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General discussion

HELP - Wifi on mini-PC extremely slow due to interference

Sep 2, 2017 12:25PM PDT

I have an ASUS VM42 Mini-PC that has an extremely weak wifi signal. I purchased an external wifi adapter too and it did not resolve my issue with wifi reception.

My laptop and phone both get a full 35mbps from right near the computer when it's off. Their wifi speeds also plummet the moment the ASUS is switched on, so obviously this mini-pc is releasing some crazy interference that's blocking wifi connections in the room.

I shielded the external antenna with some aluminum foil and it brought speeds up from 100kbps to 7mbps and the signal isn't dropping out, but it's still much slower than it's supposed to be.

What could cause such massive wifi interference within the Mini-PC?

Discussion is locked

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Or the miniPC is infected.
Sep 2, 2017 12:44PM PDT
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Since it is a Windows PC, let's get a Web Speccy report.
Sep 2, 2017 12:58PM PDT
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Snapshot
Sep 3, 2017 4:55AM PDT

Thanks for the tips. The computer gets full bandwidth when hardwired to the router, so it still seems wifi interference from something onboard is the issue.

I installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 on the PC, so malware shouldn't be much of a concern. Also, the Realtek onboard wifi doesn't seem to have 5ghz compatibility.

Here's he Speccy snapshot: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/WZNafA8Mecc1x45VSA6yfvz

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Nothing to do with your problem
Sep 3, 2017 6:28AM PDT

In the future look into fixing that mis-match of ram sticks.
You want a 2x2GB or a 2x4GB matched sticks.

Also look at your mobo temp.
That's quite high.
Get another temp monitor prog for a second opinion.

When you have the machine wired does your phone get good wifi?

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Grounding issue?
Sep 7, 2017 10:58AM PDT

When it's wired and the wifi adapter disabled, the phone has no issue. Even a few feet away from the router and with the wifi adapter enabled, there's major interference, even with the phone around. It's clearly a wifi adapter issue or some on-board motherboard interference. I was suspecting it might be a grounding issue?

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Go back to wifi
Sep 8, 2017 4:47AM PDT

Boot the machine in safe mode, no networking.
Test your phone.

Boot the machine in safe mode with networking.
Test your phone.

Boot a copy of linux live dvd/usb.
Test your phone.

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I worry that the fresh install missed drivers.
Sep 3, 2017 7:18AM PDT

The miniPC maker should have a set of drivers. Also 2 more things say 5GHz.

1. https://www.asus.com/us/Mini-PCs/VivoPC_VM42/ notes it has a 5GHz channel so test with that as well

2. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-networking/wifi-connection-issues-5ghz-band-not-found-how-do/99d90a16-9407-4871-b9a6-020bf34a0f53 says to enable it.

In short, if you installed W10 and missed a driver or two, WiFi could indeed go nuts.

-> BUT THERE IS A HUGE THING YOU SHOULD TURN OFF. READ WHAT AND HOW AT THE LAST LINK:
https://www.howtogeek.com/224981/how-to-stop-windows-10-from-uploading-updates-to-other-pcs-over-the-internet/

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No 5GHz band option
Sep 7, 2017 11:02AM PDT

I've checked the ASUS website for up-to-date drivers to no avail. Furthermore, there is no 5GHz options on the adapter advance settings, and that's using the ASUS-provided wifi driver. There don't appear to be any other drivers on their site for the VM42.

I always block Win10 p2p updating on settings so that wouldn't affect the PC.

The VM42 wifi is currently running at 1mbps. My phone also loses wifi reception if the VM42 is on. The phone has full bandwidth when the VM42 is off.

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Just a crazy thought
Sep 3, 2017 11:56AM PDT

Is there any chance you are using your phone or even your laptop as a hotspot rather than using a router for your wifi?

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Hotspot
Sep 7, 2017 11:02AM PDT

No, there's no hotspot enabled anywhere. The phone connects at full bandwidth only when the PC is off.

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It still points to the Asus having an issue.
Sep 7, 2017 11:25AM PDT