Wi-Fi Troubleshooting

ASUS USB-AC56

The most common cause of poor or erratic download speed is wireless interference, particularly on the heavily used 2.4 GHz band. To troubleshoot the problem:

1. ISP to Internet backbone issue
   If your ISP (Internet Service Provider) has its own speed test site (e.g., Comcast XFINITY Speed Test), run several tests on it. If the problem goes away, you probably have an ISP to Internet backbone issue.
2. Wireless issue
   Turn off wireless in your computer and connect it to the wireless router by Ethernet cable. Run several tests to the ISP speed test (if any) and to The Global Broadband Speed Test. If the problem goes away, you probably have a wireless issue; otherwise you probably have a local ISP issue.

An ISP speed test site is an internal server within the ISP network, so it doesn't test the connection between the ISP network and the Internet backbone, whereas The Global Broadband Speed Test site tests both the ISP network and the connection from the ISP network to the Internet backbone.

If you have a Wireless Issue:

1. Try different wireless channels
   Access the configuration of your wireless router, and manually switch it to channels 1, 6, and 11 (the primary non-overlapping 2.4 GHz channels), thoroughly testing performance in each case.
2. Switch to 5 GHz
   If you have a dual band wireless router (recommended), try connecting to 5 GHz instead of 2.4 GHz because it's usually much less crowded, although it may have less range.
3. Try a different wireless adapter
   ASUS USB-AC53 and ASUS USB-AC56 are two of the best.

See Also:

• Checklist of possible interference sources
• Choosing a Wireless Router
• Extend Wi-Fi Coverage