Extremely slow wireless speeds with new Intel 6200

The Intel card is 100% legit production model and not ES/QS/etc. I bought it from an authorized Intel reseller.

By all accounts, shouldn't this new Intel beat the crap out of my current Atheros? I've read literally dozens of users here stating how much of an upgrade it was and how much stronger signal/range they have with their new Intel 6200s.

Laptop =

Acer Aspire 5534
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Processor L310
4GB DDR2 RAM
ATI HD3200

Original wireless card = Atheros AR5B93.

When connected via ethernet, I get approximately 7 down, 3 up.

When connected via Atheros, I get approximately 5 down, 1 up.

When connected via Intel, I get approximately 0.5 down, 0.25 up.

All settings across the board are the same. Power settings, wireless settings, etc.

All drivers fully updated.

Anyone have any ideas what's wrong?

Is it because i'm using an AMD based laptop? (lol)

 

Did you install the Intel Connection Software also, or are you letting Windows manage it's own connections?

 

Initially I did not install the Intel software, but after seeing the very slow speeds, I did.

Barely any difference in speeds.

 

If you go into the Network and Sharing center, then "Manage network connections"... get the status of the Intel card, and see what negotiated speed it's operating at.

 

Are the antennas hooked up properly?

 

Is this what you mean? I attached a screenshot.

Yes.

 

Ok this is weird...

When I go to speedtest.net and run a test, it stays at 5.5 mbps..

When I go watch a youtube video... it ramps up to 54.0 mbps.

What's going on?

 

Sounds like power-management. Go to the card's properties in the device manager and see if you can disable any power saving features.

 

I've disabled all power features I can find but it still does it.

Any other ideas? I must be doing something wrong. I'd love for it to stay at a constant 54 mbps...

Even when I watch youtube videos it's still not fast enough and I often have to pause the video so I give it more time to load and buffer.

 

Is this the cause of my problems?

 

That very well could be the reason things are crawling, but the speeds on your wireless seem to be demand based, and since you've turned off all the power saving features, I'm at loss. I guess it just scales up and down depending on demand. Try OpenDNS as your DNS service...

208.67.220.220
208.67.222.222

 

Where do I go input these numbers?

Or do I have to download and install "OpenDNS?"

Thanks so much for your help man... really appreciate it.

 

In Windows 7: Start Orb--> Control Panel-->"View By Catagory: Small Icons"--> Network and Sharing Center-->Change Adapter Settings

From there, right click on your wireless card and select "Properties". Now select TCP/IPv4 then select "Properties". From there select the option to "Use the following DNS server addresses" and input the OpenDNS addresses or GoogleDNS or you can try Level3's DNS addresses. They're all free to use, and naturally some may perform better for you than others.

OpenDNS:
208.67.220.220
208.67.222.222

GoogleDNS:
8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

Level3:
4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2

 

Hal,

I will try the DNS fix when I can.

But i wonder, do you think my card is defective?

Or do i just have some kind of software issue?

 

Ok the problem is definitely NOT my laptop or the wireless card.

I'm at my friends house and i'm connected at a constant 54mbps...

Speedtest.net gave me speeds of 15mbps down..

This is the speed/performance I want 24/7!! lol

The only difference here is that my friend has a netgear router (WGT624 v3)...

At home, I have a linksys.

 

Did you mention who your ISP is? What model Linksys router do you have? Is your modem cable, dsl, fiber, etc.?

Here are the settings that work for me on my 6200:
Driver - 13.3.0.24
802.11n Channel Width for 2.4GHZ - auto
802.11n Channel Width for 5GHZ - auto
802.11n mode - enabled
ad hoc channel 82.11b/g - 6
ad hoc QoS mode - WMM enabled
Fat Channel Intolerant - disabled
Mixed Mode Protection - CTS to Self Enabled
Roaming agressiveness - 1. Lowest
Transmit Power - 5. Highest
Wireless Mode - 802.11a/b/g
Power management is enabled

If these settings are the same on your card and there are still issues, it might be a router problem. Had any power outages lately?

 

Thanks for the input micman!

Well I have good news.. the problem all along was my router!

I went into my router admin control panel and I set it to always output at 54mbps...

My intel card now reads 54mbps all the time and I get awesome speeds .

 

Nice! Occums Razor. That little fix never crossed my mind.

 

Occam's Razor indeed .

Thanks again for all the help HAL. I know who to PM if I have a more complicated problem in the future .

 

Just a little FYI.. I've been battling this for awhile now as well.

I have a linksys WRT150N and I either have to ONLY broadcast G,

or

in my settings, I have to DISABLE 802.11n mode.