Internet speed, measured in megabits per second, measures how long it takes data to get from the Internet to your computer (and vice versa). There are many factors that contribute to data speeds including your bandwidth, the latency of your connection (more on that later), the number of devices on your network, your overall Internet usage (did you hit your data cap?), and the age of your current equipment (laptop, modem, etc.).
Network congestion is a major problem and probably the easiest to fix in the short term. You may have more devices on your home network than you think, with each taking up bandwidth. Internet-connected devices can be anything from the obvious such as your smartphone and laptop, to things we may forget are connected to the network such as home security cameras, NEST thermostat, a digital picture frame, a smart watch, Apple TV, Smart TV, and so on. The more devices on your network, the more data those devices will use, limiting capacity for all devices.
A quick fix would be to try moving closer to your wireless router. This usually works wonders but it's not recommended to get closer than 3ft!
Your (and your family's/roommate's) Internet habits also come into play. Simple email and web browsing take up less of your data/speed than activities such as online multiplayer gaming, Minecraft, and heavy HD video streaming such as Netflix and Prime.
Lastly, keeping up-to-date equipment placed in the right locations in your home can help improve performance.
In this article, we're going to focus on the following:
- Locating your modem/router
- Running a speed test
- Rebooting your modem/router
- Running a second speed test
- Contacting your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) technical or customer support if needed
- Helpful tips and additional information
Before we jump to solutions, lets evaluate the scope of the problem. We'll start by assessing your current situation, then if needed we can take steps to improve your Internet connection.
1. Running a Baseline Speed Test
Lets start at the beginning. To determine your Internet speed, you will need to test it.
Visit SpeedTest to run a baseline speed test.
Before running a baseline speed test, you're likely on wireless, so make sure your computer or device is as close to your WiFi router as possible when running the test.
For example, if you are running the test upstairs and your WiFi Router is downstairs, this will significantly affect your speed results. If your router is located in your garage or behind a bookcase, that will produce an even slower connection. We'll talk more about proper router placement later, but for now, we need to take this variable out of the equation so move close to your router.
It's also recommended that you run this test a couple different times and take the average speed to get a clear idea of your bandwidth. Your results should be fairly consistent, within a few Mbps (megabits per second) of the previous result. In addition to bandwidth, we have to consider latency (referred to as ping rate).
In the above image, you can see the bandwidth is 34.33Mbps download and 2.88Mbps upload. download speeds tend to be much faster than upload speeds, so this is expected.
Pay attention to the PING of 23ms. Actual Internet speed comes down to a combination of bandwidth and latency. But what is latency? Simply put, latency is delay. It's the amount of time it takes to send data from one point to the next. latency is measured in millisecond (ms).
While latency and bandwidth are not the same, they are closely related. Latency is a way to measure speed- bandwidth isn't actually speed but rather, the potential.
The low PING number (latency) provides a good indication that this Internet connection will seem fast enough to do just about all we need. Anything below about 32ms is ideal. To put it into relatable terms, a delay of 32 ms is practically imperceptible to our senses and will feel like it's instant.
The outcome of higher bandwidth and lower latency is a dramatic increase in speed as experienced by the end-user. High bandwidth plus low latency results in faster web page loading, high quality Netflix viewing, faster and better quality Zoom meetings, etc.
Keep in mind various additional factors contribute to perceived internet speed (the performance you actually experience) such as age of your equipment, but we'll get into that later.
Getting back to our test .. Now that you have run your test, you are either happy with your result and can stop reading here, or you are unhappy with your result, in which case, we've provided ample information on next steps.
Before we start, we need to discern where the slow-down is occurring. Is it a hardware issue? Is it caused by simple network congestion? Is mom working on a VDI in the cloud while Johnny is watching Netflix and Suzy is building her Minecraft world while holding a Netflix Party? Is everyone on wireless?
A good place to start is by considering the hub of all your internet activity- the modem. Has the modem been rebooted this month? No? Lets do that first!
2. Restart your Modem
The first step is always to restart your modem (when wireless service is provided through the modem, ISPs will likely refer to it as a "router").
Reboot your modem/router every month or so, to refresh your internet connection. You can do this simply by powering the unit off, wait a few seconds, and then power it back on.
So what exactly does "refresh your internet connection" mean? Rebooting the modem reinitiates your connection to your ISP, and sometimes that works to boost your speeds back to normal.
If you have a separate device that provides wireless connectivity (i.e. a wireless access point manufactured by companies such as Netgear, ASUS, Linksys, etc.) be sure to restart that too. When you have a separate AP/router, it's important to remember that you can power them both down one after the other, but when you power them back on, be sure to power on your modem first, wait for it to fully come back online, and then you can power up your wireless AP.
*If you don't follow that order, the AP may have difficulty acquiring a DHCP network IP address, which will result in your devices not being routed to the Internet (I.e. no internet access through your wireless connections).
3. Run a Second Speed Test
If you've done all of the above then it's time to run another speed test to determine if the previous steps of restarting your modem (i.e. refreshing your Internet connection) helped. It should have, but if not, there is one more step we can take, and that's to contact your ISP.
4. Time to Call your ISP
If you've restarted your modem/router and your speed hasn't improved to within a few MBs of your contracted Internet connection speed, it's time to call your ISP. Typically, ISPs offer a 24/7 support line. Here is a list of common ISPs and their support contact info:
Xfinity (Comcast)
Spectrum (Charter)
When you reach a support representative, advise them that your Internet connection is slow and that you'd like them to re-provision your data connection. They'll want to verify your billing address and gather some other information to verify your account. Then, they'll probably check to see if there is an outage or other reported issues in your neighborhood.
From there, you can expect them to run a few tests, such as restarting your modem (they can do this remotely) and they'll ask you to plug a computer directly into your modem using an ethernet cable. This will eliminate your WiFi network as a source of any problems.
After running all the tests, they will check to ensure that you're receiving your contracted speed (or close to it).
Note: most ISPs give themselves a 5% acceptable margin so if you're paying for 50Mbps connection, and you're only receiving 47.5Mbps, the support rep will likely have one of 2 responses. They'll either let you know that speed is within acceptable margins and will do nothing further, or if you're not happy with it, they will try to up-sell you on a faster plan.
Also, pay attention to download AND upload speeds because they're vastly different. We have primarily been content consumers of large amounts of video entertainment (ie. Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, etc.). However, now that we are working from home hosting Zoom meetings, etc., we have transitioned to being both content consumers AND content creators. Consuming content is affected by the download speed, while creating content is affected by the upload speed. ISPs will advertise their download speeds while deemphasizing their upload speeds, which are usually much slower. Some ISPs do offer fast upload speeds as well so do ask your ISP the question, "What is my upload speed?"
#See below for a special consideration for satellite Internet users
*Pro Tip: While you're on the phone with your ISP, be sure to inquire as to the latest Internet plans. ISPs will often increase data plan capacities for the same price but will not communicate changes (especially price reductions) to current customers. You may be able to either get a faster speed for your current price OR get a better price for your current speed.
In addition to asking for a re-provisioning of your data connection and receiving clarity about your plan, ask them about your modem, specifically whether or not you are due for an upgrade.
As ISP technologies change and evolve, older modems won't be able to take advantage of current tech. Sure, they'll be backwards compatible, but they won't be able to support some of the enhancements of the newest technologies. If your modem is old and outdated, request a new modem BUT do not pay for it. Of course they will try to charge you for the modem. Many people unknowingly think they are required to pay for it, which is why ISPs are all too glad to collect the fee.
When you push back, they may offer an outrageous lump sum payment (usually around $200) or they'll offer to "let" you rent it for $10 a month, which over time will end up costing you a lot more! Realize that ISPs want to keep you as a customer paying those monthly bills forever, so they will often acquiesce to your insistence of new hardware at no charge. However, if they insist on charging you for a modem that they own, just inform them you'd rather purchase your own compatible modem. This will usually convince them to give you a modem at no cost to you. If not, it will still be cheaper to purchase your own modem through Amazon or Best Buy rather than purchasing through the ISP. Just be sure an ask them for a list of compatible models. They will provide it.
Ok, so at this point, lets say you've confirmed your Internet connection is solid. The speeds are acceptable, your ISP says they don't see anything wrong on their end, but you're still experiencing slow performance. What could be the problem? Wireless is simultaneously wonderful, and wonderfully frustrating. But there is a simple trick to boosting performance.
5. Placement of your Wireless Router
One of the major considerations for improving your home Internet access is to pay attention to your router placement. The router (modem/router) provides your computer and other Internet connected devices a way to connect from the device to the modem. If it's a separate device from the modem, the wireless router does not directly provide Internet access. It just provides a way to connect your device to your modem, wirelessly. That said, a wireless signal is designed to broadcast best when elevated so the higher you can place it, the better for transmitting the signal throughout your home.
The problem is many people are concerned about wireless routers being an eyesore, and therefore place them inside cabinets, or behind other items in order to obscure them from view. This will adversely impact its functionality.
Wireless routers must never be placed inside cabinets or on the floor, behind bookshelves, or in any enclosure. In addition to stifling the signal, a build up of heat and dust will adversely affect its performance and will likely shorten its lifespan.
6. Consider using Ethernet
If you've exhausted all other avenues, maybe it's time to consider using an ethernet cable. Using a cable will provide the fastest connection possible, so if you're paying for 50 Mbps, a cable will ensure you get nearly all that bandwidth, whereas with wireless you will likely lose some bandwidth to overhead and to other factors previously mentioned (i.e. wifi network congestion, impeded signal, shared bandwidth, etc.). Suffice it to say ethernet gives you the best connectivity, albeit with a lack of mobility.
7. Dreaded Data Caps
Could poor performance be caused by a data cap? What's a data cap anyway? Data caps are not usually brought up by the ISP when they're advertising their fast speeds to new customers. Data caps are simply arbitrary monthly totals imposed by the ISP on all of their subscribers and are usually found in the "fine print."
Most (if not all) ISPs have monthly data caps. They are a way for ISPs to limit the amount of data transferred by customers on a monthly basis and were originally put in place due to a small number of subscribers taking advantage of no data caps to run home networks with servers streaming/downloading massive amounts of data. They were also using tons of data to download (in some cases) pirated music and movie content. Terabytes upon terabytes of data were downloaded and even uploaded through peer to peer networks.
Once the ISPs discovered how much data was being used by this minority of subscribers, they imposed a monthly limit on data usage. Anytime users reach their monthly data cap, ISPs will significantly slow down Internet speed. Even cellular carriers impose data caps on "unlimited" plans. This is known as data throttling or throttling the connection.
Many of us rely on our Internet connection for entertainment as well as for work. We watch Netflix, Hulu, and other online streaming providers. We stream music on Spotify and Pandora. All of this uses up data and contributes towards a monthly data allotment. As we near the end of the monthly billing cycle, it's easy to either get really close to, or even surpass our data caps. If that happens, our connections are likely to be throttled, at which time we will notice a slow down.
Everything listed above represents a fairly comprehensive look at the causes of slow home Internet and what you can do to improve your experience. The other issues that can affect slow network performance that are beyond the scope of this article include outdated network equipment, outdated laptops, and some home building materials (i.e. stone and masonry, glass, etc.) that will dramatically impeded wireless signals throughout the home. In these cases, we recommend investigating if a mesh network may help.
#Bonus information for Satellite Internet users
Those who live in remote rural areas have limited options for Internet service. They have no choice but to purchase Internet service through satellite Internet providers such as HughesNet or Viasat. While the advertised Internet bandwidth can be comparable to terrestrial ISP service providers, one major issue that adversely affects the performance of satellite Internet is high latency.
To someone who has a 100Mbps satellite Internet connection with 500ms latency, the Internet will feel dreadfully slower than someone else who has a terrestrial Internet connection of 25Mbps with 5ms latency.
Why does satellite Internet have so much latency? In a word, distance.
The further you are away from something (i.e. satellites, ISP hub, etc) the longer it will take for information to be sent to your computer. Satellites are tens of thousands of miles away so a request that goes to the satellite, then to the main ISP hub, to the internet, and then back again, and then makes multiple trips to space and back for you to get the data you requested will take a (relatively) long time. As a result satellite connections have latency rates in the range of 500ms. This is very high, especially when you compare it to a solid cable connection that has a latency rate (also called a "ping" rate) of 10-12ms. The effect of this is the impression of slowness. To solve this problem, the first thing people want to do is increase their bandwidth, which means paying more money. However, this is not a guarantee of improved latency and as such does not always translate to a better experience.
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