Wireless problems on Win7 x64 with different adapters & BT

[Vilya]

Hi people,

I'm trying to summarise my issue:

I used TP-Link TL-WN722N 150Mbps wireless adapters for years, but while it was fast, the driver occasionally froze (and only worked again after reboot) and sometimes it caused BSOD. My partner got a Win7 x64 PC as well, and my BSODs got so regular that I decided I needed a new adapter, so as I assumed it was just my PC's or my specific adapter's problem, we bought new ones of the same model. But these ones' driver froze both PCs every couple of days and the BSODs continued. So I assumed this was a general TP-Link problem (as it occurred with about 3-4 different adapters of the same model and on 2 separate computers with the same OS) and bought two Bolse 300Mbps High Gain adapters (it had the 2nd best rating/price ratio on Amazon behind that TP-Link model).

What I immediately noticed it that these allegedly twice as fast adapters were noticeably slower than the TP-Link ones, but at least the drivers don't freeze any more (except occasionally when my PC is waking up from Sleep, and I got one BSOD but it's not clear if it was due to the adapter, it didn't say the driver name as with the TP-Link one, just "DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE").

However maybe a week after getting the new adapters our download speed plummeted, it wasn't anywhere near the theoretical maximum 76-80 Mbps download speed we're paying for (BT Infinity 2) even before, but at least it was possible to stream videos on 3 separate machines without having to wait for buffer, but now it is VERY slow, I measured it three times over a couple of days with download speed results of 0.82-0.87 Mbps and upload speed of 4.80-5.48 Mbps.

Also tried to contact BT Support, but they were saying they couldn't locate any problem with our network and will get back to us. They also said it would be best to test the speed with a wire vs. the wireless but we don't have any at home. I could wait for BT to try to sort this out, but the Amazon return deadline for the Bolse adaptors is within a week (so it's kinda urgent) and basically what I'd like to ask is if you people think this is a problem with incompatible adaptors again or some other unrelated (or BT-related) issue? Should I return the adaptors and look for some other model? If yes, do you have any recommendations for cheap and good ones that work on Win7 x64 PCs? (Basically like the TP-Link one but without the driver freezing and BSODs.)

Thank you!

-----

The Basic Requirements topic questions:

1. Is this a wired or wireless connection issue?

Wireless - we have a BT Home HUB with 3-4 PCs and a printer connected to it wirelessly (+ occasional Kindle and smartphone), from these usually only 2-3 PCs are in use

2. Who is your Internet Service Provider (ISP)?

BT

3. What type of Broadband connection are you using?

Unlimited BT Infinity 2 (fibre optic broadband)

4. What is the exact Make and Model of your Modem, Router or Modem/Router Combo

BT Home Hub 3.0 - Type B
Router: Huawei EchoLife HG612
Wireless Adapters: Bolse BO-N1559

5. What is the Name of the Anti-Virus, Security or Firewall Software installed from the problematic computer

Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 (on 2 of the PCs, the most frequently used ones)
Avira (on 2 others)

6. IPCONFIG

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Nathan
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : E8-4E-06-15-DB-97
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8192CU Wireless LAN 802.11n USB 2.0 Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : E8-4E-06-15-DB-97
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.76(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 16 February 2014 09:33:00
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 17 February 2014 18:45:15
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter K rtya-WAN:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-0F-C2-21-9D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Integr lt-LAN:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 1C-6F-65-C8-BE-29
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

 

[chev65]

Hi people,

I'm trying to summarise my issue:

I used TP-Link TL-WN722N 150Mbps wireless adapters for years, but while it was fast, the driver occasionally froze (and only worked again after reboot) and sometimes it caused BSOD. My partner got a Win7 x64 PC as well, and my BSODs got so regular that I decided I needed a new adapter, so as I assumed it was just my PC's or my specific adapter's problem, we bought new ones of the same model. But these ones' driver froze both PCs every couple of days and the BSODs continued. So I assumed this was a general TP-Link problem (as it occurred with about 3-4 different adapters of the same model and on 2 separate computers with the same OS) and bought two Bolse 300Mbps High Gain adapters (it had the 2nd best rating/price ratio on Amazon behind that TP-Link model).

What I immediately noticed it that these allegedly twice as fast adapters were noticeably slower than the TP-Link ones, but at least the drivers don't freeze any more (except occasionally when my PC is waking up from Sleep, and I got one BSOD but it's not clear if it was due to the adapter, it didn't say the driver name as with the TP-Link one, just "DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE").

However maybe a week after getting the new adapters our download speed plummeted, it wasn't anywhere near the theoretical maximum 76-80 Mbps download speed we're paying for (BT Infinity 2) even before, but at least it was possible to stream videos on 3 separate machines without having to wait for buffer, but now it is VERY slow, I measured it three times over a couple of days with download speed results of 0.82-0.87 Mbps and upload speed of 4.80-5.48 Mbps.

Also tried to contact BT Support, but they were saying they couldn't locate any problem with our network and will get back to us. They also said it would be best to test the speed with a wire vs. the wireless but we don't have any at home. I could wait for BT to try to sort this out, but the Amazon return deadline for the Bolse adaptors is within a week (so it's kinda urgent) and basically what I'd like to ask is if you people think this is a problem with incompatible adaptors again or some other unrelated (or BT-related) issue? Should I return the adaptors and look for some other model? If yes, do you have any recommendations for cheap and good ones that work on Win7 x64 PCs? (Basically like the TP-Link one but without the driver freezing and BSODs.)

Thank you!

-----

The Basic Requirements topic questions:

1. Is this a wired or wireless connection issue?

Wireless - we have a BT Home HUB with 3-4 PCs and a printer connected to it wirelessly (+ occasional Kindle and smartphone), from these usually only 2-3 PCs are in use

2. Who is your Internet Service Provider (ISP)?

BT

3. What type of Broadband connection are you using?

Unlimited BT Infinity 2 (fibre optic broadband)

4. What is the exact Make and Model of your Modem, Router or Modem/Router Combo

BT Home Hub 3.0 - Type B
Router: Huawei EchoLife HG612
Wireless Adapters: Bolse BO-N1559

5. What is the Name of the Anti-Virus, Security or Firewall Software installed from the problematic computer

Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 (on 2 of the PCs, the most frequently used ones)
Avira (on 2 others)

6. IPCONFIG

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Nathan
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : E8-4E-06-15-DB-97
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8192CU Wireless LAN 802.11n USB 2.0 Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : E8-4E-06-15-DB-97
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.76(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 16 February 2014 09:33:00
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 17 February 2014 18:45:15
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter K rtya-WAN:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-0F-C2-21-9D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Integr lt-LAN:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 1C-6F-65-C8-BE-29
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

View attachment 306672

The open network that is using the same channel as your router is a big problem.

The signal strength is the same and they are both on the same channel 6 which can only create problems. Is this some sort of guest network from your own router?

In either event the guest networks using the same channel as the regular network has been causing problems on a fairly constant basis. I've seen this multiple times with the same complaint, about signals dropping, streaming won't work etc. which is to be expected when two channels are overlapping so completely.

The real problem is that the ISP's in their infinite wisdom, don't seem to think this will cause any problems, I can assure you that the opposite is true and overlapping signals like I'm seeing here will cause problems every time without fail.

The channel needs to be changed to either 11 or 1 on the main router or the guest network needs to be disabled in order to fix the problem.

I have no idea about these powerline networking deals so can't help with that but the those two wireless signals crossing over will cause problems such as you are seeing.

 

[Vilya]

Ah thanks for the tip with the guest network, after some Googling it seems to be BT Hub's open Wifi network, which I now opted out from and should stop service in 48 hours. I hope this will sort out the horrible speed, I guess I will see :/

 

[Vilya]

The open network is still there, but what's weird is that sometimes the internet is actually fast, but then it soon returns to the horrible slowness.

Like today I measured
42.07 Mb/s download and 17.33 Mb/s upload around 1pm, then
0.81 Mb/s download and 4.44 Mb/s at 4pm, and now it's
35.29 Mb/s download and 18.33 Mb/s upload again at 5.30pm.

I don't understand what causes the wild swings in speed :/ (I'm obviously not using the network when measuring the speed.) But if it's technically capable of being fast (as it was in the past as well), then what causes it to slow down again? Is it possible that someone is using our bandwidth from the outside? Or something else?

 

[Vilya]

Ok the open network is gone but the download speed is still ~0.85 Mb/s most of the time. BT support said that they can connect to my hub with 73 Mbps, so the error is on my end and their only advice was to buy a wireless booster. Anyone has any (free or at least cheaper than £50 that those cost) idea that could sort this out?

My Wi-fi Inspector looks like this at the moment:

 

[chev65]

That is too much change in wireless speed I agree although it's hard to nail down a problem that seems to be so intermittent.

I don't think a booster or repeater would help at all because those only amplify the signal coming from the router at the expense of cutting the bandwidth in half and the signal strength is good enough as is with zero interference from the neighbor who is also on a different channel.

I can't say if the wild swings are caused from the machine or the BT Hub and I've never really heard of a driver causing a problem like this. In either event I would try using a different router or modem and see if anything changes.