Slow WiFi with Intel AC 9560 on Asus GT-AX6000

[Farley]

Happy New Year everyone...

I have a Lenovo T490 with an Intel AC 9560 WiFi card. My main router is an Asus GT-AX6000, running the latest Merlin firmware.

My internet connection is only 100/20 FTTN/VDSL, but I regularly do large file transfers between the laptop and an (admittedly, old) Synology DS213j NAS, which is plugged directly into the router. On WiFi I am only able to get speeds of 15 MB/s or so between the laptop on 5GHz and the NAS, even if the laptop is in the same room as the router. If I plug the laptop into a LAN port on the router, I get something like 65 MB/s, which seems OK in view of the age of the NAS.

But the WiFi speed seems too slow to me, just looking at the speed of a file transfer in Windows Explorer. The WiFi adapter is using the latest Intel driver.

I tried a few different settings, including 160Mhz on the laptop, which made it slightly worse. WiFi 6 is enabled on the router, but disabling it didn't help. My previous router was an RT-AC86U, and the speed was actually a bit better on that one (averaging maybe 22 to 23 MB/s).

Is this definitely too slow? If so, should I be looking at settings on the laptop or the router? Or is the Intel AC 9560 just slow?

 

[bdub76]

I have a DS920+ with an AX86U as a AP connected to a managed HP switch connected to a APU2 as a dedicated gateway. When I'm pushing files from my old laptop T450s (it's old. currently, looking for a replacement now.), I get speeds between 30-40 MBs writing to my NAS, which seems plenty fast given that my card (AC 7265) on this PC is only 2x2 without MIMO on 80. I'm running WD Red Plus drives on my NAS. This is when my laptop is connected to the 5 GHz radio.

My expectation based on my setup with a very old laptop is that you should be able to least get the same speeds I'm seeing. But you should get a whole lot faster. You have a bottleneck somewhere.

 

[Farley]

Thanks for your reply...

I tried an older (and cheaper) Lenovo E480, which is able to get much better transfer speeds to and from the NAS, even though it has what I always assumed to be an inferior Realtek WiFi adapter. So it does appear that the bottleneck is the Intel AC 9560 on the T490, or maybe some odd Windows 10 thing?

I did previously scan the advanced settings for the WiFi adapter, and there was nothing obvious that stood out, e.g., power was set to the maximum.

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Ripshod]

When you say you have the latest drivers, which drivers do you actually have. The latest on Windows update is 22.160.0 while the tatest from Intel is 22.190.0. It's always better to shy away from drivers from laptop manufacturers.

 

[Farley]

When you say you have the latest drivers, which drivers do you actually have. The latest on Windows update is 22.160.0 while the tatest from Intel is 22.190.0. It's always better to shy away from drivers from laptop manufacturers.

22.190.0.4 (from Intel)

 

[bdub76]

You can use this to check your drivers:

Intel® Driver & Support Assistant

This application provides driver and software updates for your Intel hardware.

www.intel.com

 

[L&LD]

What size of files are you transferring? If one single (very large) file, then WiFi speeds may need to be better than what you get now. If many smaller files, that is about the best you can hope for over WiFi.

I would also try/test downgrading the drivers to what Lenovo recommends for that model. Or, buying an m.2 Intel 210 WiFi card to upgrade the laptop with (if it allows it).

You can also test different Control Channels too. To find the least congested channels for your WiFi environment.

Control Channel Setup 2021

Reset Mini Guide + Control Channel Setup Details

Control Channel Setup (more)

 

[Tech Junky]

Sounds like you're connected to 2.4 instead of 5 with those speeds. First thing I would check and if you want more speed upgrade the wifi card to an ax210/211.

 

[Ripshod]

Before upgrading the wifi you need to make sure your laptop isn't locked to the wifi card in the bios, else you'll have no boot until you put the old card back. I was lucky - my hp wasn't locked and I went from 9560 to AX210. With an AX router I noticed more of an improvement than I expected. I only did the upgrade to access the office wifi with wpa3 after they upgraded their network.

 

[RMinNJ]

I think a t450 may be ok for no white list on the wifi card. 16$ for an AX210 card might solve the issue?
I know for Linux sometimes the power savings mode needs to turn off on the wifi card to get full speed.

 

[Tech9]

This is a driver related issue and the latest one from Intel may not be the best.

 

[Farley]

Thanks for all the replies that came in while I was asleep... (I am in Perth, Australia, and am 13 hours ahead of the east coast of the US.

1. I am using the Intel Driver Support Assistant, but will try rolling back to the latest one recommended by Lenovo, just in case that helps. (I have a feeling I was previously using this driver, but it doesn't hurt to check.)

2. I am testing with fairly large files (1 GB or larger).

3. I am definitely connected to 5GHz, despite the annoyingly slow speed. I have previously played around with channels, but will try again.

4. If I wanted to replace the WiFi card, I assume I need to check (1) that it is not soldered to the motherboard, and (2) that there is no white list in the bios? It seems that (1) is possible, e.g.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/dptnyw

, although the T490s is the slimmer, more expensive version of the T490 that I bought, so not identical.

 

[L&LD]

Take the few screws off the laptop and check if it's an m.2 connector.

 

[bdub76]

Thanks for all the replies that came in while I was asleep... (I am in Perth, Australia, and am 13 hours ahead of the east coast of North America.

1. I am using the Intel Driver Support Assistant, but will try rolling back to the latest one recommended by Lenovo, just in case that helps. (I have a feeling I was previously using this driver, but it doesn't hurt to check.)

2. I am testing with fairly large files (1 GB or larger).

3. I am definitely connected to 5GHz, despite the annoyingly slow speed. I have previously played around with channels, but will try again.

4. If I wanted to replace the WiFi card, I assume I need to check (1) that it is not soldered to the motherboard, and (2) that there is no white list in the bios? It seems that (1) is possible, e.g.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/dptnyw

, although the T490s is the slimmer, more expensive version of the T490 that I bought, so not identical.

What drives are in your Synology and cable type is connected between the router and the NAS?

 

[Tech9]

I am using the Intel Driver Support Assistant, but will try rolling back to the latest one recommended by Lenovo

Definitely use the one from Lenovo.

 

[bdub76]

Definitely use the one from Lenovo.

This is all Lenovo really supplies for updates:

Lenovo System Update for Windows 11, 10 & 7 (32-bit, 64-bit) - Desktop, Notebook, Workstation - Lenovo Support US

support.lenovo.com

It mostly relies on windows for hardware updates.

I've been using the Intel Driver Assistant for years without any trouble. Why do you think the Intel driver for the WIFI is bad?

 

[Tech9]

Why do you think the Intel driver for the WIFI is bad?

I had multiple Lenovo and Dell laptops in the past and they worked best with Lenovo and Dell supplied drivers. Experience.

 

[glens]

According to https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/t490_p43s_hmm_en.pdf it seems as though the wifi "card" is not user-replaceable.

Do us both a favor and fetch from https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=302 a suitable image, burn it straight (raw) to a thumb drive, boot it, and test the wifi that way.

 

[Ripshod]

It'll be a shame if it is soldered in, but not necessarily the end of the world.
Yes, try the 170 and 180 versions of the drivers as well.
There are some tweaks that can be made. Read here
https://www.digitalcitizen.life/double-wifi-speed-windows-intel-network-cards/
It won't 'double' your speeds as claimed but may make an improvement

 

[Farley]

According to https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/t490_p43s_hmm_en.pdf it seems as though the wifi "card" is not user-replaceable.

Do us both a favor and fetch from https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=302 a suitable image, burn it straight (raw) to a thumb drive, boot it, and test the wifi that way.

Yes, I came to that conclusion too. There are one or two threads on reddit where people are bemoaning this "madness", which I agree with.

Thanks for all the various suggestions. I worked through most of them today that if I hadn't already tried, but not yet Linux Mint.

The speed I get is strangely consistent around 15 MB/s for larger files, regardless of what changes I make (5GHz channel changes, "Throughput Booster", driver version, etc.) . If need be I can live with it, by just making a couple of changes to the way I do certain things. But this is supposed to be my "good" laptop!