How can I troubleshoot poor wifi performance?

0

I recently installed a new Gateway combined modem/router from Comcast/Xfinity. Since then 3 of our devices (Macbook Pro, 2 iPads) connect fine but the other (3 year old HP laptop) exhibits the following symptoms:

  1. After connecting to the wifi network, the first 1-3 browser requests are fast
  2. After that they are crazy slow to the point of being unusable
  3. If I disconnect from wifi and reconnect, the next couple of requests will be fast, slow thereafter
  4. If I run network diagnostics, the following couple of requests will be fast, then slow after that
  5. The signal always shows up as strong
  6. Last night I connected to someone else's wifi and had no problems
  7. When I plug into Ethernet, no problem

Comcast couldn't help! Any clues?

Thanks very much

blogofsongs

Posted 2015-03-24T11:05:30.290

Reputation: 101

1Sounds possible the wifi hardware in the HP is getting "tired", or there's a problem with Windows settings (assuming Windows, not Linux). Do you have or can you get/borrow a USB wifi dongle you can connect on that machine to see if things are better with another wifi device? That would narrow down between the hardware and a software/OS issue. – Zeiss Ikon – 2015-03-24T11:12:04.583

Thanks. The wifi dongle thing - I'd wondered about that. (And yes, it's Windows 7, meant to say) – blogofsongs – 2015-03-24T13:04:07.517

Answers

0

Sometimes problems are caused by devices which use the same frequencies as wifi (such as microwaves or old DECT phones). Sadly, you would need a spectrum analyzer to investigate this (like http://www.metageek.com/products/wi-spy/ )

AndreLung

Posted 2015-03-24T11:05:30.290

Reputation: 425

Asked: 2015-03-24T11:05:30.290

Viewed: 104 times

Active: 2015-03-24T11:12:56.600