Do web pages take a long time to load? Download speeds do not meet those promised by the ISP. There are many factors that can affect your internet connection. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to improve its performance, and you can see the results in minutes.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Check Hardware, Network and Connection
Step 1. Take a speed test
Before going into the details of the hardware and computer settings, check what speed your connection has and compare it with the one promised by your ISP. On the internet you will find many sites for speed tests, and just search for "speed test" on Google and choose from the first results.
- Different tests will give different results. Even the same test could have different results. This is due to the location of the test server and the number of people sharing your connection.
- Do more tests and calculate the average speed.
- You may need to download plugins to be able to test.
- If given the option, choose the server closest to your geographic location. This will help you get the most accurate results.
Step 2. Compare the results with what you are paying for
Ask your service provider what speed your connection "should" have. Remember that the speed advertised by your provider is "best-case", and you may not be able to get that speed on a regular basis.
- If you haven't changed your internet contract in a long time, you may be able to get better speeds for less expense. Companies often don't promote new offers to old customers, so check for new services that didn't exist at the time you signed the contract. Consult all providers in your area.
- Take into account the Megabyte / Megabit difference. Internet service providers (ISPs) promote their services in megabits and not megabytes. There are 8 megabits (mb) in one megabyte (MB), so if your connection is at 20 megabits per second, the actual maximum transfer rate is just over 2.4 MB.
Step 3. Reset your network
Restarting the modem and router will help you troubleshoot many of the network connectivity issues. If your modem or router has no switch, you can unplug it, wait 30 seconds, then plug it back in.
Step 4. Check that there is no conflict between signals
If you are using a wireless router, make sure it does not conflict with a cordless phone or wireless camera. There are wireless routers with different technologies; 802.11 b, g, e n (2.4 GHz) or 802.11 a (5.8 GHz). If you are using a 2.4 GHz cordless phone and a 2.4 GHz router, your network connection will be slow when you use the phone. The same goes for wireless security cameras. Check the frequency of the phone and the camera; if they transmit at 900 MHz, they do not give any problems. If they report 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz they could be responsible for slowing down your connection.
Step 5. Check if you have reached the data traffic limit imposed by the ISP
Many internet service providers place a limit on the data that can be downloaded and this information can be difficult to find. Log in to your account page, or contact consumer service to ask if you have exceeded the monthly threshold. Often, the penalty for exceeding the threshold is a reduction in speed for the remainder of the billing period.
Step 6. Call your ISP's technical support
In some cases, problems with your service can only be solved on the provider side. They will be able to tell you if your connection is having problems without requiring the intervention of a technician. You may be prompted to reset the network again.
Step 7. Check all devices on your network
If someone else on the network is downloading media files from the internet, such as watching a video or playing an online game, they are probably taking up most of the bandwidth.
Step 8. Change the location of the wireless router or computer
If you are connected to the internet via a Wi-Fi router, poor signal can lead to slow speeds and dropouts. Move the router as close to the computer as possible, or vice versa, or try to hold the router higher to better transmit the signal.
- Dust the router and modem with a can of compressed air. This will help keep them from overheating and increase the reliability of the hardware.
- Maintain adequate ventilation around all electronic devices to prevent overheating.
Step 9. Check your filters if you have a DSL connection
When you activated DSL, you plugged the telephone line into one side of a rectangular filter box. On the other side, there will be two outputs, 1 for your phone and 1 for your modem. If you are using a DSL connection on your home phone line, make sure you have installed high quality filters to get the maximum signal speed.
Step 10. Check the climate
If you are using a satellite internet connection, it can be affected by wind, heavy snow, heavy rain, lightning, static electricity, or other electrical interference.
Part 2 of 3: Optimizing Your Network and Computer
Step 1. Run a weekly scan for viruses
Viruses can greatly reduce your connection speed and put your information and identity at risk. Keeping your computer virus free will help you a lot in speeding up the connection.
You should always have an antivirus program installed and running on your computer, especially if you connect to the internet. You can find free antivirus programs. You should only have one antivirus installed at a time (two or more would conflict with each other)
Step 2. Regularly scan for malware and adware
Most antivirus programs don't look for adware and spyware. These are potentially dangerous programs, which can greatly reduce the speed of your connection, because they are constantly connected to servers. Removing them can be difficult, but there are many programs designed specifically for this purpose. Unlike antivirus programs, you can and should have multiple antimalware programs installed:
- Malwarebytes Antimalware
- Spybot Search & Destroy
- Adw Cleaner
- HitMan Pro
Step 3. Remove excess toolbars
If you have installed too many toolbars on your browser, your connection speed can suffer greatly. Removing these toolbars can help speed up your browser and protect your private information.
Some toolbars can be difficult to remove and you may need to use an antimalware program described in the previous step
Step 4. Change browser
If your old browser is infested with hard-to-remove toolbars and everything seems to be running very slow, you might consider switching to another. Firefox, Chrome, and Opera are all considered to be much faster than Internet Explorer.
Step 5. Clean up your hard drive
A non-optimized hard drive can reduce the speed of your computer, affecting all activities, including browsing the web. Optimizing your hard drive takes just a few minutes and this can greatly improve your browsing experience.
- Make sure you regularly defragment the disk. In most new versions of Windows this is automatic.
- Run the Disk Cleanup utility to delete temporary files that may be slowing down your browser.
- Try to keep at least 15% of your hard drive free. If the disk is too full, programs will take longer to load and edit and this can slow down your browser a lot.
Step 6. Optimize your cache
Web browsers store data about the sites you visit to make future visits faster. However, if your cache is too large, performance can be negatively impacted.
On the internet and wikiHow you can find guides that will explain how to clear your cache
Step 7. Check which programs are occupying the bandwidth
Often your connection speed is slow because other programs use it. To check if other programs, such as antivirus and updates, are accessing the internet without you noticing, you will need to open the Command Prompt. Press ⊞ Win + R to open the Run window. Type cmd and press Enter. (Win 7, Start> All Programs> Accessories> right click on command prompt, select 'run as Administrator')
- Type netstat -b 5> activity.txt and press Enter. You will see the list of programs that have internet access. After a minute or so, press Ctrl + C to finish the scan. You have just created a file listing all the programs that use your internet connection.
- Type activity.txt and press Enter to open the file and view the list of programs.
Step 8. Close any programs you don't need
Press Ctrl + Alt + Del together to open the Task Manager. Go to the Processes tab and close the processes that steal your precious bandwidth. (NOTE: Closing processes with names you don't recognize could make your system unstable).
Look for the "User" column in the Processes tab. If the process belongs to the "System" user, closing it may lead to errors with other programs, and require a restart of the computer. If under User you read your name, closing those programs will probably not cause any problems. Often the system will not allow shutdown, or will automatically reopen essential system programs
Step 9. Uninstall unnecessary programs that are taking up bandwidth
If you have found programs that take up your bandwidth but you no longer need them or that you don't remember installing them, removing them from your computer can improve your connection speed.
Step 10. Change the Wi-Fi channel
If many people in your building are all using the same channel, you may notice a noticeable slowdown in internet speed. Use a program like inSSIDer for PC and KisMAC or WiFi Scanner for Mac to find channels that aren't used much. Switching to one of these channels will reduce interference and possibly increase your speed.
If you see a free channel, switch to the one to increase internet speed. You will need to consult your router documentation or read the support material on the site to find out how to access your router model and change the wireless channel
Step 11. Update your router's firmware
Check the website for the latest firmware downloads for your router. Compare them with your version and update if necessary. Most routers will automatically check for firmware updates when you open their configuration page.
Part 3 of 3: Improve Your Hardware
Step 1. Upgrade your computer
If your computer is slow, the speed of your internet connection won't matter, your experience will be slow. You will be able to access the internet as fast as your computer will allow.
One of the quickest and easiest ways to improve computer performance is to increase the amount of RAM or improve its quality
Step 2. Buy a better router
If your router is old, it will probably barely handle today's web traffic. Older wireless routers also have weak antennas, which can prevent solid connections to the network. All of these factors combined can lead to suboptimal browsing speeds.
- Try routers from reputable companies like Netgear, D-Link, Cisco, and Belkin. Make sure the included antennas are powerful enough to cover the area you need.
- If you want to cover a large area with the wireless network, you may need to install a repeater. This device will receive the wireless signal and amplify it in the desired area of the home or office, greatly increasing the network coverage.
Step 3. Replace your old modem
All solid state electronic components degrade over time due to heat damage. Your broadband modem will find it harder and harder to maintain a good connection with wear and tear. Also, a good quality modem will often be better than the modems assigned by the ISP.
Make sure any third-party modems you purchase are compatible with your ISP
Step 4. Try using an Ethernet connection instead of Wi-Fi
If you can, try to connect as many devices as possible via cable. This will allow you to have higher speeds for those devices, as well as reduce interference for the remaining wireless devices, such as tablets and cell phones.
Advice
- Don't visit porn sites; they are full of spyware and advertisements that will occupy your bandwidth..
- Use Google's DNS. Configure your local DNS to 8.8.8.8 as primary DNS and 8.8.4.4 as secondary.
- You cannot think that a traditional or medium speed connection is fast. The Internet is designed for broadband connections, which exceed 512 kbs. In some cases, you will only be able to wait a bit.
- Download the programs that can speed up your browsing:
- Loband.org is a browser within a browser that loads web pages without images.
- Firefox and Opera both have the option to disable images.
- On Firefox, you can use extensions like NoScript which allow you to block scripts and plug-ins that may slow down your browsing.
- If you use Firefox, download the Faterfox and Firetune extension.
- Watch out for scams that lurk behind websites claiming to check your computer or connection and will tell you how much faster it could get for free. Often these are programs that will find non-existent problems and ask you to purchase a program to fix them.
- There will be cases where you won't get good download speeds, even if your network and connection are optimized to perfection. If you are downloading from a slow or geographically distant server, you will probably have to wait.
