LM: wi-fi

I'm having issues with my wi-fi - the signal strength seems to come and go and right now my laptop refuses to stream anything online.  I'm not sure what's going on but does all this look normal to you?  I have FiOS.

I just did a speed test a few minutes ago and I got 73 Mbps - I know that's slow but now I'm getting this:

Ideas? Thoughts? What do I check?

Can you plug this computer in to the LAN to test whether the issue is your wifi or Internet connection? Or test from another computer with a wired connection?

In reply to GameboyRMH :

I didn't think about that but I think I do have that capability.

However - it started all on it's own.  There *may* be two issues.  I have a Turtle Beach headset for Xbox with the Windows dongle in my laptop and I was troubleshooting the issue so long the headset shut off and then everything started streaming and now my wi-fi is up to 381 Mbps.  I'm so confused (I'm NOT a computer guy).

WTF - I paused the video to post the above message and it wouldn't restart until I shut off my headset.  Audio driver issue?

I've found that if I'm doing something wireless-bandwidth-intensive like transferring a file to my home server over WiFi the BT connection tends to stall, they're competing for similar frequencies and sometimes even go through the same network adapter.

I would always try rebooting your wifi router first.  Also, there are apps where you can see if you have interference on a particular channel with your neighbor's wifi (most routers default to the same channel, so there's a lot of competition).

chknhwk said:

WTF - I paused the video to post the above message and it wouldn't restart until I shut off my headset.  Audio driver issue?

I would suspect the headset and the WiFi competing for wireless bandwidth here, not an audio driver issue.

I frequently had wifi issues with a wireless keyboard/mouse I used to have.  Took forever to diagnose.  Wired keyboard fixed it immediately.  It's a known thing that radio signals interfere with other radio signals depending on their amplitude and frequency.

Out of curiosity what router/wifi setup are you using? There's a known issue with the Google Mesh wifi systems which will do exactly what you're describing. Restarting it fixes the issue but it's the reason mine when in the trash.

If you have a modern router setup it should be trying to use both the 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands depending on congestion. So, in theory, the headset shouldn't be interfering with it, but it's always a possibility. They should be using slightly different bands within the 2.4ghz spectrum with the router using frequency congestion logic to make room for the headset. Well, modern routers will anyway. If you're still using something like the ubiquitous WRT54G it won't.

Step one would be to reboot the router.

Step two would be to reboot the modem.

Step three, if you're still seeing the issue, would be to try to hardwire it to the router.

Step four if you're still seeing the issue would be to hardwire it to the modem.

Step five, if none of the above fix the issue, would be to start disconnecting devices.

That will let you isolate the device causing the issue.

In reply to The0retical :

It's a newfangled FiOS router, that's all I know. 

Thanks for the info everybody! I've never had an issue with the headset in the past but it's sat for the last three (?) months or so and the dongle hasn't been plugged in so who knows. I'll reboot and try some other stuff.