I just moved into an apartment and I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with the WiFi.
Internet plan is 300/300. When everything was first set up I was seeing pretty much the full speed, but since then it randomly drops hard.
Sometimes I’ll get 150–250 Mbps, then later the same PC in the same spot will struggle to hit 10. I’ve seen it drop into single digits more than once.
The weird part is that Windows still shows full WiFi signal.
Router is on the opposite side of the apartment, maybe 30ish feet away. It supports 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz, and I currently have 6 GHz set as preferred on the PC.
I’m also the only person living here right now, so I don’t think I’m overloading anything.
What should I actually be looking at here?
Before touching channels, extenders, mesh, or sacrificing a goat to the WiFi gods: test Ethernet. If Ethernet also drops to 8 Mbps, this isn’t a wireless problem. If Ethernet stays around 300/300 while WiFi tanks, then you can stop bothering the ISP side and concentrate on the radio.
@Alacran_X_00 Had to buy a stupidly long cable, but tested it.Wir ed is basically the full 300/300. WiFi in my room is still all over the place. So I guess that answers one question.
Now that you know Ethernet is fine, I’d actually watch what the WiFi is doing when the slowdown happens. Use a WiFi analyzer. NetSpot is pretty good for that.
Since you’re in an apartment, don’t underestimate neighbors.
You can have a very strong signal from your own router and still have a miserable experience if everyone around you is fighting over the same chunk of spectrum.
@UpbeatViolinist891 Why? OP already has strong signal. An extender is for extending coverage. It doesn’t magically fix congestion, bad channel selection, or weird client behavior. Diagnose first.