When you say 300 Mbps, do you mean 802.11n standard with a theoretical speed of 300 Mbps. In practice this is likely to mean in a perfect scenario something in the 100 to 15 Mbps region, and if the area has lots of other wi-fi networks then they may be interfering.

To get the best from Wi-Fi these days 802.11ac hardware and using the 5GHz band is recommended.

In reply to a post by bonnyjars:

The initial "solution" from virginmedia was that my wifi hardware in the machines was limited and out-of-date so for both machines I purchased 300mps access - a USB for the laptop - and yes, I have disabled the internal driver so it is only using the USB. For the desktop I purchased a 300 card and replaced the existing card. In fact these hardware changes made no difference whatever to what speeds I was seeing

What speeds do these 300mps devices say they are connected at?

Upgraded hardware (router) by virgin media - which will conect at 100 via cable

machines are about 3.5m from router and not more than one wall in between

both machines have upgraded wifi receivers specified at 300ms

whne virginmedia were supplying 40mps I was getting in excess of 30 on each machine with the old receivers
now they are supplying 100mps and I have upgraded the receivers I am getting on average 21 on either machine

bonnyjars

forgetting the units - I probably did mis-spell not knowing any better, I am not a hardware person -

basically:
I was paying for 40 and seeing 30+ on each machine

I upgraded to 100 and virgin upgraded the router
while cable to the router will show me 100, wifi shows just over 20 on either machine

as per advice from virgin both machines have upgraded wifi receivers to 300 = these hardware upgrades do not affect the wifi speeds

I am paying for more and seeing less

Thanks, bonnyjars

If you're using windows try this command in a cmd window

Netsh WLAN show interfaces

I am paying for more and seeing less

That's not strictly true as you have said you are seeing "100" when connected via Ethernet. Your problem isn't with your ISP and what they are providing but rather with your Wi-Fi, either the environment and local conditions or hardware. You've discounted your Wi-Fi receivers but that still leaves the environment which might be improved by changing channel and perhaps your router's Wi-Fi hardware (I don't recall whether you have tried changing this).

Answer --- (i have removed a couple of lines becasue I am not sure what is personal)

There is 1 interface on the system:

Name : Wi-Fi
Description : Qualcomm Atheros AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter
GUID : removed
Physical address : a4:2b:b0:fa:17:a3
State : connected
SSID : STROUD
BSSID : removed
Network type : Infrastructure
Radio type : 802.11n
Authentication : WPA2-Personal
Cipher : CCMP
Connection mode : Auto Connect
Channel : 11
Receive rate (Mbps) : 54
Transmit rate (Mbps) : 54
Signal : 60%
Profile : NetworkProfile 2

Hosted network status : Not available

In reply to a post by bonnyjars:

Answer --- (i have removed a couple of lines becasue I am not sure what is personal)

There is 1 interface on the system:

Name : Wi-Fi
Description : Qualcomm Atheros AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter
GUID : removed
Physical address : a4:2b:b0:fa:17:a3
State : connected
SSID : STROUD
BSSID : removed
Network type : Infrastructure
Radio type : 802.11n
Authentication : WPA2-Personal
Cipher : CCMP
Connection mode : Auto Connect
Channel : 11
Receive rate (Mbps) : 54
Transmit rate (Mbps) : 54
Signal : 60%
Profile : NetworkProfile 2

Hosted network status : Not available

Maybe, just maybe, that's your problem.

I do not know where to find that

in Windows... WIFI status shows
IPv4 connectivity :internet
IPV6 connectivity:No network access
...
...
Speed 144.4Mbps

Receive rate (Mbps) : 54
Transmit rate (Mbps) : 54

This is your issue, the wireless devices are only connecting at 54 Mbps. What actual make and model have you purchased? Compatibility with the various wireless standards can be variable and you may find your wireless dongles/card are less than optimal.