wifi speed fluctuates on a MacBook Pro M2 Ventura v13.2.1

First snapshot:

on 5 GHz, you have raw signal of only -64 dB, not great. Noise is comfortably far away at -91 dB. you have made connection on channel 36, which has the best carrying distance, but also the most competition if you have neighbors. Your transmit rate is 300 M bits/sec.

If you had no completion from neighbors, you MIGHT be able to attain one step better, which would give you 360 instead of 300.

If you internet speed test says 2, that is not based on Hardware.

Poisoning Internet performance:

By far the easiest way to ruin performance and cause instability is to install ANY third-party speeder-uppers, Cleaners, Optimizers, Virus scanners third-party file Sync-ers such as DropBox, BackBlaze, OneDrive, or GoogleDrive, or a VPN that you installed yourself.

The idea that a third party, with no special knowledge of the inner workings of MacOS, can somehow find a simple way to protect your computer that is not already being done by MacOS itself suggests that the MacOS developers are somehow "holding out on you". That is absurd.

You should remove any and all other virus scanners, speeder uppers, optimizers, cleaners, App deleters or VPN packages you installed yourself, or anything of that ilk.

The current versions of MacOS have protections so good, there are currently no known Viruses that can SPONTANEOUSLY infect your Mac. Random ‘stuff’ is NEVER allowed to be Executed, so all your files do not need to be scanned, again and again. Only software from know developers is allowed to be considered for becoming Executable, and then only after you enter your Admin password to allow installation. Potentially-executable files are then scanned at first run by MacOS Gatekeeper, locked, and moved to the /Applications folder.

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

wi-Fi uses radio waves to transmit through your particular 'network neighborhood'. To get an idea of the conditions, hold the Option key while you click on the Wi-Fi Icon on the menubar, and screenshot or transcribe the little report that appears, like this older version:

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Transmit rate of 144 is as fast as your M2 MacBook Pro with its two antennas can connect in the 2.4 GHz band.

That should be reflected in an Internet speed test of about that fast, or close to the limit of your ISP internet connection, whichever is lower.

In the 5GHz band, much higher connection speeds are possible, but you need to work around your neighbors' signals.

¿do you have neighbors?

¿what channels are they using?

from the Option-Wi-Fi menu, choose network diagnostics and STOP.

choose Scan from its Window menu. You get a display like this which show channels in use, but does NOT show Spectrum in use.

(drag and drop on Preview to see larger)

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Nominal channel assignments do not tell the whole story, because in every case, power spills over into adjacent channels, and makes them difficult for anyone else to use.

To see actual spectrum, some research is required, or an inexpensive utility like Wi-Fi Explorer can lay it out for you:

Note: the situation in the 2.4GHz band on this network (that looks like a train wreck) IS a train wreck.

second snapshot:

Standard channels in the 2.4 GHz band are 1, 6, and 11. You are using channel 8, which may suggest you have too much competition from neighbors.

Noise at a VERY high -71 dB suggests you have Wi-Fi interference from USB-3 devices that are broadcasting electromagnetic interference and messing up your 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi.

¿what USB devices are connected?

Transmit rates of 117 or 130 are typical, but again, if your internet speed test is showing 1 or 2, that could be a software problem.

to check for a Hardware issue, move your MacBook Pro right near your router. if the RSSI improves to about -50 or slightly closer to zero, you have strong signal and other factors in your network neighborhood or inside your Mac are causing trouble.

If you can't remove Dropbox, launch it only when needed, and quit when your files have been moved.