Bluetooth mouse will MURDER your WIFI speed!

[mitchellvii]

Ever since I upgraded to 8.1, my wifi speed has been half what it should be. Could NOT figure out the problem. The connection I did not make was that I also started using a bluetooth mouse at the same time.

So I tried turning off bluetooth and bingo, wifi back to full speed


** Thanks to Stoliguy for this tip.

UPDATE**: We seem to be getting mixed results on this from various people. It could be that this is a problem specific to certain bluetooth devices. In my case I am using a Microsoft Sculpt Touch Mouse and it is clearly an issue as you can see from the following pictures:

Mouse Off:


Mouse On:

 

[Sit]

Wow, unfortunately there are still problems in this area. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[mitchellvii]

I think this is a Windows 8.1 problem. Don't recall this being an issue in Windows 8.1 Preview.

 

[TagsxA]

Ugh.... I've just verified that this also happens with my bluetooth LG earphones. Looks like it might be a general bluetooth/WiFi issue.

I ran the speedtest app (I know, not the greatest test) and without my earphone connected, I'd get 30down and 6up (which is what I should have). With my headset paired, I get 15-20down and 3-5up. Boooooo!!!!!

 

[kristalsoldier]

Wow...looks like MS will have to be coming out with a significant update sometime soon...very soon!

 

[mitchellvii]

Wow...looks like MS will have to be coming out with a significant update sometime soon...very soon!

The weird part is that if I use a USB wifi adapter this is not a problem. Just the internal adapter.

 

[Wayne Orwig]

Can you set your WiFi router to a different channel. That may help.

 

[Arizona Willie]

I just tried this out. Before I turned my Bluetooth mouse on, I ran speedtest.net a few times using the touchpad on the keyboard for my SP. Got 25-28 Mbps down and 12 - 14 Mbps up.
Then I turned on the Bluetooth mouse and got the SAME results.
Then I went into Settings and turned Bluetooth completely off and made one more test and got 30 Mbps down but only 6 Mbps up.
Probably should have made more tests with Bluetooth completely off but it didn't appear to make a major difference.
I'm pretty sure the decrease in upload speed was a one-off thing because such variation isn't too unusual.
The most important number -- download -- was pretty consistent in all tests with Bluetooth enabled and disabled, Bluetooth mouse on and off.
Didn't make much difference at all for my SP with 8.1.

 

[mitchellvii]

Can you set your WiFi router to a different channel. That may help.

Tried it, makes no difference.

 

[mitchellvii]

I just tried this out. Before I turned my Bluetooth mouse on, I ran speedtest.net a few times using the touchpad on the keyboard for my SP. Got 25-28 Mbps down and 12 - 14 Mbps up.
Then I turned on the Bluetooth mouse and got the SAME results.
Then I went into Settings and turned Bluetooth completely off and made one more test and got 30 Mbps down but only 6 Mbps up.
Probably should have made more tests with Bluetooth completely off but it didn't appear to make a major difference.
I'm pretty sure the decrease in upload speed was a one-off thing because such variation isn't too unusual.
The most important number -- download -- was pretty consistent in all tests with Bluetooth enabled and disabled, Bluetooth mouse on and off.
Didn't make much difference at all for my SP with 8.1.

It could be that bluetooth overall is not the problem, just certain bluetooth devices. In my case I am using a Microsoft Sculpt Touch Mouse and the difference is clear as you can see from the following screenshots:

Sculpt Mouse Off:


Sculpt Mouse On:

 

[donaldvc]

I think you are right that it is only certain Bluetooth devices: using a Nokia 360 Bluetooth speaker with my SP halves the Wi-Fi speed, but there is no discernible impact with an Apple Bluetooth keyboard and Magic Mouse; I didn't have the problem prior to the 8.1 update. It's not a major problem for me, but I guess pretty annoying if you have just invested in a new BT mouse. Otherwise, I have had no issues with the 8.1 update which has gone smoothly for a VM, a ThinkPad and a Lenovo desktop as well as my Surface Pro.

 

[mitchellvii]

I think you are right that it is only certain Bluetooth devices: using a Nokia 360 Bluetooth speaker with my SP halves the Wi-Fi speed, but there is no discernible impact with an Apple Bluetooth keyboard and Magic Mouse; I didn't have the problem prior to the 8.1 update. It's not a major problem for me, but I guess pretty annoying if you have just invested in a new BT mouse. Otherwise, I have had no issues with the 8.1 update which has gone smoothly for a VM, a ThinkPad and a Lenovo desktop as well as my Surface Pro.

Very odd that only certain devices would be affected.