Poor performance on 5Ghz

I just bought a dual band USB Wifi stick. It took me a while to get both bands to connect on my Win 10 machine which has the drivers already for the stick.

Problem is I have a few Wifi Items on the 2.4Ghz band so was trying to connect my desktop to the 5ghz band as there is only the TV thats connected on this band. But it connects around 162mbps on the 5ghz band but after a few hours the rate drops to around 13mbps and browsing the internet becomes sluggish. No such problem on the 2.4ghz band stays a constant 216mbps.

Is this a problem with the USB Wifi stick or interference. TV connects at 162mbps constant on the 5ghz band!

Edit: Just tried the 5ghz band on the desktop again and Win 10 says "Unable to connect" but 2.4ghz is fine. What gives this is the problem I solved yesterday.

Edited by Banger (Sun 16-Oct-16 13:39:54)

I'm currently struggling with a similar problem. Try this http://www.sysprobs.com/fixed-windows-10-limited-con...

That fixed not being able to connect the 5g network but its only connecting at 14m according to the router, I had it at 163m yesterday but having difficulty today. Are you getting this symptom too?

I can't connect using DHCP. I have to enter IP information manually - ip addess, subnet, gateway, DNS.

Other devices are fine

Every time I connect to 5g I have to enter the netsh commands or I get unable to connect and the maximum speed I seem to get now is 48m but no problems with 2.5g @ 216m, it just works. 5g signal is a few db lower than 2.4g according to inSSIDer. Wonder if thats the problem, or my Asus router isnt as good on 5g.

I don't know directly the answer/s to the problems raised; but I have taken several comparative surveys of the two WiFi bands in and around my house.

Typically, the 5 GHz band is -10db (10 db lower/worse) than the 2.4 GHz band.

If the 2.4 GHz band is -55 db, the 5 GHz is -65 db.

Using inSSIDer on the same ACER Laptop, at the same locations.

The other end is an EE Brightbox 2.

5 GHz signals are more readily attenuated by structures etc, apart from any more technical differences of the WiFi modules etc.

The few 5 GHz items I have, connect etc as readily and without problems, as the 2.4 GHz majority.

Thats what I am finding. The dongle max rate on 5g is 48m, yet my TV also on 5g connects at 162m in the same room. Have ordered a different make of dongle to see if it is this dongle.

The signal strength can vary considerably in different parts of the same room.

I am also checking over an extended period, a 2.4 GHz Repeater, which appears to lose the primary signal when the Humidity rises.

An empty typical metallised crisp packet placed in an adjacent waste basket can also cut off that primary signal.

There is a location in that room where such losses probably would not occur; but it is awkward to reach, also mains supply problem, so in the meantime, it is interesting to observe the variations.

5 GHz is generally more critical.

Tried changing the wireless channel manually?

The drop in negotiated speed may indicate additional interference.

Overall though 162 is a poor negotiated speed to begin with and suggests the signal may be too weak (assuming wireless AC1200 which is basically standard now on all major ISP routers).

Have you considered a second AP?

What channel would you suggest? I now have the usb stick directly above the router antenna and the max rate for 5g is 54m, 2.4g is the full 300m.

Can you link me or tell me the router you are using and the USB dongle model by any chance?

EDIT: 54Mbps speed sounds like the dongle is not AC compatible... Is the dongle AC compatible or wireless ABGN?

Edited by ukhardy07 (Mon 17-Oct-16 22:12:56)

The dongle can make a huge difference.

I have two USB dongles, one TPLink and one unbranded. They both are the identical chipset and physically they are the same size with the LED in the same place, most likely the same PCB.

However, the TPLink one is great, the generic one has dreadful signal reception especially on 5Ghz. It reduces the link rate quite dramatically within only a few feet of the router.

Also, look for a dongle with at least 2x2 MIMO. It allows two concurrent transmissions for twice the link rate. But more importantly, it gives you a better chance of a good signal as even though the antenna are close together one may be blocked while the other gets a decent signal.

The best option if is your laptop has an internal WiFi card that can be replaced. The internal cards have a much stronger signal and far better reception than any USB dongle in my experience.

Both are N, generic ralink dual band dongle and Asus DSL-N55U router which is not AC as its a couple of years old.

Based on your hardware I do not think you will find amazing increases using 5Ghz.
Because it's wirelsss N and 300Mbps max at 5Ghz, the speed gains of using this band drop off really soon. You only begin at 300. AC routers such as BTs can deliver (connected rate not throughput) 1200Mbps in the same room, around 600 through one wall and 300ish through 2 walls. That's in my home.

Even at one wall distance you may find 2.4Ghz negotiates at a better rate with your device. It hardly becomes worth worrying about unless you are in the same room or just a paper thin wall away.

If you really want to get onto 5Ghz I would get an AC1600 device and then AC dongles which support 3 stream mimo on wireless AC.

I wouldn't bother trying to upgrade your current setup, personally I'd hold off and switch to AC in future.

I understand. I just received another generic dual band (black) dongle and 5g is still only getting 54m next to the router. My Panasonic TV gets 162m on 5g and thats downstairs. Last try I have ordered an Asus N600 dongle, see if that has better 5g performance.

I have got 300m out of the generic dongle by setting the router to "N only" instead of auto or N/AC mixed but the lag is terrible and this is next to the router. Downstairs it connects randomly at 13.5-27m so its driving me nuts. See what the Asus dongle does.

Edit: Been playing with my Panasonic TV, 2.4g has 5 bars but 5g only has 3 bars signal strength, but 5g connects at 160m whereas 2.4g only connects at 108m. Wifi is peculiar.

Edited by Banger (Tue 18-Oct-16 18:14:26)

Finally managed to fix it. I did the 2 netsh commands,

netsh winsock reset catalog (Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults)
netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log (Reset IPv4 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults)

then in the settings app I selected Network & Internet then Wi-Fi then Manage Known Networks and then I selected Forget the network and then I rebooted.

After the reboot I connected to the network again and entered the security password, but the network was now Public

So I started up the Homegroup troubleshooter and this set the network to Private, then I exited out.

And it's all working again, connecting at 433Mbps.

I am currently waiting for an Asus N53 dongle to be delivered. I tried the forget network option but speed didnt increase only able to connect at 54m.

To be future proof you'd have been better buying something that support N and the latest AC standard, so that when you move to an AC router you're set. Here you'll need to change the dongle again when you go AC.

I would consider returning and getting something future proof.

Noted but not planning on dumping my N router just yet. Although it seems to include AC on the 5g wireless options so I am not sure it does just N or AC as well! The dongle was only a tenner. If I get a couple of years out of it it will be worth it.

I gave up using a USB dongle for my desktop (which was operating on the 5Ghz band with an AC enabled router - drop outs, reduced connection speeds were the order of the day. Ended up buying an internal network card with external aerial. The desktop hasn't moved and the aerial is just plonked on it's lid - hidden under the desk. Far superior performance though. No drop outs, etc and have come to the conclusion that USB dongles are best used with a laptop.

I agree I have yet to find a USB dongle that works great, they are usually average.

5ghz now at 300m using the asus n53 dongle so it was just the dongle and that is downstairs varying from 270 to 300m, so this is now solved.