Hi folks,

I know we have a few IT techies here, so I have a question about internet speed. My internet has been fine for many years with BT, circa 30Mbps download speed, which is probably the best I can get in my area.

However recently I have been struggling to access this forum via the web on my laptop. I had BT on the phone yesterday, we reset my hub many times, and each time, it cured the problem, but only for about 10 minutes. We both put the issue down to the hub and BT is sending me a new one tomorrow.....

But, what if the issue is my laptop and not the hub? Seems I still get 30 meg when I do the speed test on my iPhone (when connected to my wifi). But, when I connect the laptop to the wifi, the download speed drops to barely 3 meg - again as tested on my 'phone for a direct comparison. Disconnecting the laptop again, my phone records 30 meg, connecting the laptop and my phone records 3 meg???

Time for a new laptop - or is there a way to speed things up on the laptop once more?

Any [sensible, LOL] suggestions gratefully received 😉 

30mbps is pretty shocking really, hope you're not paying BT much for that.

In 2023 I notice work in my pavements, fibre was being put in - noted.

I am with BT and did get new router from them last year, a smart hub 2, happy with it.

I have about 65mbps and a wifi check on my phone just now I get that, it's copper, so is what it is but it's not caused a problem, yours should not drop to 3mbps Rich.

Consider getting Deco Mesh units, I have 2, app controlled and work great.

I was paying £40 but I saw a Sky offer and this prompted me to look into it, my exit fee with BT was £200 !! So armed with no choice, haha, I am stuck but I now am able from the 23rd to get full fibre, so 900mbps and for £45 a month, 24 month contract, I am happy.

Also a quality laptop does help, all to do with the processor and mine has an i7, think you're looking at £750 though bud.

Thanks Andy,

30 meg is about as fast as we can get here, it's a rural area, apparently lacking in the infrastructure for anything better at the mo!

I do get the 30 meg though, when testing on my phone, but as soon as I fire up the laptop, the speed drops to almost nothing. Must be the laptop I guess - perhaps time for a new one 😉 

...Just done an online post-code checker - all providers can only estimate max speeds of "between 20 and 40 meg" for my area!

Dig a trench, club together with your neighbours and put your own fibre line in !!

Figured you were rural, just do what you can then in the home, look into a mesh system I mentioned, after you get that new router running.

@RichardS check with laptop connected to network port instead of wifi, to check if the problem is the wifi board or internal issue, with spyware or software issue. 
 

if ok, then try laptop on another wifi to see if that is same or works ok. 
 

if same, then laptop may need to delete and reinstall wifi driver, or might be broken and need to use a usb wifi instead and turn onboard one off. 
 

 

22 hours ago, phutumsch said:

Dig a trench, club together with your neighbours and put your own fibre line in !!

Figured you were rural, just do what you can then in the home, look into a mesh system I mentioned, after you get that new router running.

LOL - might be worth doing that 😄 

Thing is, I can cope with the 30 meg, it's more than adequate for my needs. It's just odd that the laptop seems to sap the speed out of my home network, my iPhone is fine, so too are the tablets.

 

19 hours ago, craig said:

@RichardS check with laptop connected to network port instead of wifi, to check if the problem is the wifi board or internal issue, with spyware or software issue. 
 

if ok, then try laptop on another wifi to see if that is same or works ok. 
 

if same, then laptop may need to delete and reinstall wifi driver, or might be broken and need to use a usb wifi instead and turn onboard one off. 
 

 

Thanks Craig!

I have played with a few settings and re-set some defaults on the laptop and it's working fine this morning. 

I might take the laptop into work tomorrow for our IT guru to clean up - I don't want to replace it as it's otherwise OK. 

Andy, I checked the processor and I already have a core i7 Intel.....

CCleaner is a good free tool to clean up your laptop, just make sure you dont install any of the bloatware they include or pay for it. The free version is enough. I would also be watching task manager (right click on the tast bar top open) and see what the system processes are doing. Is anything hogging CPU, RAM, Hard drive or Network. Give me a call if you need anything