Lenovo Flex 20 very poor internet speed on wifi.

[Krynn72]

Got a customer who brought in their system complaining that it was running slow. The speed of the system itself is fine (has a healthy SSD we installed for them a couple months ago), but when doing anything online its slooooow.

-Checked with speedtest.net and its getting usually <1mbps, sometimes breaking slightly over 1.
-On ethernet, it gets 18mbps which is what we expect (20mbps service paid for).
-I tried a usb wifi adapter (disabling the built in) and its the same <1mbps result.
-My laptop when sitting right next to the Flex gets 14mbps.
-Tried a N&P (Windows 10 Home), same issue, including with usb adapter.

A bit lost on other options to try.

 

[mr m]

It sounds like you covered all the bases.

Just for grins try messing around with the routers encryption settings. Turn them off and see what speeds you get on an unsecure connection. If the download speed improves try experimenting with different settings. AES alone, TKIP alone or AES/TKIP.

 

[BlackLabTechs]

You can also try turning down the power on the AP to see if that helps. I know some iOS devices try to power manage the wifi. Turning down the power on AP's for those that have Apple in the house have helped tremendously.

 

[phaZed]

Having the issue between both WIFI's is pretty weird... the only immediately available theory I can give that would make sense is that perhaps the Laptop is emitting frequencies that are interfering with the WIFI signal... does unplugging the charger happen to help? I'm thinking that maybe a high frequency switching converter could be bad/ filter cap not working correctly, etc. Strange.

 

[MichaelEC]

Have you visited the Lenovo website to check for updated for this machine?

 

[fencepost]

Were you testing it plugged in or on battery, and if on battery does the performance improve when you plug it in?

I've literally watched a laptop dropping pings while 15 feet from the AP, then when I plugged it in while I investigated it completely cleared up. The fix was to change the power save levels for for WiFi in the Power Options area (not on the card settings).

 

[Krynn72]

This thing Is basically an AIO desktop sized laptop, but it does have a battery. I have tried it plugged in and not plugged in. I even walked towards the router watching the speed, and then walked back away and didn't notice any significant change in speed.

I did check lenovo's site for updated wifi drivers, but I'll go back again and see if maybe I can update the chipset drivers, or power management software.

 

[GTP]

Iv'e had this kind of thing before. Some things to try that have helped in the past.
Remove the Wifi adapter from Device Manager and restart letting Windows redetect and install it.
Check the RX/TX (Flow Control) settings under the Advanced Tab of the Properties for the card.
Disable the Large Send Offload on IPv4 v2
Might sound a bit elementry, but worked for me