Computer guys, d/l drops off a cliff in the evening (1 Viewer)

My computer is a bit old (5 to 6 years old range). Lenovo laptop. My bad in that I bought one that only has 2.4 ghz wifi. That being said, it was "good enough" until recently. I have top tier spectrum (200 mbps) internet with Orbi. My laptop was doing ok but recently my download speed in the evening is dropping like a rock. I just did a speed check  using speedtest.net and it came in  at ONE mbps. Yes, ONE. I hopped on my wife's laptop, 206 mbps. My work laptop, 226 mbps. Of course they have 5.0 ghz wifi but still. I usually would get at least 25-30 mbps before. What could possibly be causing such a huge dropoff at night in the 2.4 ghz range? I have to think it isn't the signal coming in to the house given the speed of the other laptops. I am getting ready to just dump this thing and get a new 8.11ax or whatever but still, this just bothers me. What could the issue be that my 25 mpbs signal drops to 1 in the evening?

Sounds like you're being throttled.

Have you hit a data threshold?

Do you have teenage boys?

Mr.Pack said:

Sounds like you're being throttled.

Have you hit a data threshold?

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No thresholds I am aware of. And if that were the case, wouldn't it have hit all the computers in the house? It's only mine.

AAABatteries said:

Do you have teenage boys?

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Our kids are all in their 30s and long gone from the house. We're empty nesters. And when I speed tested, my wife was getting ready for bed. I was the only one on at all.

Is it Zone Alarm that shows what traffic/data your computer is sending/receiving?  Haven't used it for a long time.  If the speed tests on the other computers are fine it shouldn't be throttling.  My guess would be a service or virus running in the background and possibly "phoning home."  Is the computer in general running slower?  Do you have programs that are trying to update?  Any type of anti-virus or network security software?

It doesn't have to be just your household...Evenings are prime streaming times.  If you live in a residential neighborhood, the trunk line that services your community can get overrun, leading to all the branches off that line seeing slower speeds for all clients who run off that main line.  I see that sometimes here.  We're the 1st house off of an 11 house development.  I know the Comcast line runs up the street and services all the houses.  My internet is fastest mid-day on the weekdays when most of us are at work/school.  When the kids and parents get home in the evening, my internet sometimes slows a little.

DallasDMac said:

My computer is a bit old (5 to 6 years old range). Lenovo laptop. My bad in that I bought one that only has 2.4 ghz wifi. That being said, it was "good enough" until recently. I have top tier spectrum (200 mbps) internet with Orbi. My laptop was doing ok but recently my download speed in the evening is dropping like a rock. I just did a speed check  using speedtest.net and it came in  at ONE mbps. Yes, ONE. I hopped on my wife's laptop, 206 mbps. My work laptop, 226 mbps. Of course they have 5.0 ghz wifi but still. I usually would get at least 25-30 mbps before. What could possibly be causing such a huge dropoff at night in the 2.4 ghz range? I have to think it isn't the signal coming in to the house given the speed of the other laptops. I am getting ready to just dump this thing and get a new 8.11ax or whatever but still, this just bothers me. What could the issue be that my 25 mpbs signal drops to 1 in the evening?

Click to expand...

I think you're headed in the right direction. You should probably try to determine if it's the router's 2.4 band or your laptop. 

Are you sure nothing else uses the 2.4? Phones, smart TVs, tablets, etc.? Maybe a Roku or Firestick was still streaming video after you turned off a TV? Maybe your neighbor figured out your 2.4 password and is more active at night? I think most dual-band routers will show you which devices (or at least MAC addresses) are connected on each band. If there are multiple devices using its 2.4 band, your router may have settings for prioritization that makes your laptop's traffic a lower priority. 

If you're sure your laptop is the only thing using the 2.4, then next time this happens you should switch one of the other laptops from 5.0 to 2.4 and see if the problem affects everything on 2.4 or just the one laptop.

  - If it's just your laptop, getting a new 8.11ax router won't help. But if you have a spare USB port on the laptop, USB 5 ghz wifi adapters are about 15 bucks.

  - If it's the router, restarting the router may resolve the problem.

My router's 2.4 ghz radio gets slow sometimes while it's 5 ghz is still fine. I've been too lazy to fix or replace it, since the problem is infrequent (every 4-6 weeks) and nothing important is using the 2.4. I just restart it when that happens and it's good until next time.

Not sure if Spectrum does this, but Comcast increases my internet speed about every 3-6 months.  Connections get nutty when that happens. Restarting the router doesn't help. Restarting the cable modem resolves it.

" If it's just your laptop, getting a new 8.11ax router won't help."

Sorry, this may have been a bonehead statement on my part.  I actually meant that the new laptop would have 5 ghz capability. I meant to reference the wifi adapter in the laptop, not the router.