Solved Win 11 Download performance slow compared to Linux

decosse · Dec 26, 2025

Win 11 Pro 25H2 Build 26200.7462
I7 4790 with 24GB RAM

Dual Boot with Linux Mint, Win 11

In Win 11, I get ~ 480Mbps Download
In safe mode with Networking, I get ~ 600
In Linux I get 920Mbps
(Obviously the Router is same, cable is same and NIC is same for all configs)

In Win 10, prior to upgrade, I would get similar speeds to the Linux results

Have tried so many things, the download speed in Win 11 remains considerably slower.
Curiously I tried same router and cable config plugged into a Win 11 Laptop (with AMD A12-9720 and 8GB RAM) and got full speed.
So this appears to be related to this specific system as spec'd above.
(I was quite surprised the Safe Mode test did not yield better result)

What I have tried:

Installed Driver from Wired_driver_30.5_x64.zip package
Receive Window Auto Tuning set to 'Normal'
Regedit disable Network Throttling
Disable LSO inboth IPV4 and IPV6
Deselect adapter Power Management option
Check Speed/Duplex Adapter setting - tried both auto and 1Gbps full duplex
Increased TX/RX Buffers
In Terminal ran
- netsh winsock reset
- netsh int ip reset
- ipconfig /flushdns
Have also tried changing DNS (just local on this machine) to Google, no difference.

With all of above, I got it up to about 560Mbps but no major smoking gun

I do see a ton of posts on various forums about Win 11 delivering slow speeds (with the suggestions above) but nothing that seems to definitively resolve it.

Any suggestions?

Ghot · Dec 26, 2025

Well I don't dual boot with Linux, and I don't use a router at all.
But... I can give you ten points for filling out your computer specs.

My guess would be that the problem is with the Windows LAN driver.
I looked on your motherboard's website and all they have is a LAN driver for Win 10, and it's dated 2015.

Curiously I tried same router and cable config plugged into a Win 11 Laptop (with AMD A12-9720 and 8GB RAM) and got full speed.

You may just be getting the best you can with the desktop's incompatible hardware and Windows 11.

But don't give up. There's quite a few folks on here, running Win 11 on old hardware.
They may have some suggestions.

decosse · Dec 26, 2025

That did make me laugh :) I'll take those points.
The Linux part is really not of consequence other than to show what my service is capable of on this same hardware.
(and actually those Linux numbers on the 'problem system' are similar to those on another Win 11 device directly swapping the Ethernet over)
And also I did not have this restricted speed when the system was Win 10
i.e. with exact same hardware Win 11 Download is significantly slower than it was with Win 10 or Linux.
And higher speed is verified with another Win 11 system running with lesser CPU and significantly less memory

So - it's not a hardware issue, not a win 11 issue (in its own right, per se) but something within the win 11 config on that specific system that is choking it.

Ghot · Dec 26, 2025

Well, the Linux install will have it's own driver and may be a lot newer.
The LAN driver for Windows at the ASUS site says Windows 10. There is no Win 11 version.

It could also be the MS overwrote the better driver with one of it's own.
That happens quite a bit.

There's a tutorial to help with that...

Enable or Disable Include Drivers with Windows Updates in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable including drivers with Windows Updates in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows Update will include drivers when available in Windows 11 by default. You can enable the Do not include drivers with Windows Updates policy to not include drivers...

www.elevenforum.com

You might want to "disable" including drivers in Windows Updates.
The install the driver for the ASUS website again? At least it won't get overwritten this time.

As you mentioned, it could also be a Win 11 network setting.

FreeBooter · Dec 27, 2025

Configure your Wi-Fi card to prefer 5GHz networks, see that will help.

In this Device Manager, switch to the Advanced tab of the network card properties sheet and then look for a setting called Preferred Band or something similar. Select it, and then use the dropdown menu to choose 5GHz. More modern adapters may have options such as 5GHz and 6GHz combined, which is even better. Some adapters may also have a setting that outright disables other bands, but this can also cause problems with other Wi-Fi networks, so I wouldn't use that one unless you really have to.

Large Send Offload(LSO) is another feature in Windows designated for better network performance. Well-intended, but then the whole thing of allowing background apps to consume large amounts of network bandwidth is the reason why our Internet speed takes a hit. To disable LSO:

Click the Advanced tab, from Device manager, then click Large Send Offload V2 (IPv4) and set the value to Disabled.

Click Large Send Offload V2 (IPv6) and set the value to Disabled. Then click OK.

In this guide, you will find a tip on how to increase the download speed on your Windows computer.

Hopefully, your Windows 11 Slow Internet issue has been resolved successfully.

FDretired · Dec 27, 2025

I note that you have LGA1150 motherboard designed for 4th and 5th generation intel PCU. The windows 11 is the hacked version. Could this explain the issue?

SlicEnDicE · Dec 27, 2025

FDretired said:
The windows 11 is the hacked version.

Nothing is hacked...just steps for checks during install circumvented so the OS installs. I have older and a bit newer HW running Windows 11 just fine. None are "compatible" with Windows 11 according to MS.

abactuon · Dec 27, 2025

How to enable TCP BBR on Windows?

TCP BBR can be enabled in linux using the following commands: net.core.default_qdisc=fq net.ipv4.tcp_congestion_control=bbr as explained here How do you do the same on a Windows 10 machine?

stackoverflow.com

Default

decosse · Dec 27, 2025

@FreeBooter -

this is Ethernet, not Wifi
as per opening post, LSO already configured

@abactuon - see result:

Should I try BBR2?

@Ghot - I've been trying to install that original driver - I have the driver download from updates disabled, so that is done - but when I delete the device (incl the driver) it automatically installs that newer driver and I'm unable to install the original. Can you give guidance on how to prevent that driver from loading so I can manually select the one I want?

Ghot · Dec 27, 2025

decosse said:
@FreeBooter -

this is Ethernet, not Wifi

as per opening post, LSO already configured

@abactuon - see result:

View attachment 158150

Should I try BBR2?

@Ghot - I've been trying to install that original driver - I have the driver download from updates disabled, so that is done - but when I delete the device (incl the driver) it automatically installs that newer driver and I'm unable to install the original. Can you give guidance on how to prevent that driver from loading so I can manually select the one I want?

Don't delete the device. Just install the ASUS driver. It should overwrite whatever driver is there.

decosse · Dec 27, 2025

I managed to get a driver installed.
From the Asus file it did not seem to recognize the device from 'autorun.inf' but I just selected one of the inf files under Intel and got a successful install and result
At this point, even though it is working, I will now purchase a PCI Ethernet card to use in place of the built-in MOBO one

Ghot · Dec 27, 2025

decosse said:
At this point, even though it is working, I will now purchase a PCI Ethernet card to use in place of the built-in MOBO one

It's not the hardware. The fact that it works well on Linux, tells you that.
Let it go for a while... see if it keeps working.

decosse · Dec 27, 2025

Yes, I understand that - but at least I can get a more suitable/specific driver for a recent NIC.
I just arbitrarily picked one that worked from Intel/PRO1000/Winx64/NDIS65
It's only a $15 outlay.

abactuon · Dec 28, 2025

decosse said:
Should I try BBR2?

As you wish. If things get worse, you can always return everything back.

JaxTD · Dec 28, 2025

It's the same for me.
Cumulative updates have made Win11 progressively worse in terms of DL/UP speeds. In March, IIRC, I was able to download at up to 80-90 MB/s. In August/September, right before 25H2, I wasn't able to get past 40-50. And nothing has improved since in that regard.
And in terms of upload, I was able to continuously upload at 50-60 MB/s and now I can upload at those speeds but for short periods of time before it drops down to like 15MB/s.
Obviously everything was tested with the exact same hardware, router distance etc.

pewa · Dec 28, 2025

You probably used balena Etcher to do a double boot of Mint with Windows on your system drive.

Is it possible your Linux Distro has taken up some of your hardware resources, including slowing down your download speed?

You could try deleting the volume containing Mint and then extend your primary drive back to its original capacity.

Next install Mint on a virtual machine. That’s what I would do.

SlicEnDicE · Dec 28, 2025

pewa said:
Is it possible your Linux Distro has taken up some of your hardware resources, including slowing down your download speed?

I can't see how this could be related to anything

Solved Win 11 Download performance slow compared to Linux

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