How Linux Gave Me Faster Internet (Without Even Trying)

The Setup

I dual boot: Windows 11 on one side, Linux Mint on the other.

Same machine. Same Wi-Fi. Same network conditions.

But here's the twist — I’m not running stock Windows.

Before anyone says “bloatware did it,” I already stripped it clean.

What I Did to Windows

I went all in:

• Custom scripts to remove bloat and telemetry
• Disabled background services, ad systems, and syncing
• Registry cleaned up
• Defender? Gone.
• Xbox/GameBar? Gone.
• OneDrive? Not a chance.

I even split my network into separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, then forced the laptop to stick to 5GHz so it would stop jumping around and tanking speeds.

And after all that work?

Best-case download speed: 5–20 Mbps, fluctuating, and occasionally disconnecting.

What I Did to Linux

Installed Mint.

No tweaking. No tuning. No custom anything.

What Happened?

Boom. 35 Mbps, stable. No bouncing, no hiccups, no weird background processes eating bandwidth. It just worked.

Why?

I could get technical about network stacks, background tasks, and invisible Windows daemons doing who-knows-what — but the short version is:

Linux doesn’t assume ownership of your connection.

It asks nothing, and it gets out of the way.

The Takeaway

I spent hours customizing Windows to behave itself.

Linux behaved by default.

If your connection is flaky and you've tried everything...

maybe the problem isn't your router, or your ISP, or your drivers.

Maybe the OS just talks too much.