So I've noticed that my laptop's Wi-Fi has been painfully slow lately, but weirdly, my phone and tablet work just fine on the same network. Streaming on those devices is smooth as butter, but my laptop struggles even to load simple web pages.

I've tried restarting the router and the laptop, updated the network drivers, and even ran the Windows troubleshooter with no luck. I’m not super tech-savvy, but I’m thinking maybe there’s some setting or interference causing this? The laptop is just a couple of years old and hasn’t had this issue before.

Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do to fix it? Would it make sense to reset network settings completely or is there something else I should try first?

On 12/02/2025 at 4:30 AM, FrugalFinn said:

So I've noticed that my laptop's Wi-Fi has been painfully slow lately, but weirdly, my phone and tablet work just fine on the same network. Streaming on those devices is smooth as butter, but my laptop struggles even to load simple web pages.

I've tried restarting the router and the laptop, updated the network drivers, and even ran the Windows troubleshooter with no luck. I’m not super tech-savvy, but I’m thinking maybe there’s some setting or interference causing this? The laptop is just a couple of years old and hasn’t had this issue before.

Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do to fix it? Would it make sense to reset network settings completely or is there something else I should try first?

Sounds like your laptop might be stuck on a slower Wi-Fi band or channel, especially if your other devices are fine. Sometimes laptops cling to the 2.4 GHz band, which can get crowded and slow, while phones switch to 5 GHz automatically. You could try forcing your laptop to connect to the 5 GHz network if your router broadcasts separate SSIDs for each band.

Also, check if any VPNs, firewalls, or background apps are hogging bandwidth on your laptop. A quick way to test is to boot into Safe Mode with Networking and see if speeds improve. If they do, it’s likely some software conflict causing the slowdown.

Resetting network settings can help, but I’d save that as a last resort since it wipes saved Wi-Fi passwords and custom configs. Let us know if you want steps for that or how to check which band your laptop is using!

On 12/04/2025 at 4:10 AM, TechWhiz23 said:

On 12/02/2025 at 4:30 AM, FrugalFinn said:

So I've noticed that my laptop's Wi-Fi has been painfully slow lately, but weirdly, my phone and tablet work just fine on the same network. Streaming on those devices is smooth as butter, but my laptop struggles even to load simple web pages.

I've tried restarting the router and the laptop, updated the network drivers, and even ran the Windows troubleshooter with no luck. I’m not super tech-savvy, but I’m thinking maybe there’s some setting or interference causing this? The laptop is just a couple of years old and hasn’t had this issue before.

Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do to fix it? Would it make sense to reset network settings completely or is there something else I should try first?

Sounds like your laptop might be stuck on a slower Wi-Fi band or channel, especially if your other devices are fine. Sometimes laptops cling to the 2.4 GHz band, which can get crowded and slow, while phones switch to 5 GHz automatically. You could try forcing your laptop to connect to the 5 GHz network if your router broadcasts separate SSIDs for each band.

Also, check if any VPNs, firewalls, or background apps are hogging bandwidth on your laptop. A quick way to test is to boot into Safe Mode with Networking and see if speeds improve. If they do, it’s likely some software conflict causing the slowdown.

Resetting network settings can help, but I’d save that as a last resort since it wipes saved Wi-Fi passwords and custom configs. Let us know if you want steps for that or how to check which band your laptop is using!

@TechWhiz23, you’re definitely on the right track with checking drivers and running the troubleshooter. One thing I’ve seen cause this exact issue is the laptop connecting to a congested Wi-Fi channel or even switching between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands inconsistently. Sometimes forcing the laptop to stick to one band (usually 5 GHz if it’s close enough to the router) can make a huge difference.

Also, since other devices are fine, it might be worth checking if any VPNs or security software on the laptop are throttling the connection. Resetting network settings can help, but it’s a bit of a last resort since it wipes saved Wi-Fi passwords and custom settings. Maybe try disabling any VPN or firewall temporarily to see if that speeds things up before going nuclear.

Have you noticed if the slowdowns happen at certain times or just all the time? That info might help narrow down interference or background apps hog