Realtek 8821ae wireless very slow

C

ChunChunMaru

Posts: 13   +0
Where do I start... It feels like I've been batteling this issue for years now to no avail. The problem is simple:
My network speed on my laptop is limited to a maximum of 3Mbit/s (tested at fast.com).

I have tested absolutly everything trying to solve this issue and have forgotten most of what I've tried. Anyway, here is in short what I've tried and my conclusions (that I remember):

The problem is NOT with my ISP or router! Every other device in my household works fine. Only my laptop is affected. The problem is without a doubt my network card or its drivers. My network card:

Realtek 8821ae Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC

I have tested pretty much all divers that the internet can provide, be it the official ASUS and AMD websites, various driver update software or manual web searches. I have reinstalled windows from scratch multiple times to no avail. I have just recently upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in case the drivers were incompatable with win7, but that only made it worse it seems.

When I used win7 then this issue came and went, occationally throttling my network speed. As I upgraded to win10 the issue became permanent. I previously dualbooted ubuntu on this machine where the issue where different in it instead would occationally drop my internet connection altogether until I manually reset the network card.

One thing that currently works to alleviate the problem is to go into the device manager and uninstall the driver. This gives me about 10-15 Mbit/s download speed, which at this point is good enough (I have 100Mbit/s and other devices have achieved 50+ Mbit/s on wireless). Sadly, this only lasts about 1 or 2 minutes until it reverts to the previous 3 Mbit/s limit, as if windows automatically updates the driver or something.

Please do ask for more information if needed and I'll make sure to answer them. Please help me out here, I'm just sooo burnt out on this issue.
 
Have you tried replacing the NIC? Your description of gradual decline and even the small, but soon forgotten jolt on dropping the driver makes me wonder about the hardware.

Wonder what @jobeard would say.
 
Last edited:
Win/10 is a B**CH on drivers and the dev.mgr is NOT the way to get a good driver for it.
you report
  • Realtek 8821ae Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC
Go to the Realtek website, find the Support or Driver link and DL the Win/10 driver for it.
Reboot when installed and monitor the results for 3-4 days - - post back what you find pls :)
 
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Cycloid Torus said:
Have you tried replacing the NIC? Your description of gradual decline and even the small, but soon forgotten jolt on dropping the driver makes me wonder about the hardware.

Wonder what @jobeard would say.
Click to expand...
This laptop isn't exactly modular. It'd be hard to replace it. There were no gradual decline, it simply got worse when I upgraded to win10.

@jobeard
Sigh, yes I'll try that. Haven't done so since the windows reinstall. I'll get back to you with the result.
 
Last edited:
jobeard said:
Win/10 is a B**CH on drivers and the dev.mgr is NOT the way to get a good driver for it.
you report
  • Realtek 8821ae Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC
Go to the Realtek website, find the Support or Driver link and DL the Win/10 driver for it.
Reboot when installed and monitor the results for 3-4 days - - post back what you find pls :)
Click to expand...
Well, I solved part of the mystery! The drivers downloaded from the official site of the laptop provider were to blame (https://www.asus.com/Laptops/X555BA/HelpDesk_Manual/). I downloaded some other drivers and the issue is no longer permanent and have retracted to the previous state of only occasionally limiting the bandwidth to 3 Mbit/s, like how it was when I had Windows 7 installed. Still a problem though.

I have tested pretty much every driver there is (even some shady ones), so unless you know of some particular site you think is reputable then I don't know what to do. @Ahzanraza said to update my bios. You think that'll help?
 
Ok. The Win/10 driver stabilize the network connection, but you don't like the variations in bandwidth you are experiencing.

Get a command prompt and enter TRACERT WWW.GOOGLE.COM >myGlgPath.txt

Open myGlgPath.txt, copy the content and paste as your follow-up ...
 
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jobeard said:
Ok. The Win/10 driver stabilize the network connection, but you don't like the variations in bandwidth you are experiencing.

Get a command prompt and enter TRACERT WWW.GOOGLE.COM >myGlgPath.txt

Open myGlgPath.txt, copy the content and paste as your follow-up ...
Click to expand...
Sure, here you go:

Tracing route to WWW.GOOGLE.COM [216.58.211.132]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 3 ms 1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 8 ms 5 ms 8 ms 100.70.64.1
3 62 ms 101 ms 102 ms 10.33.247.209
4 110 ms 100 ms 2 ms 100.64.3.4
5 118 ms 98 ms 100 ms dr-se-mlm-vg4-1-vl2578.bredband2.net [89.160.55.222]
6 55 ms * 9 ms 100.64.11.1
7 68 ms 102 ms 12 ms google-10ge.bredband2.net [83.233.255.78]
8 24 ms 10 ms 11 ms 216.239.43.122
9 66 ms 47 ms 61 ms 108.170.235.63
10 67 ms 41 ms 12 ms arn09s10-in-f4.1e100.net [216.58.211.132]

Trace complete.

This wasn't done during an "issue period", but here it is anyway (They happen sporadically and are hard to catch).
 
Line #2 8 ms 5 ms 8 ms 100.70.64.1 is your ISP(just WHO is yours?) Gateway and that becomes a problem;
  • NetRange: 100.64.0.0 - 100.127.255.255
    CIDR: 100.64.0.0/10
    NetName: SHARED-ADDRESS-SPACE-RFCTBD-IANA-RESERVED
    NetHandle: NET-100-64-0-0-1
    Parent: NET100 (NET-100-0-0-0-0)
    NetType: IANA Special Use
    OriginAS:
    Organization: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
    RegDate: 2012-03-13
    Updated: 2016-04-11
    Comment: This block is used as Shared Address Space. Traffic from these addresses does not come from IANA. IANA has simply reserved these numbers in its database and does not use or operate them. We are not the source of activity you may see on logs or in e-mail records. Please refer to http://www.iana.org/abuse/
    Comment:
    Comment: Shared Address Space can only be used in Service Provider networks or on routing equipment that is able to do address translation across router interfaces when addresses are identical on two different interfaces.
 
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jobeard said:
Line #2 8 ms 5 ms 8 ms 100.70.64.1 is your ISP(just WHO is yours?) Gateway and that becomes a problem;
  • NetRange: 100.64.0.0 - 100.127.255.255
    CIDR: 100.64.0.0/10
    NetName: SHARED-ADDRESS-SPACE-RFCTBD-IANA-RESERVED
    NetHandle: NET-100-64-0-0-1
    Parent: NET100 (NET-100-0-0-0-0)
    NetType: IANA Special Use
    OriginAS:
    Organization: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
    RegDate: 2012-03-13
    Updated: 2016-04-11
    Comment: This block is used as Shared Address Space. Traffic from these addresses does not come from IANA. IANA has simply reserved these numbers in its database and does not use or operate them. We are not the source of activity you may see on logs or in e-mail records. Please refer to http://www.iana.org/abuse/
    Comment:
    Comment: Shared Address Space can only be used in Service Provider networks or on routing equipment that is able to do address translation across router interfaces when addresses are identical on two different interfaces.
Click to expand...
My ISP is called bredband2 (bredband is swedish for broadband). Still, I have difficulties parsing your message. Are you telling me that my ISP is using "illegal" ip addresses and that's the cause for my problem? Like I've already mentioned, none of my other devices in my household has this problem, whether it be wireless or wired.
 
According to the ICANN Authority, it is misusing a shared resource.
Officially:
  • Name: bredband2.com
    IP: 83.233.26.19
    Domain: bredband2.com
so the address 100.70.64.1 is NOT in their domain.
They have a Class A domain at 83.0.0.0 - 83.255.255.255

You can verify for yourself with WHOIS bredband2.com
 
jobeard said:
According to the ICANN Authority, it is misusing a shared resource.
Officially:
  • Name: bredband2.com
    IP: 83.233.26.19
    Domain: bredband2.com
so the address 100.70.64.1 is NOT in their domain.
They have a Class A domain at 83.0.0.0 - 83.255.255.255

You can verify for yourself with WHOIS bredband2.com
Click to expand...
Yeah that's fine and all, but how is this relevant? Do you recommend me to change my ISP? Can't say I care if they're being a bit unethical, and if this misuse is the source of my problem then why is only my laptop affected? I have done tests before where I've run a speed test on my laptop and another device simultaneously (interleaved) during one of these "issue periods" where only my laptop was affected.
I understand that your trying to help me and I'm thankful for that, but it feels like you're focusing on the wrong thing here. Please do tell if I'm wrong.
 
I understand your concern, but from where I sit, the configuration is flat wrong and that never leads to great performance. You had issues that were resolved by getting the right drivers. Have you scanned for virus'?
 
jobeard said:
I understand your concern, but from where I sit, the configuration is flat wrong and that never leads to great performance. You had issues that were resolved by getting the right drivers. Have you scanned for virus'?
Click to expand...
Performance? I have a consistent 90+ Mbit/s with wire on my desktop, just like promised. My ISP is stable. Also, I have just recently reinstalled a clean copy of windows 10, no programs installed other than Chrome and Skype. Still, I just scanned and, nothing. I don't know much about IP, but it's not like my public IP is in the 100.64.0.0/10 range.

I'm a little apprehensive about getting a new ISP. Don't think the others are gonna be happy going through such trouble when it works perfectly fine for them. Especially when such a measure is unlikely to solve anything.
 
ChunChunMaru said:
Performance? I have a consistent 90+ Mbit/s with wire on my desktop, just like promised. My ISP is stable.
Click to expand...
Last I heard;
  • the issue is no longer permanent and have retracted to the previous state of only occasionally limiting the bandwidth to 3 Mbit/s
So if you're happy, then who am I to argue?
Best wishes.
 
May I suggest that you run the same test on desktop that you ran on the laptop and compare results. If different, then contact ISP for explanation.
 
Btw: ALL devices connecting to your router should have the same GATEWAY address and the #2 node in a tracert should ALL be the same too.
 
jobeard said:
Last I heard;
  • the issue is no longer permanent and have retracted to the previous state of only occasionally limiting the bandwidth to 3 Mbit/s
So if you're happy, then who am I to argue?
Best wishes.
Click to expand...
You misunderstand. The 90+ Mbit/s occurs on the desktop with an Ethernet cable plugged in. The same happens when I plug the Ethernet cable into my laptop, but that's quite inconvenient to do. The point of the laptop the mobility it provides, for school and to sit in bed some times. This post has always been specifically about the wireless connection of this specific laptop. Everything works fine for every other device.
 
"Everything works fine for every other device." if wired? and the problem is when it is wireless? so it is something about wireless or not?
 
So, I suggest that you duplicate the tracert using wired and compare the two. If the wireless version is sent to a special (slower) route, then this could get your ISP to focus on a problem with the way that traffic is being sent. If there is no difference in the routing, then it becomes important to look closer to how your wireless NIC and your wireless router send and receive.

I think the problem is in the equipment being used by your ISP. I am no expert..but this looks like a rat's nest:

3 62 ms 101 ms 102 ms 10.33.247.209
4 110 ms 100 ms 2 ms 100.64.3.4
5 118 ms 98 ms 100 ms dr-se-mlm-vg4-1-vl2578.bredband2.net [89.160.55.222]
6 55 ms * 9 ms 100.64.11.1
7 68 ms 102 ms 12 ms google-10ge.bredband2.net [83.233.255.78]

hop3 2 of 3 => 100ms; should be 20-25; 50 max
hop4 2 of 3 => 100ms; should be 55 max
hop5 2 of 3 => 100ms; should be 60 max
hop6 2 good and 1 just dropped

This is asking your packets to cross a minefield.
 
Have you tried using a wireless card with an external antenna, like the ones from Alfa? A faulty antenna could certainly cause issues like this.
 
Sorry for my late reply. Exams are coming up and I've been busy for the last two days.

Cycloid Torus said:
So, I suggest that you duplicate the tracert using wired and compare the two. If the wireless version is sent to a special (slower) route, then this could get your ISP to focus on a problem with the way that traffic is being sent. If there is no difference in the routing, then it becomes important to look closer to how your wireless NIC and your wireless router send and receive.

I think the problem is in the equipment being used by your ISP. I am no expert..but this looks like a rat's nest:

3 62 ms 101 ms 102 ms 10.33.247.209
4 110 ms 100 ms 2 ms 100.64.3.4
5 118 ms 98 ms 100 ms dr-se-mlm-vg4-1-vl2578.bredband2.net [89.160.55.222]
6 55 ms * 9 ms 100.64.11.1
7 68 ms 102 ms 12 ms google-10ge.bredband2.net [83.233.255.78]

hop3 2 of 3 => 100ms; should be 20-25; 50 max
hop4 2 of 3 => 100ms; should be 55 max
hop5 2 of 3 => 100ms; should be 60 max
hop6 2 good and 1 just dropped

This is asking your packets to cross a minefield.
Click to expand...
Here are the results when I plugged in the wire:

Tracing route to WWW.GOOGLE.COM [83.233.10.26]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 100.70.64.1
3 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms 10.33.247.209
4 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 100.64.3.4
5 9 ms 9 ms 9 ms dr-se-mlm-vg4-1-vl2578.bredband2.net [89.160.55.222]
6 8 ms * 9 ms 100.64.11.1
7 19 ms 20 ms 20 ms 217.115.47.229
8 18 ms 18 ms 18 ms 217.115.47.229
9 22 ms 21 ms 24 ms c-83-233-10-26.cust.bredband2.com [83.233.10.26]

Trace complete.

As you can see it performs considerably better when wired. It's not sent through a special route though. Still not buying that my ISP to be the cause. I just recently did a speed test during the 3 Mbit/s issue while simultaneously with my friends laptop performed the same speed test on wireless but with 25 Mbit/s.


Rage_3K_Moiz said:
Have you tried using a wireless card with an external antenna, like the ones from Alfa? A faulty antenna could certainly cause issues like this.
Click to expand...

It's a laptop. Can't exactly pry it open and replace stuff. I have tested on my desktop, my friends laptop and my phone, none of which have this issue.
 
jobeard said:
The problem is the 100.x.y.z addresses which do not belong to your ISP. The performance is just terrible (100ms) per and that leads to the degradation.

IMO, something on your laptop is corrupting the configuration, like a PROXY or a virus. Look at the TCP config to ensure yourself there is no proxy in the way.

  1. see this for browser reset of proxies

    https://www.enigmasoftware.com/how-to-disable-proxy-settings-browser/
Click to expand...
Like I said, I just recently reinstalled the operating system. Me currently having a virus is unthinkable.
I followed your link and turns out I didn't have any proxy enabled. I also checked the settings in windows and there were no proxy.
 
Ok, at least that out of the way. Just to be clear, you assert other laptops connecting to your router via wifi DO NOT show this symptom...
 
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