Windows 10 Slow WIFI Win10 vs Linux same computer

fstjohn123

fstjohn123

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My son has a Win10 gaming desktop computer and I run Linux Mint 19.3 on my own desktop. Both are on the same home WIFI network. My ISP furnishes a nominal 40Mbps down cable internet service. When Ookla speed test is run on the Win10 (Chrome) the result is 3-4Mbps down. Same test on my Linux box (Chromium and Firefox) yields 35-39Mbps. To troubleshoot, I booted my Linux 19.3 live USB onto the Win10 computer, loaded Chromium and ran Ookla. Result was the same 35-39Mbps I got on my computer. This seems to let out hardware as a cause. The speed tests were both done after a reboot with nothing else running. Any thoughts?
 
Solution
Josephur
Don't let Windows auto install the driver, go to the manufacturer for the correct and up to date driver.

Have you looked at the network device properties under Computer Management? My wireless card for instance has settings to change between 802.11 a/b/g/n/a/c/x/ac/ax. Perhaps the Windows driver has defaulted to some lower spec of WiFi your router also supports, and is not connecting optimally?

Also if the driver has Channel Width settings these can adversely affect bandwidth.

Power Management can also play a role, is the laptop plugged in at the time, is the Balanced power scheme selected or High Performance?

Hopefully this gives you somewhere to start playing with settings to see if anything helps.
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Drivers, security software, network altering software (packet shaping), VPNs, malware, QoS, wireless settings to name a few reasons
 
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Not very likely and I hesitate to ask, but are you sure you connected to the same network, the same network name is no guarantee
 
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Neemobeer said:
Drivers, security software, network altering software (packet shaping), VPNs, malware, QoS, wireless settings to name a few reasons
Click to expand...
Drivers are as selected by Windows & Linux respectively. Security Software - Windows standard. Vpn, none. Qos, same for both, none. What's network altering software?
 
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Such as packet shaping software or even a firewall can throttle traffic. I'd also examine the network settings such as what frequency and standard is in use (this is a software level settings) so it could be different between OSes.
 
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Most modems support both 2.4 and 5 GHz networks and have them both switched on at the same time. But I think Neemobeer has better suggestions.
 
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bochane said:
Most modems support both 2.4 and 5 GHz networks and have them both switched on at the same time. But I think Neemobeer has better suggestions.
Click to expand...
You said modems, I assume you meant routers. Yes, my router supports both 2.4 and 5GHz and both are switched on. We've tried both with similar results. It's a gigabit router that doesn't break a sweat with the load we put on it.
 
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Neemobeer said:
Such as packet shaping software or even a firewall can throttle traffic. I'd also examine the network settings such as what frequency and standard is in use (this is a software level settings) so it could be different between OSes.
Click to expand...
The Win10 computer doesn't use a separate firewall.. just the normal NAT firewall that's part of the router. As far as packet shaping software, the Win10 installation is plain vanilla just as it came from the manufacturer. Only games software has been loaded (my son is fanatical about not loading anything but games). I assume it's possible one or more of the games included something like packet shaping, but I also assume its purpose would be to increase, rather than decrease WIFI throughput. My assumption is also that such would only be in effect when the game was running and communicating (I could be wrong here), which isn't the case here.

In summary, no VPN, no Windows firewall, Windows Defender anti-malware only. Plain vanilla Win10 Home with unaltered settings. Games software from various major games companies, none running. Downloaded Chrome browser. High capacity dual-band AC router with no QOS settings enabled. Same results on either band. Live booted Linux Mint Cinnamon 19.3, Chromium downloaded and used. Linux default firewall, no AV (this is Linux, after all
 
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I have the same issue here. Under Ubuntu the speed is the normal Fiber speed of 300+ and under windows 10 it is 4 Mbps. Did you find the solution? If yes, please, please share with me
Thank you
 
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Don't let Windows auto install the driver, go to the manufacturer for the correct and up to date driver.

Have you looked at the network device properties under Computer Management? My wireless card for instance has settings to change between 802.11 a/b/g/n/a/c/x/ac/ax. Perhaps the Windows driver has defaulted to some lower spec of WiFi your router also supports, and is not connecting optimally?

Also if the driver has Channel Width settings these can adversely affect bandwidth.

Power Management can also play a role, is the laptop plugged in at the time, is the Balanced power scheme selected or High Performance?

Hopefully this gives you somewhere to start playing with settings to see if anything helps.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
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