Why is my wireless network slowing down after upgrading to Windows 10?

[JadeWarior]

Wireless network slowed down after upgrading to Windows 10

I have two 2008 Mac Pro computers running a bootcamp setup (OSX El Capitan/Windows) and have a 50 Mbps cable connection with Linksys WRT 1900AC wireless router. The wireless throughput on both machines worked flawlessly in Windows 7 but after upgrading both to Windows 10 the throughput dropped from 50 Mbps down to apprx 1.5 Mbps. Both computers use a Broadcom 5200 series 80211n chipset which are running the Microsoft signed version 5.100.245.200 driver. The wired network runs at full speed, and in OSX both wired and wireless connections run at full speed. I've seen a number of others report the same issue, but have never seen a fix that seems to work. I've tried updating the driver through Windows but get a OS message stating that the best driver is already installed. At the moment I have Ethernet cables strung across the living room floor, and would like to get back to wireless.

Any ideas?

 

[Omoronovo]

Re: Wireless network slowed down after upgrading to Windows 10

Have you ensured that you have updated your Bootcamp drivers? Almost nothing in the earlier Windows 7-based bootcamp driver package is compatible with Windows 10 on Mac hardware.

If you did not update your boot camp driver package BEFORE installing Windows 10, you may be unable to fix this directly without erasing your Windows 10 partitions and re-imaging fresh using Boot Camp Assistant from within OSX.

If you have access to the Boot Camp .dmg on OSX, you should be able to extract the driver packages. These can then be copied to a flash drive, and you can force the correct, boot-camp specific drivers to install within Windows to prevent you needing to reinstall. The fact that your current drivers are signed by Microsoft means that they are the generic LAN/WLAN drivers shipping with Windows 10. The drivers with bootcamp will be either signed by Broadcom or Apple directly.

Edit: After thinking about it a little more, the Windows 7 (original) bootcamp driver might still work for you, but it may not be being used as it could have been detected as an older version than the compatible driver shipping with Windows 10. If that is the case, the fix may be much simpler - simply select the network adapter in Device manager, and go to update driver software. Select manual, and then see if there are any Apple or Broadcom drivers showing in the list of available drivers. Note that they may be "older" than the Windows 10 driver, but this shouldn't be an issue.



Ensure "show compatible hardware" remains ticked so you use correct drivers. After you select the Apple/Broadcom alternative, you may get a warning about the driver being older. Confirm this and your network stack should restart with the older Bootcamp driver.

With any luck this will restore your performance to it's Windows 7 levels. Let me know if you have any success or need any further advice.

 

[JadeWarior]

Re: Wireless network slowed down after upgrading to Windows 10

It worked!

Thanks so much. I found the Broadcom driver and reinstalled it. Both computers are now back to normal!

 

[Omoronovo]

Re: Wireless network slowed down after upgrading to Windows 10

It worked!

Thanks so much. I found the Broadcom driver and reinstalled it. Both computers are now back to normal!

Glad to have helped mate