Windows 7: Varying wireless speed "wtf?!" issue

Ok, so me and my counterparts have not been able to figure this out for about a month now. I bought a wireless usb adapter(b/g/n) for my rig and it was fine for a long time until about 2 months ago when I at somepoint started not getting full throughput.

My laptop(a/g/n) gets 50mbps and the adapter(b/g/n) now gets 30mbps. No, putting my rig next to the router doesn't help. The only way I can get full speed is via ethernet.

I've plugged in the bgn into my laptop and it still gets full.

Today, I've tried a friend's pci adapter and it only made a 1mbps difference.

any ideas?

Did the wireless adapter come with a software installation cd? If so, I would remove any wireless related drivers and the software, then reinstall the required drivers and software.

Could also try accessing the router from your laptop - there should be an option to restart/reset the modem. I've fixed speed related issued in a similar way.

Comparing one laptop and different wireless adaptors to the other and you will always see a difference in wireless speeds, different machines, adaptors and drivers will always shows a difference in wireless speeds. That is the nature of wireless connections.

If you really want to see an increase in wireless speed try going into the routers settings and change to the "802.11n Only" mode. Check to make sure in "Manage Wireless Connections" that you are using WPA2 with AES encryption.

You should also realize that the wireless channels being used by your neighbors will have a huge effect on the throughput of your wireless connection.

Because of this you need to scan the wireless channels in your area in order to find a few channels that aren't being used by your neighbors.

Even after you change channels you need to keep checking as the neighbors will change channels causing overlap into the channels that you are using.

Xirrus WiFi inspector is a good program for checking out the wireless channels in your area.
Wi-Fi Inspector | Xirrus

My router is already n-only with WPA2. My provider locked me out of it and said if I try to make any attempts to edit the settings- that they'll cancel their services. I've reinstalled the device driver but it didn't budge.

I've turned the router off/on before and it didn't help. I'm still trying to make sense of all this. What could possibly be different between my laptop and my desktop(besides portability and 802.11a integration)..!

I've never heard of an ISP saying you can't touch the settings on your own router. I'm calling FUD on that one because I flat out do not believe it.

And if that is the case how am I supposed to help?

Can't touch the router settings - who is your provider?!?

Charter Communications..... :/