Comparisons are only meaningful if the conditions match. Run the speed test in the same spot, within a minute of each other, using the same test site in a browser on both devices — not an app on one and a browser on the other. Phone speed test apps and browser tests frequently disagree by a wide margin, and a large share of "my laptop is slower" reports are measurement artefacts rather than real differences.
They're probably on different bands
This is the answer most of the time, and it is invisible unless you go looking.
Most home routers transmit on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz simultaneously, and newer ones add 6 GHz. Many present all of them under a single network name, so devices choose for themselves and you never see the choice being made.
The bands are not equivalent:
Devices do not always choose well, and they are notably reluctant to move back. A laptop that connected on 2.4 GHz while it was at the far end of the house often stays there after you carry it back to the router, because the connection is working and nothing forces a re-evaluation.
How to check which band each is on
- Windows: Settings, then Network & internet, then Wi-Fi, then the properties of the connected network. It reports the band and the link speed.
- macOS: hold Option and click the Wi-Fi menu bar icon. It shows the channel, and the channel number tells you the band — low numbers are 2.4 GHz, high numbers are 5 GHz or above.
- Android and iPhone: varies by version; the router's own admin page is often easier, since it lists connected devices with the band each is using.
- The router's admin page is the most reliable place to see both devices at once, and it usually shows link rate too.
If they are on different bands, that is your answer and the rest of this page is optional.
The straightforward fix is to separate the network names in the router settings, giving the 5 GHz band its own name, and connecting the laptop to that one explicitly. It removes the guesswork permanently. The trade-off is that devices no longer roam between bands automatically, which matters more in large houses than small flats.
A quicker temporary fix: forget the network on the laptop and reconnect while standing next to the router. It will usually attach to the faster band.
The adapter inside the laptop
Phones are replaced every few years and laptops are not, so the wireless hardware inside them is frequently several generations apart.
- An older laptop may not support 5 GHz at all. If it cannot see the faster band, it will always be on 2.4 GHz regardless of settings. The specification for your model tells you.
- Generations differ substantially. A laptop on an older Wi-Fi standard has a much lower ceiling than a recent phone, and no configuration will close that gap.
- Antenna count matters. Budget laptops often have a single wireless antenna where better ones have two or more, which roughly halves the achievable throughput.
- Wireless cards are replaceable on many laptops, which is a genuinely cost-effective upgrade on an otherwise fine machine — though not on models where it is soldered.
The check that settles it: look at the link speed the laptop reports. If it is well below what the band should deliver even when sitting next to the router, the limit is the adapter rather than the network.
Antennas, lids and metal
Physical factors affect laptops far more than phones, and they are easy to overlook.
- Laptop antennas usually run around the screen bezel, so the angle of the lid changes reception. Adjusting it can genuinely change the link rate.
- Metal chassis attenuate signal. An aluminium laptop on a metal desk, or in a docking station behind a monitor, is in a worse position than a phone held in the air.
- A closed lid on a docked laptop puts the antennas against the body of the machine.
- People are mostly water, and water absorbs 2.4 GHz. Sitting between the laptop and the router matters more than it seems.
- USB 3 devices generate interference in the 2.4 GHz range. An external drive or hub next to the laptop can measurably degrade 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi — a documented effect and a genuinely surprising one.
The power saving setting
This one is specific to laptops and it is on by default in many configurations.
Operating systems reduce power to the wireless adapter to extend battery life, and one of the ways they do that is by lowering its performance. The effect is real and can be substantial.
- Windows: the power plan contains a wireless adapter power saving mode, and there is usually a separate power management option on the adapter itself allowing the system to turn it off to save power.
- The setting often differs between battery and mains, which produces the characteristic symptom: the laptop is fine plugged in and slow on battery.
- Battery saver modes layer additional restrictions on top.
If the speed difference disappears when the laptop is plugged in, you have found it. That is a settings problem, not a hardware one.
What the laptop is doing that the phone isn't
A phone at rest is genuinely idle. A laptop frequently is not.
- Cloud sync — file sync clients uploading a large folder will consume the connection while showing no visible activity.
- System and application updates downloading in the background.
- Online backup running on a schedule.
- Browser tabs and applications streaming or polling.
- Another device on the network entirely — a console downloading an update saturates the connection for everyone, and whichever device you test second looks worse.
The task manager or activity monitor shows network use per process. If something is consuming the connection, the Wi-Fi is fine and the bandwidth is spoken for.
VPNs and security software
- A VPN routes traffic through another server, adding distance and a processing step. A noticeable speed reduction is expected rather than a fault, and a distant server can halve throughput.
- Corporate VPNs often force all traffic through the company network, which can be much slower than your own connection.
- Security software that inspects web traffic decrypts and re-encrypts it, which costs both time and processor. Some products are far heavier than others.
- Proxy settings left configured from a previous network can route traffic somewhere unhelpful.
Testing with these temporarily disabled is a legitimate diagnostic — on a network you trust, briefly, and turned back on afterwards.
What to check, in order
- Test properly: same spot, same minute, same test site in a browser on both devices.
- Check which band each device is on. This is the answer most of the time.
- Forget and reconnect the laptop next to the router, so it attaches to the faster band.
- Plug the laptop in and retest. If the gap closes, it is power management.
- Check what is using the network in task manager or activity monitor.
- Disable the VPN temporarily if one is running.
- Move the laptop off metal, out of the dock, and adjust the lid angle.
- Unplug USB 3 devices if the laptop is on 2.4 GHz.
- Look at the reported link speed next to the router. A low ceiling there means the adapter is the limit.
- Update the wireless driver from the laptop manufacturer's site.
- Consider separate network names for the bands if the laptop keeps choosing badly.
Measure it properly first — same spot, same minute, same test site in a browser on both — because a good share of these are measurement artefacts. Then check the one thing that explains most of the rest: the two devices are probably not on the same radio band. One network name usually hides two or three radios, devices choose for themselves, and a laptop that once connected on 2.4 GHz tends to stay there even when carried back to the router. Forgetting the network and reconnecting beside the router usually fixes it. After that, plug the laptop in and retest: wireless power saving is applied more aggressively on battery, and if the gap closes when it is on mains, that is a setting rather than hardware. And check what the laptop is doing in the background, because unlike a phone at rest, it is often busy.
Sources
- Microsoft — Tips to improve PC performance in Windows