Why do I have a packet loss ONLY in Windows 10?

[Windows Central Question]

Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Every adapter I have used (AC7260, AC7265, and USB dongles) have massive packet loss. The issue does not exist in Windows 8.1 or lower, only Windows 10.

I've tried EVERY solution suggested online and it was concluded there is an issues with the adapters themselves. However, after multiple tests on different platforms, with different wireless cards, this issue persists in Windows 10 ONLY.

I am at my wits end. I need a solution. Windows 10 can't be this unpolished. It doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[TechFreak1]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

How are you testing the packet loss?

CMD? Pingtest.net?

Can you replicate the behaviour with Ethernet or is it just solely WiFi only?

 

[Rodinski]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Speedtest will show random drops of 90 Mbps down to 30-40 Mbps. Gaming (CS:GO, DOTA 2) will have pings jump to 200-300 ms from 30.

Pingtest won't work. It gets half way through the test and fails as it loses connection.

 

[TechFreak1]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Hmm, I see and what fixes have you tried?

So we don't go round in circles .

Also does this happen with Ethernet as well?

When you say ping test, I presume you mean pingtest.net?

Try Pinging your router via CMD and alter the packet sizes.

Lastly are you using a proxy?

 

[Rodinski]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Windows 10 is becoming a massive problem. After all this time and they still can't fix this COMMON problem.

This is really, REALLY frustrating.

 

[Rodinski]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

No, it does not happen over an Ethernet connection.

I've changed power settings. Did regedits of missing values from previous versions. I've changed wireless properties of various combinations. If you google AC7265 or AC7260 packet loss/lag you'll see a bunch of things I've tried.

 

[Rodinski]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Nothing wrong with the router, adapter, only Windows 10. I'm not the only one.

 

[TechFreak1]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Well to say to "google what fixes you have tried"... I'm sorry doesn't help as people won't know what fixes you have tried or not lol.

You are going to have to be very specific and concise about what you did and what results you got.

In regards to the USB dongles, what chipset were they? Atheros? Broadcom? Intel?

Which router or routers (make / model / firmware) have you been able to test against?

Have you tried:

QOS?

Mac address filtering?

Frequencies: 20 or 20 + 40 / or 40?

Security: TKIP+AES / AES only / TKIP only / WPA only / WPA2 only etc?

See what I'm getting at?

Without knowing what you have tried, we will go round in circles :winktongue:.

 

[Rodinski]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Tried all of that, yes. Again, nothing to do with the adapter, or router, I need a Windows 10 specific fix.

 

[TechFreak1]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Sorry to disappoint you but without more information I can't do much or able to suggest a "Windows 10 fix". As you haven't given what router you are using, what chipset your adapter is using etc.

Without specifics, it would be impossible to even search for a fix.

 

[Rodinski]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

If I have Windows 10 (stock), do I have an option to downgrade? I want to downgrade to Windows 8.1. When my Surface Pro 4 comes in, I want to downgrade that too.

Sorry for the being difficult in getting information. Understand that this has been a non stop issue for multiple months and I've just absolutely had-it with this garbage.

 

[Rodinski]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

AC 7265 is a chipset.

AC 7260 is a chipset.

NP150 is a chipset.

 

[TechFreak1]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

If I have Windows 10 (stock), do I have an option to downgrade? I want to downgrade to Windows 8.1. When my Surface Pro 4 comes in, I want to downgrade that too.

Sorry for the being difficult in getting information. Understand that this has been a non stop issue for multiple months and I've just absolutely had-it with this garbage.

No worries, I can understand .

I don't think you can downgrade the Surface Pro 4 or if you have windows 10 stock, you will need to ask the Microsoft store for downgrade rights or the seller where you got the device from.

Not sure how you will get on with that.

In regards to the WiFi on the Surface Pro 4 I believe uses Marvel Avastar Wireless AC.

AC 7265 is a chipset.

AC 7260 is a chipset.

NP150 is a chipset.

Got it, all your products are Intel based. My bad 3 AM here been a long day.

If anything I guess it might be the windows 10 drivers to be honest.

I have had no end of problems with intel graphics drivers on my laptop, it has a switchable graphics with a 7470M rebrand (Sandy bridge i5 2450M). With the official intel graphics drivers I get black screen at start up - similiar to TMM on Vista. This black screen can last any where from 1 minute to several minutes... on a 850 EVO SSD... lol.

I got round it using Leshcat's drivers.

Lot of the issues appear to be centered around Intel's drivers, I presume you have already tried Windows 8 and Windows 7 drivers (if there are any). As I can see issues going back to 2013 about dropping connections with these particular chipsets.

 

[Rodinski]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Thank you for your understanding. I'm sorry that I'm rather uncooperative due to the headaches.

I think I will just grab a Killer AC. It doesn't use Intel at all.

 

[TechFreak1]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Thank you for your understanding. I'm sorry that I'm rather uncooperative due to the headaches.

I think I will just grab a Killer AC. It doesn't use Intel at all.

Don't worry about it, I can see where you are coming from.

Good luck, let us know how you get on and hopefully it would be a better experience :winktongue:.

 

[ajj3085]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

Don't worry about it, I can see where you are coming from.

Good luck, let us know how you get on and hopefully it would be a better experience :winktongue:.

I do think there's something going on with WiFi & Windows 10. I upgraded my Surface Pro 2 to Win10 and have noticed a huge increase in latency over Win8.1. Whereas I used to be able to stream video (YouTube, Hulu) reliably, it now pretty frequently has to stop and buffer to keep going, to the point where I mostly let the video download completely before proceeding (of course not possible on Hulu).

I haven't tried anything as I believe its a software thing MS has to fix, and since the last firmware update it seems a bit better, but I suspect we'll just have to let MS fix it.

Just wanted to throw that out there to let the OP know he's not alone.

 

[anon(9768898)]

I'm surprised nobody has asked you what your current wireless environment looks like. Do you live in an apartment? Are your neighbors using a wifi network that is strong enough to be detected from inside your home? Are you using 2.4Ghz on your wireless router or 5Ghz? Which channel is your router set to broadcast on? Is it the same channel that your neighbor is using for theirs?

If you live in an apartment or in any place where you have multiple wireless networks in range, consider that the majority of people who have wireless in their homes let the cable company install and configure the router. A large majority of them are set up with the default 2.4Ghz band and either 1, 6, or 11 as the channel (usually set to automatically select based on the environment). The more of these networks that get set up in the area, the more chances you'll see lost packets on a 2.4Ghz wireless network due to traffic congestion.

Along with the troubleshooting you've already done, try switching to a 5Ghz signal if you're able to and see if that improves things. Even if you don't believe you have interference from neighboring wireless networks, switching to 5Ghz may provide you some benefits over using 2.4Ghz (note that your range of use may slightly decrease when using 5Ghz due to the way a higher frequency signal penetrates various objects, etc.)

Good luck.

 

[Marrond]

Re: Packet Loss ONLY in Windows 10

SCROLL DOWN TO EDIT AT THE BOTTOM FOR UPDATE, STILL UNRESOLVED​

I'm a bit late to the party but I see problem is unresolved.

I found a workaround but it's borderline stupid... but it works. I don't know what causes the issue but I've just spent a bunch of money on PCI-E WiFi cards as well as USB 3.0 AC adapters each to have same issue that's present ONLY in Windows 10 (coincidentaly all using Realtek chipsets) - packet loss or ping spikes (from average 18 to 3500 every few seconds) that otherwise are not present under Linux (in my case Mint) or Windows 7. I've also fiddled with power management to no avail. So it can't be faulty adapters, access points or other obstacle related problems. But you know what fixes the issue, temporarily? Installing this Intel driver. Why temporarily? Because after restarting the PC problem is back again. So you have to run installer, pick repair and NOT restart at the end of the "repair". Bam, works like a charm.

About WiFi networks I'm trying to connect to. I'm sourcing internet from nearby hotel (with their permission) via Ubiquiti Loco M5 from over 100m (I've got direct line of sight with one of their access points). Ubiquiti is plugged into TP-Link router and that is broadcasting hotel's network in my apartment for all devices to use it. Packet loss or otherwise ping spikes are NOT present when connected via cable or via WiFi on non-Windows 10 hardware. Furthermore, standing in hotel's reception and connecting via WiFi with my Windows 10 machine I get packet loss, while both my smartphone and Linux tablet are experiencing no connection problems whatsoever.

So, my dear Windows Centrailsts - what the hell is going on here? There might be some processes conflicting or some services but I don't even know where to start and how to pinpoint actual issue. And why on earth Intel's WiFi driver temporarily fixes the situation on Realtek chipset?

Some of the adapters I still have on hand to further test this, all Realtek based (I've sent the rest back):

Alfa Network AWUS036AC USB 3.0
D-Link DWA-192 AC1900 USB 3.0
CSL PCI-E 300Mbps WiFi adapter
TP-LINK TL-WN851ND 300Mbps

In case of USB adapters which happen to be better and also feature 5GHz, problem exists on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz when using Realtek adapters on Windows 10.

My current PC that has problem only under Windows 10:

i7 5960X
Asus X99-E WS/3.1
64GB
1080Ti


edit:
I might be onto something. So a lag spike happens regularly every few seconds OR whenever I open up WiFi panel in system tray. After doing "intel driver fix" there are no latency spikes during normal use, however it spikes whenever I open WiFi panel in Windows 10 tray. Hence the conclusion that lag spike happens whenever system scans for nearby networks to "improve" connection. How to turn auto-scan off and have it only scan whenever I want to scan for networks? That would eliminate said problem, theoretically without resorting to "intel driver fix"