More than 60% of the world’s population uses the internet according to claims by the World Bank. And a bad internet speed can cause many problems from delayed downloads and extended buffering. A slow internet usually results in frustration for the users. However, there are some ways of increasing your internet speeds that you can check in this article.
You may experience slow internet because of several factors. When you sign up for a fast internet connection from an ISP like Spectrum after following the Spectrum billing process, check the speeds on your package. To fix other factors from your end and ensure that you are getting full bandwidth, this article includes five different methods.
Restarting Your Router
It may not sound like it, but one of the most effective ways of fixing your internet speeds is just to restart your router. You can solve issues like poor signal strength and no access to the internet on your devices through this simple fix.
The right way of restarting your WiFi router is to power off the router or take out the plug and wait for thirty seconds. Turn on your router or plug it back after this interval. In most cases, your internet will work faster. And if it still does not provide faster speeds, you can try the other methods in this article.
Easy Adjustments to Your Router
After you have tried turning your WiFi router on and off, try changing its position. You can change the location of your router from the spot where you were not getting the desired speeds. It is best to place your router somewhere in the middle of the house so the signals scatter equally. Usually, the best practice is to put your router somewhere higher and away from walls. And what you should not do is to place your router near windows as signals will spread more towards outside your house. See the location that gets you the strongest signals.
In addition to changing the location of your router, you can also adjust the antennas. If your router has antennas, you can change the directions of the antennas and see if it increases the speeds. An advisable practice is to put one of the antennas in the horizontal direction so it catches the signals. Also, the other antenna/s should be in a vertical position. This is because the signal scattering is in a perpendicular direction to the actual direction of the antenna. Making such easy adjustments may result in faster internet speed.
Upgrading Your Router
Sometimes the internet speeds may become slow when your router is old. In such a situation, you should consult your internet provider regarding an upgrade on the router. New routers have many advanced features like setting the type of bandwidth. For example, there are features for gaming and streaming that get you a faster internet speed by setting bandwidth preference.
Apart from buying new routers, upgrading your router antennas can help as well. Some companies make router accessories like antennas for faster bandwidth. You can attach those new and modified antennas to your routers for faster access.
Various Other Fixes
Besides adjustments to WiFi routers, there are some things you can do for better internet speeds. The first thing you can do is to remove cache data from your internet-connected devices as it puts an unnecessary burden on the internet bandwidth. Another thing you can do is to turn off the VPN on your computers and phones when not in use. VPNs eat up a lot of bandwidth.
Another thing you can do is to change your WiFi password. Yes, simply just change the password. Doing this will allow you to disconnect the devices you are not using and only connect to the devices you use. Also, this can help you save the bandwidth from unwanted users with whom you shared passwords at some point.
Checking Internet Speeds from Tools
For all the fixes in this article, you can easily monitor the change in speeds through online tools like Fast.com and other speed test applications. When you click on these applications or visit their address, you can see your downloading speeds, uploading speeds, and network ping. So, this is how you can check whether the fixes you implemented had any effect or not.
Even after all the above-mentioned fixes, it is better to consult your internet service provider. You can share the report from your speed test application with them and wait for their feedback.