My ORBI has great WiFi signal throughout my 2 story home, including the second floor, on all of my devices except an older desktop HP located on the 2nd floor. As I write this, download speed on my desktop is 39 Mbps, while on my apple phone, it is about 400 Mbps. I would like to improve WiFi speed on my desktop. I could add an additional satellite, move the current satellite, or upgrade my computer which is maybe 6 years old running windows 10. I cant figure out how to determine what version of WiFi this desktop is running. What would be the best way to proceed? thanks
Re: add satellite , reposition, or upgrade desktop
What Firmware is currently loaded? What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.
What is the Mfr and model# of the wifi adapter in the desktop PC?
You should see status of the wifi connection under the networking settings in windows.
My ORBI has great WiFi signal throughout my 2 story home, including the second floor, on all of my devices except an older desktop HP located on the 2nd floor. As I write this, download speed on my desktop is 39 Mbps, while on my apple phone, it is about 400 Mbps. I would like to improve WiFi speed on my desktop. I could add an additional satellite, move the current satellite, or upgrade my computer which is maybe 6 years old running windows 10. I cant figure out how to determine what version of WiFi this desktop is running. What would be the best way to proceed? thanks
My ORBI has great WiFi signal throughout my 2 story home, including the second floor, on all of my devices except an older desktop HP located on the 2nd floor. As I write this, download speed on my desktop is 39 Mbps, while on my apple phone, it is about 400 Mbps. I would like to improve WiFi speed on my desktop. I could add an additional satellite, move the current satellite, or upgrade my computer which is maybe 6 years old running windows 10. I cant figure out how to determine what version of WiFi this desktop is running. What would be the best way to proceed? thanks
thecos77
Sounds like you're talking about the wifi adapter in the pc...?? If so, you should see it in the control panel area.
.... except an older desktop HP located on the 2nd floor. As I write this, download speed on my desktop is 39 Mbps,
"Older" means different things to different people. (My elderly neighbor has a 15 year old Windows XP machine, whereas I think my five year old computer is ancient!) Depending on the age, it is possible that the HP has an ancient 2.4G WiFi card. If you can't find the computer specs, please supply the model number and we can help look for them.
"Wired" is clearly the best-performing solution, but is not always practical. Installing a new WiFi adapter might help. There are 2.4G/5G USB adapters that do not cost much.
Re: add satellite , reposition, or upgrade desktop
I'm embarassed that I did not read the original post carefully. A six year old computer does qualify as "not new", but is not ancient. 801.11n should be capable of more than 39mb. If the iPhone achieves 400mb close to the computer, that would indicate that the 5G signal is good and that a 5G USB WiFi adapter might be a quick way to solve the problem inexpensively. Amazon has them for under $25. (Just personally, I would go with a "Brand Name" like TP-Link.)
802.11 can be compromised when there is a device somewhere on the network that is only capable of 802.11b. That forces the entire network to drop to 802.11b speed. A thermostat would not suffer. A computer certainly would.
Re: add satellite , reposition, or upgrade desktop
Problem solved ! I added a USB WiFi adapter (TechKey), download speeds now vary from 150 to occasionally over 300 Mbps. Thanks to all who commented on ways to solve this problem.
