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Speed problem when more than tablet connected to WI Fi

Gardener
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎11-01-2018

Speed problem when more than tablet connected to WI Fi

I have a speed problem with my internet connection. This first started last month when I discovered that I was able to use my tablet on WI fi but once I connected my laptop my speed dropped to the extent that it often became unusable. It was then discovered that I had a line fault which BT said was sorted and my connection speed appeared to be stable. Over the Christmas period it was running two laptops and one or two tablets without the speed dropping drastically. I purchased a new laptop this week and when I went to set it up my problems really started. With both laptops connected my speed was abysmal and they became unusable with pages failing to load. Even with one only connected thing were very, very slow. Yesterday I contacted BT thinking that the fault on my line had returned. They ran line checks and said that there were no faults with the line. Next I contacted Plusnet who, again, said that there was no problem and that speeds of 1.6 MBps were coming down my line. As I had a new router last month problems with that were ruled out but it was suggested that I set the router to a different channel to see if this would help. I tried this (with only one laptop connected) The first channel I tried was good for about 20 minutes until the speed dropped away again but, eventually things appeared to be stable on the second channel I selected and, when I ran a speed test, I was getting speed of about 1.1MBps which I was happy with. This morning I needed to turn on the old laptop to retrieve some information off it and with both laptops on the problem retuned. I thought that things would return to normal once I disconnected the old laptop but that is not the case. I have tried a different channel on the router which does not help and, with only my tablet and mobile phone connected to the internet, I achieve maximum speed of 0.5MBps when running a speed test but the second I connect the laptop the speed test fails to run as the speed is too slow. Any suggestions would be more than welcome before I tear my hair out completely!!

4 REPLIES 4
MauriceC
Resting Legend
Posts: 4,085
Thanks: 929
Fixes: 17
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Speed problem when more than tablet connected to WI Fi

Is the new laptop running Win 10 by any chance and it's sitting there trying to download a shedload of updates?

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Gardener
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎11-01-2018

Re: Speed problem when more than tablet connected to WI Fi

I'm sure that was the case initially when I first started the laptop. However, as far as I am aware, everything has managed to update with the laptop running for the first 48 + hours non stop downloading, very slowly, updates. Everything was OK last night but now I am only managing speeds of 0.3Mbps on the laptop if I'm doing well. I cannot find that any updates are running as when I click on the check for update icon in settings, it shows that the laptop is up to date

Baldrick1
Moderator
Moderator
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Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: Speed problem when more than tablet connected to WI Fi

You have abysmal speed at the best of time. With all these devices it is quite possible that one or another is running updates and clogging things up. Can you get fibre at your address? Check here: www.dslchecker.bt.com If available at a half reasonable speed then this would be worth the exra cost

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Gardener
Dabbler
Posts: 21
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎11-01-2018

Re: Speed problem when more than tablet connected to WI Fi

Sadly no fibre available where I live and not likely to be for years and years despite promises by any governments. Maybe you are correct and updates are happening on other devices that are slowing my abysmal connection speed. Things seem slightly better this evening so, fingers crossed, the problem does not get worse.