We have been hearing for quite a long time that the internet is not a luxury and is a necessity and the internet has a huge impact on our lives. Is that true? After the COVID pandemic, I guess things have changed a lot and everyone has the internet because people know the importance of the internet in their lives. Internet is no less than a blessing and in times like these when you have to maintain social distancing and stay at home, without the internet, there is no survival. We are connected to our loved ones and family living on the other side of the world just because of the internet. Good internet is a big necessity these days because you cannot afford to have a bad internet connection when you are working from home or taking online classes or even when you are watching your favorite TV series on Netflix. When you are living with your family, you often face issues like slow internet speeds and high latency and there could be multiple reasons why all that is happening.
Why is my internet slow?
While getting internet services, we don’t do proper research and don’t figure out our internet usage before making a decision which we later regret. If you are living in a big household with multiple internet users then you need to make sure that you get a reliable and high-speed internet connection. When multiple users will connect their devices to the internet connection simultaneously and do multiple activities like streaming, online gaming, working, or downloading files, the speeds will be divided among all the devices and the overall internet speed will go down. We don’t think about all this stuff while getting the services and then face multiple issues. There could be many other reasons why you are facing issues regarding your internet speeds. In this article, we will give you some tips to fix your slow family internet.
Change your internet plan
We get internet plans that sound economical without figuring out if that suits your needs or not and then face issues regarding the speed. If too many people are using your internet simultaneously and the internet slows down then you are using more data than what your plan allows. If you don’t want to face any issues regarding the speeds then you must get a plan that suits your needs, even if its costs a bit more than what you are currently paying. There are companies like Spectrum that understand the usage of different types of users and offer multiple internet packages. You can pick a plan that suits your needs and budget and if you want to upgrade or downgrade a plan after some time as per your usage, you can always do that. Check Spectrum packages and see what else do they offer to their customers.
Compare Wi-Fi and Ethernet Speeds
The first thing you need to do is to check the download and upload speed that you are getting to figure out if something is wrong at your end or at the company’s end. To make sure that you get the exact speeds, disconnect your wifi router and do a speed test on a computer or a laptop using an Ethernet cable. If you are getting the speed that you were promised but still you are facing issues regarding the speeds and that speed isn’t enough for you then your modem is working fine. The next step is to check your router if it’s working fine or not. Do multiple speed tests on your smartphone through a Wi-Fi connection and if you see a vast difference between modem and router speed then something is wrong with your router. Try to reposition the router and reset the router. Make sure that you are not hiding your router in a closet or behind your furniture. Most people do it and don’t understand that physical barriers make a big difference and affect signals. See if that works or not. If not, then upgrade the router.
Get a Wi-Fi extender
If you have a big family and a big household then a normal router won’t work for you and you will surely face issues regarding the internet speeds. A normal router has a draw limit and if you cross that limit, you will be facing issues regarding the Wi-Fi signals and your speed will go down. A Wi-Fi extender will help you in getting the best speeds even if you have a big house since it extends the range covering your whole house. You will be getting good signals and can enjoy a stable connection internet.
Check if there is an internet outage
If you face issues regarding the internet speeds then you should also check if there is an internet outage in your area. You can also ask your neighbors if their internet is working fine or not. If there would be an outage, you will at least know that there is nothing wrong with specifically your internet connection. There are different websites where you can check internet outages or you can reach out to the customer support of your company and they will let you know if there is an outage in your area or not. If there would be an outage, they will let you know how long it will take to resolve that outage.
Disconnect unnecessary devices
Disconnect the devices on which you don’t use the internet a lot like if you don’t use a lot of internet on your smart TV but it’s on most of the time then understand that your smart TV is consuming data and is affecting your internet speeds. Disconnect your smartphone after using Wi-Fi if you are doing other stuff on other devices because even if you are not using your phone, the data will be delivered to your smartphone and you will get notifications or updates which means that your phone is consuming data. By disconnecting the unnecessary devices, you will surely see a difference in the speeds.
Use the internet during off-peak hours
Another reason why you are facing issues regarding internet speed is that you might use the internet during peak hours. The peak hours are the hours when most people use their internet. You usually face issues regarding your speeds during that time. The best time to do your important stuff is during the non-peak hours like if you want to download large files or you want a 100Gb update of your Xbox game, then you need to make sure that you do that early in the morning or late at night because the load is less during these hours and you might get a better speed.
Change your internet service providers
If nothing works for you then paying for something which is not worth it doesn’t make any sense. Find out all the options available in your area and choose the one that has good reviews and offers reliable and high-speed internet services to their customers. Ask your neighbors and friends what they are getting and what are their reviews about their internet service providers. Changing the internet service provider is always an option and if nothing works then you should totally switch to a new internet service provider.
