this rank from Cisco:
                20 Myths of Wi-Fi Interference
                Quote
                The growing ubiquity of wireless devices combined with the advent of mobility applications requires businesses to be diligent in managing inference throughout their deployments. The many wireless technologies and commonplace electric devices already in use and newly emerging impede wireless performance.
                After reading that intro -- Do you even want to look at the rest of the article? I had to force myself to read it.  :P