Join , subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. By submitting your email, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. There are many reasons your Internet connection might appear slow. It could be a problem with your modem or router, Wi-Fi signal, signal strength on your cable line, devices on your network saturating your bandwidth, or even a slow DNS server.
These troubleshooting steps will help you pin down the cause. If your speed test confirms your internet is slow, you should try connecting to multiple websites and using multiple devices in your home if your Internet connection is slow. Narrowing down where the problem lies will help you fix it. Does the slowness just happen on one computer, or all your devices? You may just have to reboot the computer, or you may need to perform a malware scan with your preferred antivirus to check that everything is fine.
Be sure to stop any downloads, uploads, Netflix streaming, or other heavy internet activity before running the test to ensure as little interference with the results as possible. There are some caveats here. Speed tests may sometimes appear rather high, as some Internet service providers may prioritize them and they may have servers very close to you.
Speeds may also be slower at busier times of the day, when everyone in your neighborhood is using the Internet connection, than at off hours when many people are sleeping or at work.
Like computers, modems and routers sometimes get stuck in a bad, slow, overloaded state. This problem can be fixed with a reboot. The router connects to the modem, which is connected to the cable coming out of the wall. To reboot them, unplug each from their respective power outlets for ten seconds before plugging them back in. It may take a few minutes for your modem to reconnect to your Internet service provider and bring your Internet connection online, so be patient.
Check if your speed improves after the reboots. A bad Wi-Fi connection can seem like an Internet connection problem, especially since it can affect all the devices in your home.
There are quite a few reasons you may have a bad Wi-Fi signal. This is a particularly common problem in denser urban areas—for example, if you live in an apartment complex with neighbors who have a bunch of wireless routers and other devices.
You could also just have a dead zone, something interfering with your Wi-Fi signal, or poor converage throughout your home. Consult our guide to speeding up your Wi-Fi and getting a better signal for more tips.
If you have a larger home or yard and need better Wi-FI coverage, consider getting a mesh Wi-Fi system that provides multiple base stations you can place around your home or property. Log in to your router and verify that automatic updates are toggled on. Internet providers supply either a single wireless gateway or pair a standalone modem with a router.
A store-bought router, for instance, gives you more control over the features, speeds, and security of your home network. It sets you up for 10 Gbps cable internet when the connection becomes available. If you want more recommendations for a new modem or router, check out some of our favorites:. If you have just one stubborn dead zone, a booster would probably be a good fit. Mesh systems are better for full-house coverage if your home is particularly large or has a complicated layout.
And using an access point would be ideal if your house is wired with Ethernet. While we hope these tips will do the trick for you, sometimes your internet connection is simply too slow to sustain your internet consumption. Unsure what internet speeds you need to support your online habits? Check out our guides to internet speed for online gaming and video streaming requirements.
So even if you have a Mbps plan, you might not always get that much bandwidth. You can find every internet provider in your area and compare internet speeds and prices by entering your zip in the box below. See Your Providers. Wi-Fi is great, but wired connections are faster and more reliable. If you have high-priority devices like a desktop, gaming console, or smart TV, it might be worth your while to plug them in to your router with an Ethernet cable instead of relying on Wi-Fi.
Your Ultimate Guide to Speeding Up. The Consumers Guide to Internet Speed. Author - Rebecca Lee Armstrong. Rebecca Lee Armstrong has more than six years of experience writing about tech and the internet, with a specialty in hands-on testing. She started writing tech product and service reviews while finishing her BFA in creative writing at the University of Evansville and has found her niche writing about home networking, routers, and internet access at HighSpeedInternet.
Cara Haynes has been editing and writing in the digital space for seven years, and she's edited all things internet for HighSpeedInternet. When she's not editing, she makes tech accessible through her freelance writing for brands like Pluralsight.
She believes no one should feel lost in internet land and that a good internet connection significantly extends your life span. Before we begin. While Wi-Fi normally uses a different signal than these other devices, radio noise can still cause interference. Some older routers only use a single band at a time: 2. However, Bluetooth devices, microwave ovens, cordless phones, garage door openers, and baby monitors also use the same 2. This overlapping causes WiFi interference.
Besides frequency band interference, you can also suffer from channel interference. For example, if you live in an apartment and everyone is using the same ISP, those routers tend to use the same channels. That means every router in the building has overlapping signal causing interference.
Luckily, you can go into your router settings and change to a less crowded channel. Do you know how much data you use every month? The typical home burns through over GB per month. All those emails, Netflix marathons, gaming sessions, and hours of surfing the web leads to high data usage. In response, many ISPs throttle speeds for heavy-data users despite having unlimited internet.
Check to see if your existing service is on the cheapest and therefore slowest plan. Please say so. Second, make sure your password is strong and varied. When someone types a website address into their browser, the computer automatically uses DNS to convert the address into an IP address that it can understand. In some cases, the computer uses DNS servers that are having problems. The router broadcasts on an overutilized channel, which causes issues with signal interference.
The placement of the router is not ideal, preventing the signal from evenly traveling in all directions. WiFi Standards Older wireless routers only support older specifications for implementing wireless local area network WLAN computer communication, such as Utilization Any WiFi network is like an invisible party venue.
NetSpot Discover Mode. Range Like any signal, the WiFi signal has a limited range. NetSpot Survey Mode. If not, use the second least utilized non-overlapping channel available. Optimize router placement: You can expect your WiFi network to perform great if your router is tucked away in some corner, far away from your devices.
Kill bandwidth hogs: Bandwidth hogs are like vampires, sucking out the blood from your poor WiFi router. To keep human bandwidth hogs away from your router, use a strong password. To prevent malware from taking advantage of your internet connection, install a reliable antivirus solution. Instead, buy a new one and instantly enjoy improved signal strength and faster download and upload speeds. There are many different things you can do to make your WiFi faster, including: Use a more suitable WiFi channel.
Find a better place for your router. Protect your WiFi network with a password.
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