Is "adaptive" Wi-Fi speed a thing on modern machines?
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I initially connected that machine to its predecessor by Ethernet to have the maximum speed for file transfers. While doing do I noticed that the Wi-Fi link on the new machine would connect at only 26 Mbps while the link on the other was around 580 Mbps (the two machines being side by side).
But before I could worry about this I saw the new machine connected at a much higher speed. So I thought the problem fixed. But after a reboot the machine reconnected to the Wi-Fi at 26 Mbps. To see how bad things were I did a speed test with a web site... and got 340 Mbps! Looking at the Wi-Fi link speed I noticed it had jumped to 390 Mbps. And I can reproduce this at will. The initial connection is always at 26 Mbps but any serious use of the network bumps the speed.
Nearly all Wi-Fi implementations since 802.11g use dynamic rate selection based on various criteria – it's necessary as link conditions change as soon as someone walks past you and absorbs some of the signal, etc.
