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August 21st, 2024 12:04
Wifi has 2-3 second freezes about 3-4 times per hour on Zoom calls - Inspiron 3020 S
My desktop has a weird issue where the wifi freezes for 2-3 seconds while I'm on Zoom calls. I think it only happens while I'm using Zoom, or at least that's the only time I notice it, and even then only about 2-3 times per hour.
My 3020 S is just over 12 months old, the hardware is as-new, Windows 11 and all drivers are fully updated, I have 64GB of RAM (never hit that limit) and 100 Mbps fibre to the premises.
It's a nice system and as you'd expect it works beautifully... except for these freezes on Zoom.
I can rule out the Internet connection and router, because other computers in my house don't have the same problem. Only my 3020 S.
Thanks. Screenshot of a typical wifi "freeze" shown below. I'm running a ping to www.google.com.au. You can see it's a nice, consistent 25 ms ping time, apart from the occasional blowout to 3 seconds.
I've exhausted my options for troubleshooting this issue. Does anyone have any ideas I can try?
RoHe
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August 21st, 2024 18:01
Have you checked the Windows 11 power settings?
Open Device Manager and expand list under Network Adapters. Double-click the entry for your WiFi card. When that opens, click Power Management tab and uncheck the box "Allow PC to turn off...". Then exit DM.
Next, use Start menu to search for Edit Power Plan. Open that and click Change advanced power settings. When that opens, disable hibernation, USB Selective Suspend, Hybrid Sleep, and PCI Express Link State Management. On same screen, change Wireless Adapter Settings to Max Performance. And also on same screen, probably a good idea to set Processor Power Management to 100% for both max and min.
Be sure to save the changes before exiting. Reboot PC and test WiFi performance again...
(edited)
SAASpreneur
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August 24th, 2024 03:15
Thanks.
I unchecked "Allow PC to turn off...". My hardware doesn't support Hybrid Sleep. Most of the others were already set, apart from Min Processor Power.
I'll see how things go from here and report back.
SAASpreneur
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September 2nd, 2024 01:40
@RoHe This didn't help, the problem is still occurring just as often as before.
bradthetechnut
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September 2nd, 2024 02:33
One idea is try reporting it to Zoom and report it's on your Inspiron 3020S. I know phones aren't PC's, but I reported it when I got a new phone and my face was always sideways unless I entered settings. That fixed it.
If you report it after a freeze(s), they'll have the data.
RoHe
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September 2nd, 2024 18:50
Are you using the Zoom app for Windows on your PC or just a browser? If using browser, try a different browser.
If using their app, do you have the latest version installed on this PC? There have been some recent updates...
SAASpreneur
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September 4th, 2024 01:09
@RoHe Yes, I'm using the Zoom app and it's right up to date. This problem isn't new, it occurred over a year ago when I first got this PC, and a previous version of the Zoom app was current.
SAASpreneur
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September 4th, 2024 01:24
@bradthetechnut I don't think the problem is in Zoom.
I'm running a "ping -t www.google.com.au" in a command window to track network health/performance. Per the screenshot above, that ping time is usually about 25 ms, but when Zoom freezes the ping time to Google blows out to 3 seconds.
So it looks like the Inspiron wifi just chokes at regular intervals when it's under the load of running a Zoom session.
bradthetechnut
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September 4th, 2024 02:20
You would think at 64GB RAM, there wouldn't be any choking. So I doubt that's it, but hard telling.
RoHe
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September 4th, 2024 18:11
Did you change all the other settings I listed above?
Open a CMD prompt window and type in: powercfg /availablesleepstates and press Enter. Is Hybrid Sleep listed as "available" or "not available"?
Is SmartByte software (installed by Dell) running on your system? Try stopping it from loading on every boot. Disable SmartByte on Startup tab in Task Manager. Reboot and test with Zoom again.
Click Start>Run>services.msc and click OK. When that opens, are any Killer and/or xTend services listed? If listed, double-click each one and set its Startup type to disabled. Exit services.msc and reboot. Test with Zoom again.
(edited)
SAASpreneur
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September 5th, 2024 07:41
Hybrid Sleep is not supported on this PC.
After checking the Task Manager and services utility, I can't find anything to indicate that SmartByte software or Killer/xTend services are installed.
Thanks.
RoHe
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September 5th, 2024 16:03
SmartByte isn't a service. It's an app. Did you look on the Startup tab in Task Manager, and/or on Processes tab in Task Manager? Dell support page lists SmartByte app for this PC model which is why I asked.
You can read this about restoring the Hybrid Sleep option. Lots of peeps have this problem. Once it's visible, you can disable it.
(edited)
SAASpreneur
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September 6th, 2024 09:05
@RoHe SmartByte isn't in the list of running processes or in the list of startup apps.
On the page you linked to, it says "If it says , The hypervisor does not support this standby state, then your system does not support hybrid sleep".
That is the message I get, which you can also see in my screenshot above. I don't think there's any further I can go with this angle, do you agree?
RoHe
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September 6th, 2024 17:40
If you're not running a Virtual Machine and only use one OS installation (Win 11), you can try disabling the two Virtualization options in BIOS setup and see if that makes Hybrid Sleep visible in Windows, so you can disable it. (See table 14.)
And if Memory Core Protection (Start>Search>Core Isolation) is enabled in Windows, try disabling that too and look for the Hybrid Sleep option again.
No guarantees any of this will help with your WiFi issue using Zoom...