Wireless card driver update SLOWED my internet speed drastically

pfs3w · 17 May 2011

I am having a confusing time trying to figure out why my internet went from 10+ Mbps down to <1 Mbps after simply downloading a wireless card driver.
From the beginning:

My wireless download speed was 10+Mbps, and I was using the Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card. This information is found in the Device Manager, under "Network".
The driver for the card was 5.30.x.y (I can't remember the specific version number, but I do remember it was 5.30.something.something). Upon navigating to the Dell webpage, I wanted to see if there were any drivers for the same wireless card that were more updated, to perhaps increase performance.

I navigated to the page for my computer (Dell Latitude D830), here. That page is for my model laptop. You'll notice that, in the drop down for "Operating System", there is no option to select Windows 7.

Regardless, I navigated to the driver under "Network", the Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card, and downloaded it. It was version 5.60.188.1, from 11/9/2009. This is where my problem began. After installing the driver and rebooting, my internet speed instantly went to below 1 Mbps. I have no clue why installing a later wireless card driver would mess up my speed.

My only hypothesis is that the driver I downloaded is only compatible with Vista. Do I just re-download driver version 5.30.x.y or something to get it back? Why did it get so slow?

How do I get my computer back to the download speed it was/should be?

Maguscreed · 18 May 2011

If it is in fact only the driver you should be able to navigate to control panel - system - device manager - Network Adapters , right click the driver in question, choose properties then the driver tab and click the rollback driver button.

If it is in fact only the driver causing the issue, it should return to it's previous state after a reboot.

pfs3w · 18 May 2011

Maguscreed said:

If it is in fact only the driver you should be able to navigate to control panel - system - device manager - Network Adapters , right click the driver in question, choose properties then the driver tab and click the rollback driver button.

If it is in fact only the driver causing the issue, it should return to it's previous state after a reboot.

I would agree with you, and have looked at this option; however, the "rollback driver" button is grayed out. Someone else suggested that I just use a restore point from before, but I'm not sure if that will cause problems with other updates I've done, or if it is really only a last resort.

Maguscreed · 18 May 2011

maybe you should completely remove the device and drivers, then try reinstalling the updated one. If the rollback driver button is not functioning even though you've updated the driver that may indicate something went wrong during the update.

pfs3w · 18 May 2011

Maguscreed said:

maybe you should completely remove the device and drivers, then try reinstalling the updated one.

Does this wording mean to uninstall and reinstall the driver; is that what you meant by "completely remove"?

Maguscreed · 18 May 2011

well I meant to remove the device, take the same path as the roll back driver suggestion but simply remove the driver.

If there is a uninstall for it in the programs and features removing that should do the trick too.
Something is obviously not right about the installation of the new software/driver (you were never clear on whether there is software associated with this device or if windows is managing the connection)

If windows is managing the connection I would remove the software that came with the device anyhow.
If there is application involved that manages the connection. It could be problematic as well.

fafhrd · 18 May 2011

It may be that the new driver has increased "functionality" over the earlier version - like adding support for IPv6 - and that the new services that can now run on the adapter are not properly configured, or are partially crippled, or totally useless at the present..

In particular, IPv6 may not be supported by your gateway, or ISP, so all the protocol may be doing is translating IPv4 addresses for no purpose whatsoever. On top of IPv6 the link-layer complexity does not really add to the speed of transmission, and the network discovery features do not seem to be consistent. If packets are being bounced around unanswered, it is little wonder that speed suffers.

Test your IPv6. and IPv6 test - IPv6/4 connectivity and speed test will give you some idea if you are missing out, or running the protocol for no reason.

Homegroups and all of windows 7 networking works without IPV6, and network discovery, using old-fashioned netbios name resolution. I don't recommend having homegroups -they are very limited, insecure, and unconfigurable - better a "work" network, with one machine that's on when the others are, as a peer server, with all the available shares, and all the rest as peer clients.

simoninaustrali · 02 Aug 2021

fafhrd said:

It may be that the new driver has increased "functionality" over the earlier version - like adding support for IPv6 - and that the new services that can now run on the adapter are not properly configured, or are partially crippled, or totally useless at the present.

Hi fafhrd

I created this profile to thank you on the information you shared here nearly 10 years ago. It really helped me overcome the slow internet speed on my computer after many many futile attempts to increase it. I hope good karma flows your way and God bless you.

Best

Simon

In particular, IPv6 may not be supported by your gateway, or ISP, so all the protocol may be doing is translating IPv4 addresses for no purpose whatsoever. On top of IPv6 the link-layer complexity does not really add to the speed of transmission, and the network discovery features do not seem to be consistent. If packets are being bounced around unanswered, it is little wonder that speed suffers.

Test your IPv6. and IPv6 test - IPv6/4 connectivity and speed test will give you some idea if you are missing out, or running the protocol for no reason.

Homegroups and all of windows 7 networking works without IPV6, and network discovery, using old-fashioned netbios name resolution. I don't recommend having homegroups -they are very limited, insecure, and unconfigurable - better a "work" network, with one machine that's on when the others are, as a peer server, with all the available shares, and all the rest as peer clients.

Hi fafhrd

I created this profile to thank you for posting this comment 10 years ago. It helped me solve my slow wifi speed after I tried many hours with the ISP. I want you to know you have made my life better and I wish you and your family happiness and many blessings.

b=Best

Simon