Dell – Slow Speed Test Results
If your Dell computer is reporting speeds below what is expected with your Wire 3 Fiber service, it may be a result of pre-loaded software on your computer called SmartByte. (Read here for more information: https://www.rivetnetworks.com/smartbyte/) Unfortunately, in many cases, this software is responsible for slow network traffic despite the software's intent. (Read here for more information: https://www.dell.com/community/Networking-Internet-Bluetooth/Beware-of-SmartByte/td-p/6130892)
Based on the description of the software, SmartByte is intended to make sure that your available bandwidth is prioritizing video data packets over other network traffic to ensure that you're getting the best video quality with less buffering. Unfortunately, this kind of software is not at all necessary with the abundance of bandwidth provided by VNET Fiber. In fact, it's actually restricting performance significantly. Our recommendation is to remove or disable the software.
If you would like to disable SmartByte on your computer:
- Press the Windows key.
- In the Search box, type "services.msc" and press the Enter key.
You should now be looking at the System Configuration window.
- Click the Services tab.
Alternatively: From your Windows Menu or Explorer Window, browse to Control Panel > All Controll Panel Items > Administrative Tools > Services
With Services open:
- Find the "SmartByte Network Service" in the list of services. It should like the image below.
- Right Click on "Automatic" located just to the right of the service name in the "Startup Type" column.
- Select "Disable" in the popup menu