My connection is drastically slow when I use my wireless router (laptop, modem)
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(I assume you are testing with speedtest.net or similar)
No, you have some wireless issues, setup or signal quality due to distance or number of walls/floors, or other interference. Do neighbors have wireless, are they on the same channel?
Start task manager, click the "networking" tab, and it will show the "link speed" of the wireless connection.
If you have a 'n' wireless card, you should get 144 or faster with decent signal quality.
There's a free program called inSSIDer that will tell you what other wireless networks exist within range of yours, what channels those routers are on, and you can watch the amplitude variations over time. You can see whose signal(s) are overlapping yours. Generally, iirc, channels 1, 6, and 11 are the ones with no overlap. The other channels (at least for the 1-14 range) overlap, kind of like old fashioned radio dial or slider tuners, where you can receive the signal weakly at the sides and just right someplace in the center. Use inSSIDer to see what channels and other networks are within range and how your/their network(s) are interacting. If youre router is set to "Auto" for the channel, you might need to set it to a specific channel.
Read the reviews of your router and see whether there are a lot of similar complaints. I did read lots of complaints about some routers, consistently, where the speed dropped over time. Or that a firmware revision caused degradation of performance and someone had to reprogram the router with the previous firmware to cure it.
Read up on what other wireless devices can interfere with the signal, within your own house.
Reposition or relocate the router to see if that helps. Reposition or relocate the device you're trying to connect, and see if the signal and speed are better quality somewhere else.
Visit the forum of the manufacturer of your modem. Mine's a Netgear and I found lots of good advice on their forum, even if Netgear is not the greatest.
Mrs. Tek's laptop did that. Mine was running at 300mbps and hers was at 100 or less. I went into the properties for the NIC and tested some settings, one of which immediately upped her to 300. I cannot for the life of me remember which one it was, but you might try playing with those settings (one at a time ONLY, and reset it back to the previous setting if there is no change before you move to the next setting) and see if it helps.
Assuming Windows 7 since you didn't tell us.
Go to Network and Sharing Center and click on the wireless network connection link halfway down the right side.
Click on Properties.
Click on Configure at the top by the NIC card.
Click on the Advanced tab and look through that list. Values will show up on the right side.
Another thought: What wireless standard is the PC's network adapter? n is fast, but g and b are sluggish. I stuck a wireless card in a PC today and, man, was it slow. I retested and still got 11-12 download. Sure enough, it's only a b/g card. LOL I'll donate it to the local computer repair shop. Someone will use it.
Another thought: What wireless standard is the PC's network adapter? n is fast, but g and b are sluggish. I stuck a wireless card in a PC today and, man, was it slow. I retested and still got 11-12 download. Sure enough, it's only a b/g card. LOL I'll donate it to the local computer repair shop. Someone will use it.
Good point. The OP didn't mention the NIC standard.
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WOW, who offers that? 
