Member Avatar for pydfc

Hi

So for months I haven't really used my laptop for this reason.

When I switch my laptop on even if the wireless card I switched off the internet goes down around 0.3 Mbps (painfully slow) it's not just my laptop it's effecting but my phone is also effected by this speed. I use a BT home hub and they and it's been replaced and the engineers been out.

So after a few months I'm a bit annoyed and decided to do something about it. So I backed up my files and restarted my computer
Hoping it would work. However nope still not working and even weirder is when I go to my Grans the laptop doesn't do the same to the internet there.

Please help as im tearing my hair out with this.

Paul

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Hiroshe

Dani AI

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A concise expert summary and a focused diagnostic sequence to isolate the cause quickly. The key data points from the thread are that the home internet drops severely when the laptop powers on, removing the laptop battery once restored normal speed, and the laptop does not reproduce the problem at another location. , and have already covered useful angles; the checklist below expands into practical, non-destructive steps that pinpoint whether the issue is OS/driver, hardware (battery/adapter/antenna), or an AP/environment interaction.

Recommended diagnostic sequence (ordered, non-destructive)

  • Plug the laptop into the router with an Ethernet cable and power it on. If wired connectivity stays normal while Wi‑Fi breaks, the problem is wireless-specific (driver/antenna/EMI). If wired also degrades, look for L2/L3 floods from the laptop.

  • Boot the laptop from a clean live USB (Linux live image) and observe Wi‑Fi behavior without touching the installed system. A disappearing fault under the live OS points to the installed OS, driver, or software.

  • Run the laptop on AC with the battery removed, then repeat with a different charger or battery if possible. A failing battery/charger can create power irregularities or EMI; consistent behavior here implicates hardware.

  • Disable wireless power‑saving and any adapter-level “power save” options in the OS/driver, and set the OS power plan to High Performance while testing.

  • Swap the internal Wi‑Fi for a USB Wi‑Fi dongle. If the USB adapter does not trigger the slowdown, the internal card, antennas, or grounding are suspect.

  • On the router, check connected-client bandwidth graphs or logs for spikes when the laptop boots. Temporarily change radio channel or band (2.4 GHz ↔ 5 GHz) and disable advanced client‑management features while testing.

  • If comfortable, capture traffic from another client or the AP (as suggested) and look for broadcast/ARP/DHCP storms that begin when the laptop powers on.

Notes and cautions

  • Avoid opening the machine while under warranty. Inspect the battery for swelling and consider a temporary USB‑Wi‑Fi workaround before hardware replacement. If the problem only appears at this home and not elsewhere, focus on router–client interaction and local RF/grounding issues.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Hiroshe

First off, scan that computer with something new and updated. Malwarebytes anti-malware and bitdefender free edition both work well (and can be used togeather).

If that doesn't work well, then:

Let's say the laptop that's causing the problem is called A.
Let's say another working laptop is called B.

First, install wireshark on laptop B.

Next, disconnect your router from the internet.

Now, start wireshark on laptop B (make sure your capturing the wifi card).

Start laptop A, and connect it to the router.

What your seeing on wireshark in laptop B is all of the packets that are being received and sent.

If laptop B is spitting out packets like crazy, you have a problem. Report back here.

If it's not, then reconnect the router to the internet. Then disconnect/reconnect laptop A. If you see packets spitting continuously, you have a problem. Report back here.

If it's not spitting out anything insane, then report back. Something else is going on.

Posting the log might be helpful as an attachment here if you have no idea. Posting it might reveal your ip address, devices that are on your network and anything that anyone's currently doing on the network though, so be carefull.

Edited by Hiroshe
Member Avatar for pydfc

My battery is goosed so last night I just put the laptop on and took battery out so using the ac adaptor to keep laptop on and it totally fixed it, then I tried it this morning and it's back to cutting out the internet. I guess I could try getting another laptop to try this. However surely if I've rebooted the laptop to factory settings then anything that was causing problems should be gone?

Thanks for taking the time to help me

Edited by pydfc
Member Avatar for mHealth

You may want to turn off automatic updates, etc.

Member Avatar for Hiroshe

If you factory restore, it should be gone. It might still prosist if it a driver going haywire and spamming the wifi card or something stange like that.

It's interesting that taking out the battery fixed it. I've head power issues do some funny things to wifi cards, but this takes the cake is that was the cause.

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