Why is My Internet So Slow? A Complete Guide To Solve And Speed Up The Connection

Remember the days when you had to patiently wait for the internet to dial up and pages loaded at an incredibly slow speed? The technological advancements since then has allowed us fast access to all the information we could possible need in an instant. Which is why slow internet connection nowadays is almost unbearable. Seeing that spinning circle of doom and waiting, what seems like an eternity, for the page to load is extremely frustrating.

The Frustration Of Slow Internet In These Modern Times

Just browsing the internet with slow connection can be bad enough but when many parts of our lives are spent online, we can often experience slow internet connection all the more.

Take watching TV programmes or movies for example. The worst thing is when it gets to a crucial moment in the plot and suddenly it stops, the spinning circle of doom appears and your experience feels utterly ruined. Have it happen more than a few times and you start to question whether you should start attending anger management classes.

You go to save the online work you’ve spent hours perfecting and at that crucial moment the internet connection slows down, you try to refresh the page and then comes the horrifying realisation that you’ve just lost it all, never to be seen again. Not only do you need anger management, you probably need consoling.

What Steps You Can Take When You Experience Slow Internet Connection?

When slow internet hits, there are some steps you can follow to try and identify and fix it.

1. Check Your WiFi Connection

Probably the most obvious first step but we have to put it in here: check your WiFi connection is working. In some instances, your computer may have switched over to someone else’s open, weaker WiFi connection because yours has temporarily switched off. That is, if you’ve set it to automatically roam for WiFi connections.

2. Check Your Hardware Including Broadband Router Settings

Giving your modem and router a quick reset could be all you need to do to kick it back into action. Turn it off and back on again and see if it solves the problem both on yours and any other computers in the house.

3. Turn Off Broadband-Hogging Plugins And Apps

Ads and programmes (especially those using videos) running in the background could be taking up a lot of the bandwidth without you realising. Close down all your windows and consider installing an Ad Blocker. It only solves part of the problem but it could temporarily speed up the connection.

4. Check To See If You’re Downloading Anything

Downloading anything can slow your internet connection way down especially if you’re downloading files using BitTorrent. Pause these and you will see your connection instantly speed up.

5. Check Your Subscription

Are you actually paying for slow internet? It could be worth checking your plan, then use a speed tester such as Speedtest.net to see if the numbers are matching up. If not, then you need to make a call to your provider.

6. Optimise Your Web For A Slow Connection

If you still need to browse the internet while you sort out your slow connection, then a helpful tip is to optimise your web by switching to HTML or mobile versions of websites and disabling pictures. Doing all these can make your browsing less frustrating albeit less entertaining.

7. Call Your Internet Provider

If you’ve tried everything and it’s still slow, then now’s the time to call your internet provider. Be aware that it may not be a fault on their end so be respectful and you’re more likely to get helpful advice or solutions.

Want To Speed Up Your Slow Connection? Follow These Simple Steps

1. Optimise Your Browser

Switch to browsers such as Firefox that provides extensions to stop ads, or Chrome that uses minimal memory without the need for Flash and JavaScript. Opera Turbo is specially designed for slow connection as it’s been built with compression technology.
Close all unused tabs that could be open pages that are being refreshed and therefore using up more bandwidth.
Allow some cookies and caching. While some may be weary of having their information tracked, they allow pages to load more quickly.

2. Optimise Your Modem/Router

Reposition your router to the same room as your computer or somewhere central in the house.
Your wireless device could be slowing down due to the connection being broadcast on the same channel as your neighbours’. Try using programmes such as inSSIDer to check the channels in your vicinity.
Separate other wireless devices as this could be bogging down the internet connection too. Simply keep them apart.

So, next time a slow internet connection sends you into a frenzy try these steps to help you identify the source of the problem. Slow internet connection may be frustrating with many areas of our lives now depending on a speedy process, but finding ways to solve it, even temporarily, can go a long way.

Featured photo credit: Tim Gouw via pexels.com

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