We all want to have a good connection speed but it is not always possible. There can be a wide variety of problems that affect both the router and the devices we use. There is a problem that many users have reported that the Wi-Fi speed suddenly drops when they plug the laptop into power instead of being on battery. Why is this happening?
Wi-Fi is worse when plugging in the laptop
This is something that can happen under certain circumstances. We’re browsing the internet, downloading files, or just watching a Netflix video over Wi-Fi, with the laptop on battery power, and everything works fine. But suddenly we see that the battery begins to decrease and we decide to connect it to the power and we see that Netflix video cuts out, that download that we were doing is slower or even browsing the Internet is worse.
A very common reason for this problem is Windows starting to update itself. For security reasons, to prevent the system from running out of battery power, automatic updates start when we plug it into power. And you also have to take into account that the Microsoft system reserves a limit of 20% of the bandwidth for precisely these situations.
Add to that the fact that Windows update downloads can be quite large, and that can lead to slowdowns for the duration of the update. We will notice it as soon as we connect the laptop to electricity and it begins to update.
Logically, this will be more visible if we have an Internet rate that does not have much available bandwidth or if the wireless coverage does not reach us very well. In these cases we are going to notice all this that we are talking about even more and our team will begin to have a loss of Wi-Fi speed.
What to do to avoid problems
What can you do to prevent this from happening? It should be noted that this is not something negative, since having the updated system is good for correcting errors. However, updates do not always arrive at the right time, so we can suffer a loss of speed. One thing you can do is simply configure the updates manually. You can postpone them until you want and thus install them when you go to eat, for example, and you are not using the equipment.
It’s also a good idea to try to improve your Wi-Fi connection. If you notice a loss of speed, it is usually because the signal arrives very weak. You can use devices that expand or improve coverage , such as a Wi-Fi repeater, Mesh system or PLC devices. With all these options you will achieve better coverage.
An alternative is to manage the consumption of Windows updates. With this you can put a limit so that it does not consume more resources than you have put. So you can continue surfing the Internet even if you plug the laptop into electricity and start updating Windows. There will always be a loss of speed, but it will be minor.
In short, as you have seen, you may have less Wi-Fi speed when you plug the laptop into electricity instead of using battery. Mainly this happens because the system begins to update and it will consume resources, but it is something that you can avoid or at least improve.