Preface: I have worked in IT support for over 25 years, so assume I have already done the “standard” checking… (but keep me honest…)
I recently upgraded my home internet service to 200 MB. I use a desktop computer in my office and my house is wired for Ethernet, so the desktop is hard wired. I am only seeing a max download speed of 145 MB on this device.
The Ethernet card is new and is a Gigabit card. The desktop also has a built-in Ethernet card and the speed is about the same as the PCIe card.
I know the cabling is good because if I plug my laptop into the same cable I get speeds as high as 209 MB.
I have tried enabling and disabling a slew of settings on the card. Made sure I have the latest driver, etc.
I am on Windows 10 (1809).
The desktop is older (6 years), but the system board supports Gigabit Ethernet natively.
Well…I was going to suggest that either the modem isn’t rated for that (you do need to update your modem every few years to be able to handle the faster speeds) or maybe that even though the advertised rates are 200, the actual speed is closer to 150. But even that seemed low. The Cable Co probably guarantees something closer to 180.
Gigabit ability shouldn’t matter since even [recent] consumer parts that didn’t support gigabit were still, IIRC, in the 300MB/s range.
I see you’ve also moved the actual cable from the desktop to the laptop and tested that way, so it’s down to the actual computer.
I’m assuming you’re using the same speed test website on both computers (I’m partial to fast dot com).
I also see the computer has TWO ethernet ports and you’re getting the same speed on both of them.
What else…
Have you tried booting into safe mode and testing from there?
What about using a different browser, in incognito/private mode even?
Clear your cookies/cache, at least for that site?
Is there anything on the computer that may be accessing the network connection? Do you have VPN software or some program talking to the internet in the background (Google Backup and Save/sync).
I think I’d start with safe mode, clearing cookies/cache/temp internet files and/or using a browser you don’t typically use.
If the desktop has built in wifi, you might also test it with that adapter.
Failing anything else, and there’s plenty of things for you to play with before the nuclear option that I know you don’t want to do as an IT guy…call your internet provider. Don’t mention the other computer, just tell them you upgraded to 200 and you’re only getting 145. While it’s not likely to be on their side, they might still have an answer for you.
PS, if you haven’t yet, but I hope you have, power cycle all your network gear, make sure the desktop is the only thing doing anything while testing and if you have a switch or router between the computer and modem, remove it and plug the computer directly into the modem.
Thanks, Joey P, you hit on something. When you mentioned Safe Mode I started closing a few of my startup programs. I had already tried with my AV off which didn’t help. But I have Team Viewer running and when I turned that off my speed jumped up to 191 MB. I will test further but that may have been it. Thanks!