Solved! Internet speed halved when streaming videos or music (MSI GE63 8RF)

[kanpekijan]

I recently bought a GE63 8RF Raider RGB and I love it. Only problem is that, whenever I have a video going on Youtube or listening to music on Spotify, my download and upload speeds are consistently halved. They go down as soon as I start streaming something, and go back up as soon as I stop. I've tested it with three different online speed tests, resulting in a reduction from 40-70 Mbps to 20-35 Mbps, upload speeds having a similar decrease. I've also been downloading a game on Uplay and I am seeing the same thing, with the download speed decreasing from 4-8 MB/s to 2-4 MB/s, consistently cutting the speed in about half. I've updated all drivers I can think of, I've tried uninstalling my anti-virus software and disabling Defender. The same thing also happens whether I use a wireless or a wired connection (though, weirdly, speed tests showed a doubling instead of a halving on a wired connection, though the Uplay download speed behaved the same as with the wireless connection). So I suppose the issue is neither with the ethernet adapter nor with the wireless adapter. The issue also doesn't appear on any of my other devices, so it shouldn't be an issue with my router. The laptop uses an Intel Wireless-AC 9560 and a Killer E2500.

I'm at a complete loss, and I really don't want to have to return this laptop. Has anyone experienced anything like this or have some potential solutions I can try?

 

[webworkings]

That wouldn't be a problem with the computer. It is likely your ISP. It is not uncommon for the speed to change though. Since you are using up more of the resources (the speed resources). When you are doing more than one thing at a time on the internet, your connection can't be full speed for all of it. The only way to get the downloads to keep going as quickly as you want would be to not stream something else at the same time. Also, you can get better connection, and less speed issues, if the downloading is done during the day. But that happening isn't a an actual problem, it is quite normal.

 

[kanpekijan]

That wouldn't be a problem with the computer. It is likely your ISP. It is not uncommon for the speed to change though. Since you are using up more of the resources (the speed resources). When you are doing more than one thing at a time on the internet, your connection can't be full speed for all of it. The only way to get the downloads to keep going as quickly as you want would be to not stream something else at the same time. Also, you can get better connection, and less speed issues, if the downloading is done during the day. But that happening isn't a an actual problem, it is quite normal.

But with any of my other devices, tested right afterwards, I don't get this kind of dramatic decrease. Sure, a few Mbps, but not a complete halving. I tried doing the same Uplay download on my old gaming laptop and the change in download speed when watching a video was barely noticable. I can't see how a decrease from 70 to 35 Mbps just from having music on Spotify makes sense. And if it were a problem with the ISP, wouldn't it be present on all my devices?

 

[kanpekijan]

Well, somehow the issue seems to have changed. Now the issue seems to be interference between wifi and bluetooth. Whenever I have the sound coming from a bluetooth speaker (tested with two different speakers), I see a dramatic decrease (generally more than half). Wired doesn't seem to be affected anymore for whatever reason. It only happens when the sound actually comes from the bluetooth speaker. If I change to the built in speakers without disconnecting the bluetooth one it improves again.

 

[kerberos_20]

bluetooth and wifi (2.4ghz) are using same antenna
u may want to use 5ghz to avoid bluetooth slowing down your wifi

 

[poorbugger]

Try using ethernet cable to see the difference. If it improves then use 5ghz if your router supports it to avoid congestion

 

[webworkings]

As I stated originally, other things will drop your speed. A good example is when you are driving, if you turn on say the heat or the air in the vehicle, you will use more gas. No different with this. (Yeah, I like analogies. LOL)

 

[kanpekijan]

Yeah, I didn't consider interference from bluetooth. I tested it on another laptop with the same wireless adapter and the issue seems to be the same. I bought a cheap bluetooth dongle to get around the issue.

 

[webworkings]

Glad you got it sorted.