Slow WIFI on my laptop (Intel wifi 6E), but OK on another with just 6

Fabler2 said:

According to Intel there are updates unless I missed them a week ago,

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In Device Manager, it was showing the drivers were up to date, however I went direct to Intel and it did show the ones above so I downloaded them. However, still no change. Speed test consistently shows 25/26mpbs.

Looks to be automatically choosing 2.4 GHz as it gets a better speed. Probably in the face of competition from the other Laptop, other wireless devices, nearby neighbours etc.

The speed at 5 GHz is also rather low probably the same reasons.

You can change preferences in the AX211 wireless adapter
Device Manager > Network adapters > Intel AX211 > Properties > Advanced Tab
Scroll down Property list to
Preferred Band > change that to 3. prefer 5 GHz band.
It does work on mine and sticks after a restart.

In your Router change the 5 GHz channel to maybe 44 or whatever you have available.

Move the Laptop nearer to the Router.

These changes may make a difference, but maybe not.

I do not use a BT router so no idea what options are in the setup pages.

Mine has a Link speed of 866/866 Mbps, 2m from Router, and no competition as other devices are on 2.4 GHz.

Please do not update the AX211 drivers, only use what Dell supplies.

Helmut said:

Looks to be automatically choosing 2.4 GHz as it gets a better speed. Probably in the face of competition from the other Laptop, other wireless devices, nearby neighbours etc.

The speed at 5 GHz is also rather low probably the same reasons.

You can change preferences in the AX211 wireless adapter
Device Manager > Network adapters > Intel AX211 > Properties > Advanced Tab
Scroll down Property list to
Preferred Band > change that to 3. prefer 5 GHz band.
It does work on mine and sticks after a restart.

In your Router change the 5 GHz channel to maybe 44 or whatever you have available.

Move the Laptop nearer to the Router.

These changes may make a difference, but maybe not.

I do not use a BT router so no idea what options are in the setup pages.

Mine has a Link speed of 866/866 Mbps, 2m from Router, and no competition as other devices are on 2.4 GHz.

Please do not update the AX211 drivers, only use what Dell supplies.

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Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately this didn't have any effect on the speed.

Does your router combine the 2.4ghz and 5ghz channels? Never let it do this.
Always separate them with two ssids.

For example, name them wifi2 and wifi 5 so you know which they are.

This way you can connect to the 5ghz channel and it won't swap back and forth.

Try going into your router settings and see if you can uncombine them.

Also while in there, update your routers firmware. It is most likely out of date.

andrew129260 said:

Does your router combine the 2.4ghz and 5ghz channels? Never let it do this.
Always separate them with two ssids.

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I agree, I do this because of my cameras, they're 2.4ghz

andrew129260 said:

Does your router combine the 2.4ghz and 5ghz channels? Never let it do this.
Always separate them with two ssids.

For example, name them wifi2 and wifi 5 so you know which they are.

This way you can connect to the 5ghz channel and it won't swap back and forth.

Try going into your router settings and see if you can uncombine them.

Also while in there, update your routers firmware. It is most likely out of date.

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Thanks for your input. The image below shows the router settings - I don't know whether the way they are shown means they are already separate. One thing though that puzzles me about changing anything on the router is that my partner does not have any issue (see earlier posts). So wouldn't that suggest it's my laptop and not the router?

NB008 said:

Thanks for your input. The image below shows the router settings - I don't know whether the way they are shown means they are already separate. One thing though that puzzles me about changing anything on the router is that my partner does not have any issue (see earlier posts). So wouldn't that suggest it's my laptop and not the router?View attachment 89941

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What model is your router? I can try to walk you through it. If you click change settings based on your screenshot it should be under wireless.

Also hopefully you can disable the N and G and B band. This way only the newer bands can be used.

And yes, it probably is your laptop, but not all hardware access wireless the same way. It's always easier/better to separate the bands so that the router doesn't try to "smartly" do it (or the laptop). It just avoids issues such as these. It could be the driver for your laptop wifi isnt good, could be a multitude of reasons as to why.

Your earlier screenshots do indicate they are both connected via the 5ghz, same ssid, and the same wireless channel. But then your next post shows it switched to the slower 2.4 wireless N. So I think it is switching back and forth on you.

Also, what happens when you connect via ethernet? Do you get good speed there?

Also, it looks like this is the wifi card in your laptop:

I do not know what exact BT Router you have.

But here is a relevant page ? for stopping the auto changing to 2.4 GHz.
i.e. Band Steering Off.



However the main issue seems to be low signal strength. That can be due to distance, obstructing things like walls, floors, chunks of metal, orientation of Laptop, etc.

Put the Laptop close to the router around 2m or something and then see what the Link speed is.

My other laptop kept showing slow WiFi speeds. I found out that was because it was automatically selecting the 2.4GHz band instead of the 5GHz one. I solved that by splitting the bands and giving each one a different SSID. That way I could configure the laptop so that it automatically selects the SSID for the 5GHz band.

In the router settings you will know if the bands are split because each one has a unique SSID like this:

Splitting bands, Smarthub 2,



Splitting bands BT Hub 4, 5 and Smart Hub,

An update, from me the author of this post. Thanks to everyone who has contributed.

I cannot split the bands as it is a BT SmartHub 2. A link has been shared as to how to try to do this using an extender, but I don't know whether to go down that route. I'm also a little reluctant to do anything with the router as, logically, I keep thinking it must be something with my laptop, (though who knows what!), as my partners' laptop and both our smartphones get a very good wifi speed.

One thing puzzling is this. In the hub settings that I've accessed, it shows that there are no 5GHz devices connected. However, in Device Manager and the Advanced settings for wifi, I have the default property value set to 5Ghz and the 'Preferred Band' set to 5GHz. But these seem to be ignored and my laptop is showing in the hub admin as connected via 2.5GHz! See image below.

I'm still at a loss with this and don't know whether to even continue trying to sort out what is goin on.

Last suggestion that might work. I also have the Plusnet hub 2 crap. Might go for a better router later on.
Anyway - because the Hub broadcasts the same SSID for both bands maybe your laptop hasn't even seen the 5GHz band to connect to. Try this, got to your hub's settings and turn off the 2.4 GHz band. Plenty of info on the net for this. Give it time to connect or now manually connect to the SSID. Check the band and do a few speed tests.

Turn back the 2.4 GHz band back on in your hub and see if the laptop now keeps the connection to the 5Ghz band.

Post #31
Those are old settings for legacy mode compatibility purposes no use fiddling with those.
Put it back to 6.Dual band 802.11a/b/g

Preferred Band 5 GHz just means that if the 5 GHz signal is too low it will use 2.4 GHz.

To only use 5 GHz your Router/WAP needs a different SSID for 5 GHz.

I will have to look that up with BT for the BT SmartHub 2.
Seems that has minimal options for home users, other BT Hubs apparently may have the option.
Which is a bit irritating.


I see you have a couple of BT disc thingys as well. That suggests a largish house where distances to your Router and obstructions to RF maybe significant in reducing signal strength.

Have you tried the suggestion of 2m from your Router and what is the Link speed then.
This is just to get some basic facts on a simplified scenario.

Helmut said:

Post #31
Those are old settings for legacy mode compatibility purposes no use fiddling with those.
Put it back to 6.Dual band 802.11a/b/g

Preferred Band 5 GHz just means that if the 5 GHz signal is too low it will use 2.4 GHz.

To only use 5 GHz your Router/WAP needs a different SSID for 5 GHz.

I will have to look that up with BT for the BT SmartHub 2.
Seems that has minimal options for home users, other BT Hubs apparently may have the option.
Which is a bit irritating.

I see you have a couple of BT disc thingys as well. That suggests a largish house where distances to your Router and obstructions to RF maybe significant in reducing signal strength.

Have you tried the suggestion of 2m from your Router and what is the Link speed then.
This is just to get some basic facts on a simplified scenario.

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Hi. Thanks for the reply.
The router is in the hall and we have one disc in the lounge ( to help when we are in there and, mostly, to have a better connection to the Smart TV). It's not the house is particularly big, more that the walls are very thick. I use my laptop practically all the time in the kitchen, which is next to the hall and just has a door between. I have tried sitting right next to the router, but no improvement. I've tried next to the hub/disc in the lounge and just the same.

Fabler2 said:

Last suggestion that might work. I also have the Plusnet hub 2 crap. Might go for a better router later on.
Anyway - because the Hub broadcasts the same SSID for both bands maybe your laptop hasn't even seen the 5GHz band to connect to. Try this, got to your hub's settings and turn off the 2.4 GHz band. Plenty of info on the net for this. Give it time to connect or now manually connect to the SSID. Check the band and do a few speed tests.

Turn back the 2.4 GHz band back on in your hub and see if the laptop now keeps the connection to the 5Ghz band.


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Thanks for the suggestion. This didn't work either I'm afraid.

NB008 said:

Thanks for the suggestion. This didn't work either I'm afraid.

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unfortunately your router isn't playing nice with the laptop wifi card. Besides seeing if it has an update for the router that might fix it, I would try a new router and then split the bands so you can avoid the issue entirely. If its a small place like you said, you could even turn off the 2.4 band completely and just use the 5ghz band.

andrew129260 said:

unfortunately your router isn't playing nice with the laptop wifi card. Besides seeing if it has an update for the router that might fix it, I would try a new router and then split the bands so you can avoid the issue entirely. If its a small place like you said, you could even turn off the 2.4 band completely and just use the 5ghz band.

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Thanks. Unfortunately we have the BT hub system where we have an extra 'disc' in the lounge that the smart TV connects to. I don't think (though don't know for sure) that there's any way around not having the bt router.

NB008 said:

Thanks. Unfortunately we have the BT hub system where we have an extra 'disc' in the lounge that the smart TV connects to.

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Unfortunately I don't understand what this means or what you mean. What do you mean by disc? Another access point maybe? From what I can tell this BT hub is a modem and router all in one. I know your in the UK and I am in the usa. Not sure how your internet service provider works, but here in the states you can always replace your internet service provider modem and router with your own. Depending on the type of service your using. If your using a 4G or 5G mobile internet connection vs say cable or fiber, that can change things.

If the equipment is from your internet provider you can usually ask them for a new upgraded one for free since your renting it. (Might be different where you are.)

edit: Ah I think I found what your talking about



According to this you can get your own router:


You also could try asking your internet provider for help, but thats always a mixed bag. It looks like your router is very basic (like most internet provider ones are) so thats why you cant make any changes to try to help with your situation. Which is why I'm thinking it would be worth getting your own router.

You can also try going to dells website like someone suggested and redownloading their wifi driver, uninstalling the current one and using that instead.

(I just saw this too, sorry for the wall of text)
On that video from this post 33 at the 5:53 mark you can turn off the 2.4ghz wireless. Try that.

It said you tried this, but try just keeping the 2.4 off fully. Just use the 5ghz

andrew129260 said:

What do you mean by disc?

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BT Routers can have additional wifi access points known as discs (I have a couple on mine).

z3r010 said:

BT Routers can have additional wifi access points known as discs (I have a couple on mine).

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Rather than discard my older ASUS routers, I turn them into access points in a Mesh setup. Pretty nifty.