Inspiron 660s, poor WiFi download speed

If you are actually downloading large-game installs and ISO's ...

you should be using a hard-line ethernet-wire if at all possible. It is much faster than any WiFi.

Channel interference and the fact that you are using single band router are the issue.

Dual Band WAVE 2 routers with 802.11AC wifi will be much faster.

You have to use dual band adapter and router.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Edimax-AC600-Wireless-Dual-Band-Mini-USB-Adapter/32106870

https://www.walmart.com/ip/NETGEAR-AC3000-Nighthawk-X8-Smart-WiFi-Router-R8000-100NAS/37517519

AC600 WIFI DUAL BAND

The desktop is running W10 v1809, and the laptop is running W7.

I used Speedtest.net to measure the speeds. The pcs were next to each other all the time, and when I carried out the tests I did them consecutively rather than in parallel. I made sure that nothing else was consuming network resources or any other significant resources. The laptop network adapter is Intel Wifi 1000 BGN, 8002.11n Channel width for band 2.4, 20 MHz (you will have guessed by now that I don't know what any of this means - I'm just copying what I see on the screen!).

I've run Malwarebytes and it found nothing. I've checked and can't find SmartByte on the 660s.

I also ran the Windows network diagnostics app and it says that it found a problem with the wireless adapter and fixed it. But there was actually no improvement. The log is here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ze8UElZS_Gtz4QxWXQYOm1ygRBX7aDZF

I note that channel interference and use of a single band router could be the issue. If this was the case, wouldn't I have the same problem with the laptop? The laptop is download speed is about 3 - 4 times faster than for the 660s.

I've considered an ethernet cable connection, but although not impossible it would a bit difficult to route a 15 metre cable through the house. I suppose I could live with my current wifi speed, but I would prefer to solve the problem and enjoy the faster download speed that is available.

no router stated at ll, no ISP stated and and pad for Bandwidth paid for, nor how fast ethernet is from 1 PC to below web site, so what you really have is unknown.

you used this? SPEED TEST YET>

https://www.speedtest.net/

did you know you  can get  free APP and put it on 2 PCs at home and measure the SUBLAN speeds.?

wired /wifi

free of charge the apps (lots too)

learn to use the right tools testing, I have no idea how you did but....

first off there are never any wifi performance promises, ever. NEVER ! you do not own the radio channels, they are public.

what you get varies by: (no router stated so... no real answers just basics 101)

1: all things in your home using, it. (unstated yet) "endless Internet of things" and all that  jive.

2:or others in your neighborhood, using the same shared channels (move to ch5 yet?) its shared !

3: RFI noise in your location. (old land line phones are bad. or any 2.4GHz toys, and the like endless)

4: distance from PC to router and unstated, the farther it is the slower It gets. (and walls)

5: objects (walls for sure) from point A to B,  like concrete, 2.4GHz can do walls well, 5GHz not so well but dual bands+ always works best. ( some routers can do 2.4 or 5. but not at the same time...so.... hardware matters)

why not use Ethernet, and fly.? a $15 cable and all this wifi jive goes byebye. (renters now blush, sure)unless router is old and slow.

you need to take A course on wifi,  do you want a short review, I have it here, called why does wifi  STINK .

learn first that it's a 2 way Radio transceivers,  that are not magic and are shared.

it is also called a Collision Domain, learn what that means, and learn not to use it on high traffic channels.

get the free Inssider.exe program and run it see who in your HOOD is using your channels, ch1 will STINK.

and how strong they are (in the HOOD) , some use higher power AP,  up to 1000mW . x10 yours.

I can in fact drown out  your wifi if I live next door. (but would not)

https://www.itworld.com/article/2827249/10-reasons-your-wi-fi-speed-stinks-and-what-you-can-do-about-it.html

did you know some wifi devices old used by you ?, can cause the router to drop to lower bandwidth?

read how the bonding rules can get you , its not simple this but here it is best said by.

https://www.lifewire.com/get-300-mbps-speed-on-802-11n-network-818267

upgrade to AC grade WIFI and run this on your too far PC>???  this thing works,  old wifi is not very good.

http://www.pcdied.com/DevMan/ac4.jpg

• so move closer router, no router stated so …. can't really dig in.
• change to channel 5
• upgrade it. (end to end)
• are 5 kids running wifi on Netflix, "? oops

@Etchman  -- Don't know where your last post went, but I got an email alert for it...??

Open Device Manager in Win 10 and double-click the entry for your WiFi card. Click the Driver tab and see if you have WiFi driver v10.0.0.318. which is the last one Dell offered for Win 10 with your WiFi card, but it's from 2015. So it's possible that driver just isn't really adequate for more recent builds of Win 10...

Download a fresh copy of that driver from the link onto your desktop. Then manually set a System Restore point to be safe. Now right-click the WiFi entry in Device Manager and select Uninstall. Reboot and install the fresh copy of the driver you downloaded and reboot again.

Then go back into Device Manager, double-click the link for the WiFi card and click its Power Management tab. Uncheck the box "Allow PC to turn off...". Click OK and exit Device Manager.

Now open the Win 10 Power options screen and identify the active power plan. Click the link to change its settings and on the new screen, click the link for Additional Options. And on that screen click Wireless Adapter Settings, and set it to MAX performance. Save the change to the plan, exit the plan and reboot.

See if all that helps...

It's also possible the  WiFi "link speed" between PC and router is different for the PC vs laptop. Link speed is the speed the WiFi card talks to the router, and is independent of the actual download speed from the internet. So if the PC is talking to the router more slowly than the laptop talks to the same router, that could slow your download speed on the 660s because the router has to wait for the PC to catch up.

Right-click the WiFi icon on taskbar in each PC and navigate to the screen where it shows the signal strength (bars) and the link speed. Compare bars and link speeds. Fewer bars and/or lower link speed could explain things. (Max link speed for an "n" router on 2.4 GHz is 300 mbps.)

:Yes:  :Yes:

Seek and you shall find...  :Angel:

Glad to hear that getting rid of SmartByte fixed the problem. I wish Dell would stop loading that lousy app on their PCs. :Whisper: