We are all familiar with the frustrating feeling of dealing with slow internet. Time seems to stop moving, and you feel stuck in limbo as that website you are trying to open takes ages to load.
It’s not just websites that suffer due to slow internet. Suppose you are doing something like a video call that requires high speed and minimal latency; in that scenario, slow internet can be downright infuriating.
Thankfully, there are many things you can do to fix a slow, laggy connection. And no, we are not talking about calling your ISP and lodging a complaint, that is a last resort. We are talking about things you can do immediately by analyzing your network performance.
But to implement those solutions, you also need to understand possible reasons why the speed might be slow, as well as diagnose that your particular issue is just slow speed and nothing else. So, let’s check all of that out and learn how to solve this pesky problem.
Understanding Why Your Internet Might Be Slow
Here are the most common reasons why you can experience slow internet speeds.
- Time of day and network congestion.
The internet requires quite an extensive infrastructure to function. ISPs (Internet service providers) have to set up wires and towers in a region from which they provide a connection to individual offices and homes.
Now, these wires are only rated to carry a specific amount of data at once (the bandwidth). Each customer gets a piece of that bandwidth. That’s the “speed” that you get.
Now, ISPs aren’t always truthful about how much bandwidth they can give out comfortably, and they often serve more customers than they are capable of. This often results in network congestion. Network congestion is a phenomenon where more people use a lot more bandwidth than is available. As a result of congestion, everyone gets less bandwidth, hence less “Speed.”
Congestion only occurs at “peak hours” when the maximum number of people use the Internet in an area. In offices, this is the morning hours, 9 am to afternoon, and possibly the early evening too. In residential areas, the peak hours are always evening and night.
- The distance from the router and the presence of thick walls.
If you are using WiFi as the primary means of network connectivity, then how far you are from the router and the number of walls in between will affect your internet speed.
Let’s understand why those two things matter. WiFi routers throw signals via the air. The signals are electromagnetic, which means they have a certain amount of penetrative ability, but due to health reasons, it can’t be too high.
Now, the router has a max range where it can reliably provide internet connectivity. The signal strength weakens the farther you are from the router. Weak signals are easily stopped by physical objects like walls, doors, and windows.
Weak signals result in dropped packets, which means they have to be resent. This delay appears to the user as “slow speed.”
- Outdated router or modem.
Old routers and modems have weaker hardware and use older techniques. Modern routers use 5 GHz (or better) bands for sending WiFi signals. This means that signals have more range and do not experience interference (because 5 GHz signals aren’t common).
Older routers use the 2.4 GHz band. Both Bluetooth and microwaves (from a microwave oven) are also 2.4 GHz. This means that any working Bluetooth device or Microwave oven will interfere with the WiFi signals.
This interference means that signals often can’t reach your device and results in dropped packets, which then have to be resent. Naturally, this causes delays, which appear as slow speeds.
- ISP throttling or service issues.
ISP throttling can occur due to several reasons. They are:
- Network congestion
- Work on the infrastructure, such as repairs or upgrades
- Paid prioritization
We have already discussed network congestion, so let’s discuss the other two. You can experience slower internet if there are some repairs going on in your area. Bad weather and aging wires can result in broken connections and whatnot. During the repairs for such things, it’s possible that the internet is working at limited capacity, which results in slow speeds.
Sometimes, you will experience slow speeds when you are using certain services. This is due to paid prioritization. Companies can pay ISPs to favor their traffic. Since bandwidth is not infinite, prioritizing one company’s traffic means that other companies will work with a smaller bandwidth.
So, let’s say Netflix has paid an ISP for prioritization, then Hulu, Amazon, Apple, and Disney+ will appear to be working slowly on that ISP’s network.
- Bad DNS Resolver
A bad DNS resolver can take a long time to find the websites you are looking for. This can appear as “slow speed” because the website takes too long to load.
A resolver can go bad if it’s working beyond its capacity. Most ISPs assign you a resolver themselves, but these are often not capable enough. If your issues arise due to a bad resolver, only your website loading speed will be slow; your upload and download speeds will be fine.
How To Check If You Have Slow Internet Issues
So, how do you solve these issues? First of all, understand that not all of these issues can be solved. If your ISP is throttling you, or there is network congestion, or some repairs are going on, all you can do is suck it up and wait.
The only solution to those problems is to change your ISP, but that can be a long and expensive proposition. In the meantime, here’s what you can do instead.
Start with a Speed Test
First of all, you need to know your baseline speed. This is the speed that you are getting regularly, most of the time. To learn this speed, you need to do an internet speed test.
It is quite easy to do an internet speed test. You just need to go online and search for any term that has the words “speed test” and “internet” in it. You will get many tools, such as the ones by Ookla, Verizon, Netflix, etc.
However, these tools are quite rudimentary and only provide the basic information about your speed, such as upload and download speeds.
Instead, it’s better to use the MySpeedCheck Speed Test app. This is a free mobile app for mobile devices that can store historical data about your speed tests.
This means you can compare how much speed you were getting on different days as well as different times. So you can easily compare and check if there were any drops or spikes in your internet speed.
Using a mobile application is also handy because you can measure the impact of walls and distance from your WiFi router easily.
Compare Your Speed with What You’re Paying For
Now, we have to determine whether you are experiencing slow internet or if it is something else. That’s why you should do multiple speed tests (over the course of a day or a few days) and compare the results with your subscribed package.
If you are getting consistently low speeds, then you have an ISP throttling issue. If the speeds are intermittently low, you have a network congestion issue.
Check Ping and Jitter for Call Quality
Ping is the time it takes for a network packet to go from your device to a targeted server and come back. The entire round trip usually takes a few milliseconds. A low ping (5 to 40 ms) is required for internet activities like video calls. A high ping results in lots of lag.
Jitter is the difference in ping that occurs in a connection. Ideally, you want no jitter at all. A high, but stable ping is better than a jittery, yet low ping. The issue with ping and jitter is that they are very dependent on the server you are connecting with, so it’s hard to determine if your internet connection is causing them to be high or not.
You can check this by doing a speed test against different servers. Be sure to try out several servers in the same region as well.
If you get low pings and no jitter consistently, then your internet is fine. If you get jitter consistently and unnaturally high pings, then your network could be the issue.
Detect Wi-Fi Dead Zones at Home
The placement of your WiFi router can impact your internet speed. If you place it where a wall or a shelf covers it, its signals will be severely limited in their range. This means you won’t be able to receive max strength signals consistently.
Then, the way our houses and offices are built, some natural WiFi dead zones form. A WiFi dead zone is a place where no signals reach. To find out where your dead zones are, connect your mobile phone to the WiFi and walk everywhere in your office/house. Any places where the signal drops to 1 bar are as good as a dead zone.
Also, do a speed test in areas where the signals are weaker and then compare the results to areas where the signals are strong. If there is a difference in speed, then it means your slow internet was due to weak signals.
Check If There Are Too Many Users
One reason for slow internet is that too many users are connected to one WiFi. Most home WiFi routers are not capable of handling a lot of devices. So, if you have family members or roommates who are all connected to the WiFi with their phones, laptops, and other devices (smart TV perhaps?), then you will notice that your speeds are low.
You can find out if that is the case or not by changing the WiFi password and only connecting one device, then doing a speed test. If you get full speed, then too many users are your issue.
How to Fix Slow Internet Issues
So, how to fix those issues? You can try these tips below and see if they can help you.
- Reboot your modem/router.
Sometimes your router just needs a good old restart. Do that by switching off the power and waiting for at least twenty seconds. Then turn the power back on.
Power cycling your router fixes lots of issues because it clears the router’s memory and temporary storage. It also prompts them to install any pending firmware updates.
So, you can get a small boost in speed.
- Move your router to a central location.
If your router is badly placed and creates dead zones, then move it to a more central location where it can spread its signals more evenly.
Additionally, you can also use WiFi range extenders to boost the signal and remove dead zones.
- Ensure No Bluetooth or Microwave Is Active in the WiFi Range
If you are on old hardware, then you can boost your speed by ensuring that no Bluetooth devices or microwave ovens are operating near your WiFi. They also should not be operating near your devices that connect to WiFi. This way, you can reduce their interference and get the best speed.
- Limit bandwidth-heavy activities on shared networks.
If you are on a shared network and have admin control, then you can limit bandwidth-heavy activities using the router’s settings. You will have to look up a tutorial for your exact router model on how to do that.
However, the gist is that you limit how much bandwidth each connected device can use so that you get the maximum speed.
- Update firmware or hardware (if necessary)
Sometimes, router firmware updates can improve the speed because they improve how the router handles traffic. It can result in using better routing algorithms, which reduce latency as well.
However, if your router is really old, then it will have a max speed limit. So, you will need to upgrade it to get the most out of your package.
- Use a wired connection where possible.
While WiFi is great and convenient, the issues about interference and obstacles can never be completely resolved. That’s why you should use an Ethernet cable that has none of those problems. This way, you will experience the maximum speeds available in your package.
Ethernet connections are also prioritized over WiFi, so you will still get the most bandwidth even if multiple users are connected to the WiFi.
- Change your Resolver
Sometimes, it is just your DNS resolver that is not working properly. In this case, follow this guide to change your resolver to Cloudflare, Google, Quad9, or any other resolver you want to use.
These resolvers are better and have a higher capacity, as well as better routing algorithms. As such, they are able to serve your websites more easily.
When to Call Your ISP
As we mentioned before, sometimes, fixing a slow connection is beyond one’s capabilities. At that point, you need the ISP to step in and do its job. So, how can you figure out when you need to call the ISP?
Well, if speed is consistently lower than promised, even with a wired connection and fewer users, then you can consider calling your ISP. If your ping and jitter are also high, even with different servers and P2P connections (and you have ruled out hardware fault), call your ISP.
Provide them with evidence using the speed test app and show the consistently low speed. This will prompt your ISP to look into the issue and solve your problem.
Conclusion
So, there you have it, a detailed breakdown of why you can experience slow internet speeds and what you can do to diagnose and solve the issue. Contrary to what many think, it’s not always your provider’s fault that you get low speeds.
There can be many reasons for it. That’s why it is important to monitor your network with regular speed tests and troubleshoot any anomalous behavior promptly. So, you should think about downloading the MySpeedCheck Speed Test app and monitoring your home and office networks.
And by following the tips in this guide, you can manage your network health and bandwidth with ease.
