MacBook Air download speed v Dell laptop download speed

Are the devices both using the same path to the Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi can be 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz, and with differing connection speeds, even from the same router. You’ll also want to entirely remove the add-on VPN client app, any add-on anti-malware, any add-on anti-virus, any add-on firewalls, and any add-on cleaner apps, and try your tests again.

5 GHz is faster, and is a higher frequency, and which gives different propagation characteristics, and tends not to travel through obstruction quite as well. Which means it’s a better choice when in built-up areas, as walls tend to block it. As for closer or further away, that’s determined for Wi-Fi by available signal strength and by signal noise at both the router/AP and at the client, and not by measuring physical distance.

I’ll look for what a poster had claimed to be the Apple signal strength selection logic (and undocumented, subject to change, etc), and will re-post it here—if I can locate that.

Different routers/APs can have different behaviors, and can require different features. There’s a kerfuffle going now with iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 being more fussy about security and generating security diagnostics, for instance.

And some of the older Apple Wi-Fi gear—or any other Wi-Fi gear, and particularly older gear—can have issues. Wi-Fi Explorer showed one of the Apple AirPort Time Capsules in an AP-configured network had its Wi-Fi signal strength dropping out completely for ~15 seconds, then restarting. Those Time Capsule boxes got demoted to NAS duty, and the Wi-Fi function replaced.

Tools here help. Wi-Fi Explorer or otherwise.

i have a 2019 Dell XPS i5-8GB ram which streams better than my beloved 2010 MacBook air 4gb ram 1.6 but not by that much.

Your MacBook might have some cache or excess ram that needs to be cleared, safari will clog when to cleared, like nay browser.

this is the best i can answer your question, maybe someone else can give you better advice with benchmark stats.

i thought 5gb was for close strong range while 2.5 was for farther signals.

i had problems with my asus router 5/2.5 and switched back to my 2007 apple airport express with the stereo phone jax

and i am getting a better uninterrupted signal that is stronger and farther. i use that for the TV, MacBookair, iPad, dell xps and itouch without resetting or losing a signal.

there really is no difference between a Dell XPS or HP, Lenovo or MacBook but the insides such as the processor and wifi card make a better signal.

Do remove the add-on apps, as those can and variously do cause performance and network routing issues, and various of these do intercept and process network traffic.

Wi-Fi extenders can also play havoc with performance.

Apple shifts between 2.4 and 5 GHz, depending on network strength. There’s no control of 2.4 or 5 GHz, short of the really obvious and ugly naming the 5 GHz network uniquely at the Wi-Fi box.

Wi-Fi Explorer is a useful Mac tool for seeing what is happening on a Wi-Fi network.

Also ensure your router is set to the correct country. How to do that varies, but that controls which channels are used.

Here’s a checklist of settings from Apple: Recommended settings for Wi-Fi routers and access points - Apple Support

Okay, I can’t find it... The signal selection algorithm... So...

Option-Click on the Wi-Fi logo in the menu bar.

Buried in the middle of that display are the current RSSI, noise, channel, mode, transmit rate, security, and related details.

Numbers here are negative, so the larger / higher / bigger values are, well, the less-negative values.

You’re here looking for how far the signal is above the noise floor, and less about the absolute values.

RSSI: -30 to -40: excellent, lots of power; -40 to -50: very good; -50 to -60; good.

Noise values: -90 and lower: no noise; -80 to -90, slight noise; -70 to -80, some noise, -60 to -70, noise problems; above -60, probably too noisy.

In the above, that Wi-Fi network signal is 34 dBm above the noise (-58 - -92 = 34), which is very little interference; ~25 dBM and higher is good, while below ~25 dBm becomes poor. This low noise floor (-92) means not much power is needed. This is the signal-to-noise.

dBm is not a linear measure. Each increase of 3 dBm is double, while each decrease of 3 dBm is half.

You’re also here looking for the mode, which determines how fast a Wi-Fi client can operate on a specific channel. 802.11ac shown above, and shown using 5 GHz channel 36 at 80 MHz width. This network is using channels 32 to 40 inclusive as one very wide channel, which is ~optimal for performance with 802.11ac 5 GHz. This in conjunction with the MCS setting.

And the transmit rate shows ~527 Mbps.

A Wi-Fi network will try increasing the output power to get better signal strength (“above the noise”), but then other competing, non-coordinated Wi-Fi networks can then increase transmit power and/or switch channels, and, well, coverage then gets spotty. Cascading failures are not unusual in crowded areas; where Wi-Fi networks set for auto-switching channels to avoid interference commence a rolling failure.

Coordinating channel usage among local networks is always preferable to uncoordinated, and you’ll want to avoid overlapping channel assignments in 2.4 GHz.

And again, I’ll recommend Wi-Fi Explorer or similar display app, as that makes what is going in much more clear.

Want to discuss this further here for your network, post the above block of info. And get Wi-Fi Explorer or ilk, as display tables of numbers and with no plot over time are just much harder to visualize. Drop-outs harder to spot, etc.

I’ll keep looking for the 5 GHz versus 2.4 GHz selection logic, but...