Windows 10 Bootcamp - Wifi is crawling on Macbook Pro 2019 16"

Question

Windows 10 Bootcamp - Wifi is crawling on Macbook Pro 2019 16"

Hey Guys, I have spent the better part of a week trying to figure this out with no avail.

On my 2019 MacBook Pro 16" I installed Windows 10 via Bootcamp. However, the wifi speed c-r-a-w-l-s in Windows 10/Bootcamp.

I have a gig speed with Spectrum and getting close to 600Mbps connected on the 5Ghz network in Mac OS Catalina, but when I am in Windows/Bootcamp, I am getting less than 10Mbps.

After doing the first set of research, I had thought Windows had updated the driver to the Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter, but I didn't see the option to rollback the driver. After getting frustrated, I removed that Bootcamp partition and created a new one/fresh install of Windows 10 and right after connecting to internet/disabling Windows Update, I am still getting 10Mbps???

Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter - 101.10.152.3 driver version (10/21/2019)
Windows 10 Home

I have done the following: in attempts to remediate with all failing to resolve:

Downloaded bootcamp drivers in Mac OS Catalina (download windows files) and placed on FAT32 USB
Uninstalled Broadcom 802.11ac Network Adapter (incl driver software) from Device Manager in Windows
Scan for hardware changes, re-installed using bootcamp drivers (bcmpciedhd63.sys) NOTE - it apparently installs the same version of the driver so now I am not sure Windows Update did anything to begin with
Clean install of Windows 10/Bootcamp

Finally, throughout I checked System Restore to see if I can restore it back prior to any system updates but that did not work either.

I have scanned the community and online and have not found something that works.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

MacBook Pro 16", macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 30, 2019 3:47 PM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Dec 1, 2019 2:04 PM in response to Community User

You will need to monitor the channel on which the SSID is being broadcast and capture packets when running Windows. Simple things to check are retransmissions between the Windows Mac and the Access Point. If you have a second Mac, it makes it much easier to collect the packets and filter for the Windows client.

It most likely will point to the driver. There are two 'bad' drivers currently out the one for Windows/16-in Mac and the 7.77.110.0 version, which is causing problems for older Macs. It may also be related to WiFi 6 (.11ax/ay) implementations, which are too new to be reliable.

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Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 30, 2019 5:14 PM in response to Community User

On the new 16-in MBP, there is no rollback driver possible. If you have a dual-band network, can you create separate 2.4g and 5g SSIDs and test?

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Dec 1, 2019 6:43 AM in response to Community User

5gHz seems a bit better, but still not as good as other devices.

You may want to consider downloading one of the tools mentioned in https://www.thewindowsclub.com/wifi-network-scanner-tool-for-windows-10 .

Also, Wireshark can also help analyzing packets over-the-air to see what might be causing the issue(s).

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Answer 4

Dec 1, 2019 5:32 AM in response to Loner T

Yep - following tests conducted using the same server in Speedtest and devices in same area:

2.4GHz

Windows 10 Bootcamp - 1.47 | 36.61

iPad Pro - 103 | 35

iPhone 11 - 165 | 39

Mac OS Catalina - 134 | 40

5GHz

Windows 10 Bootcamp - 18 | 37

Mac OS Catalina - 678 | 40

iPad Pro - 558 | 40

iPhone 11 - 366 | 33

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Answer 5

Dec 1, 2019 1:40 PM in response to Loner T

Ok - downloaded Wireshark and Vistumbler but to be honest I am having a hard time interpreting the information. A lot of information there and not sure I can connect the dots.

I know I am not that educated when it comes to network/wifi analysis but not sure why everything operates as expected in Mac but not in Windows unless it is a driver issue, and if it is a driver issue in Windows then I guess I am s.o.l. until another driver is made available for me to test?

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