Terrible Wi-Fi with RTL8821CE on HP Laptop 15-dy1043dx

[smithe35]

We bought this laptop about 2 years ago and I'll say the Wi-Fi has never been great. Spotty connection, slow to connect to a chosen network, slow speeds at times...but in the last couple of days, the Wi-Fi speeds have plummeted to between 5-10Mbps on a Wi-Fi 6 wireless network with 200Mbps download speed service.

I have tried moving the computer around to avoid deadspots, tested other devices right next to the laptop, and we've even experienced slower performance with this laptop outside the home. In all cases, other devices are getting much higher speeds in line with what the network should be providing.

It's running Windows 10 Home Build 19044.2006 Experience Pack 120.2212.4180.0 and the RTL8821CE driver version is 2024.0.10.226. There are a few things that stick out to me that might be relevant:

1. In the Advanced settings for the Realtek adapter in Device Manager, "Wireless Mode" only offers options in the range on 802.11a up to 802.11a/b/g. This worries me that I'm stuck on 802.11g as my top speed.

2. In the Hardware and Connection Properties for my wireless adapter, there are two Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapters (strangely numbered #11 and #12). They are listed as disconnected, but I've never been aware of them before.

3. In the network adapter area of Device Manager, there are several WAN Miniports listed alongside my Realtek Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters. Could these be interfering with my connection?

I've seen many questions around the internet about the network card, but are there any tried and true methods to get my Wi-Fi working correctly again?

I'm really hoping someone out there has some idea of what might be going on. Otherwise, should I consider replacing the network card?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

You should be getting better than 5- 10 MBPS download speeds.

The best download speeds I have been able to achieve from that lousy card is between 90 and 100 MBPS.

FWIW there is a newer driver...2024.10.227.0

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp140501-141000/sp140954.exe 

I tried changing some of the advanced settings and that didn't make any difference.

Most Wi-Fi adapter advanced settings only show the a/b/g.

Since your notebook only has one antenna wire connected to the Wi-Fi adapter, there aren't any better internal cards you can upgrade to unless you sacrifice Bluetooth or take the entire notebook apart including the display panel to properly run the second antenna that you would have to order from HP from chapter 3 of your notebook's service manual.

[smithe35]

Thanks, Paul.

This driver actually dropped the download speed to below 1Mbps if you can believe it!

Is there a historical catalogue of past drivers for this card that I can install and try by process of elimination to get back to a more normal speed that I used to have?

We would settle with a driver that got us 90-100Mbps at this point!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes, I am pretty surprised since that driver should have made things better.

Previous versions I could find:

2024.0.10.217

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp107501-108000/sp107515.exe

2024.0.10.212

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp103501-104000/sp103647.exe

2024.0.8.104

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp95501-96000/sp95798.exe

[smithe35]

Thanks for digging those up. Unfortunately, no drivers get me above 13Mbps.

I may just go buy a USB Wi-Fi dongle rather than mess around with this any longer.

I'm so disappointed that HP equipped this laptop with such a garbage network card.

I appreciate all your help anyway!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Sorry that none of the other drivers helped any either.

It is probably a good idea to just buy a USB dual band Wi-Fi adapter and use the Realtek card for Bluetooth only.

They make some pretty small ones nowadays that don't stick out of the USB port very far.