Five tips to boost your internet connection

One of the annoying things about using the internet is when it doesn’t go as fast as you want it to. Slow internet is annoying because that means chaos will reign, you will miss information on that Zoom meeting and in other cases, you fail to download the content you want in good time. There are several ways of boosting the internet so that it goes faster, and you get your work done.

Your internet service provider cannot fix everything for you, so here are a few solutions you can use to boost slow internet If you do not want to spend money on “fixing” your speed. This is the first thing for you to do so that when you try the tips given, you’ll see if there is the change you need.

Take a speed test

Sometimes the speed you pay for is not what you get. You might think you are getting it when in actuality you aren’t, leading to slow internet. Taking a speed test will determine if you are getting the speed you pay for.

How to take a speed test

It might sound complicated but it is not. Anyone can manage to do this. The speed test can be taken online. First,  you need to use a device that is connected to Wi-Fi. For better results, use an Ethernet cable and connect your computer to your router. If your speed is what you pay for, time to explore other ideas for speeding up. If not, time to make that call to your internet service provider.

Moving the Wi-Fi Router

You might be blaming freeloaders, but sometimes it is where and how you placed your router. Placement of the router impacts speed and connection stability greatly.

Place the router on top of anything but it has to be in an open space. The best place to put your router is in the middle of your house. Central placement means that every part of your house will experience a good internet connection.

Signals travel perpendicular to the Wi-Fi router, so if you place it on the floor, maybe under a lot of things, you’ll with no doubt experience a slow connection. Apart from that, the signals can be interrupted by radio waves from Bluetooth speakers, microwaves, baby monitors, and even cordless phones.

Use VPN

Counterintuitive? Probably. But just because you use a VPN does not necessarily mean you have to endure and use slow internet speed. You might know VPNs function for hiding your IP address or securing strong online activities. Now you should add one more; a VPN can be used to speed up your internet.

Internet service providers use bandwidth throttling when they see you consuming too much of your data and slow speed is a manifestation of that throttling.

So if you don’t want your ISP to pick up on your usage of data, use VPN. That way they will not see your usage and they will not block your speed. You will be safe from bandwidth throttling.

Bandwidth leeches

Your Wi-Fi safety is very important. If you neglect it in any way, you’ll meet bandwidth leeches. How do you encounter these leeches? By using the default password your Wi-Fi came with your router and by leaving your Wi-Fi without a password. These are signs of you handing your Wi-Fi to other people who have no business using it.

Default passwords can be easily found on the internet, they’re that easy to look for. Meaning anyone can use your Wi-Fi connection, leaving you with slow internet.

You can fix this problem by following and updating all the security measures. Be more diligent with the safety of your router. Use WPA2 security and create passwords that are complex and hard to guess.

Extend your Wi-Fi network

Your Wi-Fi might be in the right position and the best location but still slow in other rooms of your house. If that is the case, then that means you need to extend your network range. You can use any of the following devices to help increase your speed:

• Powerline extender. This comes with two devices that you plug into an outlet, after connecting the router to an Ethernet. Then the second device you plug in the location you need a speed connection. Here the internet will use the electrical wiring of your house to travel
• Wired access points. These points, with the use of an Ethernet, can connect to your router and distribute LAN and WI-FI signals as an extension. They work similarly to a Wi-Fi booster. Old routers can be used as wired access points.
• Wired booster. These are placed between the location where the Wi-Fi is slow and your router. They either amplify or redistribute Wi-Fi signals into the low internet zone.
• Mesh WI-FI systems. You can create a Wi-Fi web that will cover your whole home by replacing your router with a couple of devices that will work together.

Your floor plan will determine the kind of extension idea you need. If there’s only one dead zone in your house, boosters are the best fit. If your house is wired in Ethernet, use access points.

Conclusion

There are so many reasons your internet could be slow. And there are ways of fixing that. In other cases, it just might be that your internet connection is too slow for your internet usage. If that is the case, the easiest way around is to just upgrade your internet plan.

In other cases, it may be that either your modem or router is old and needs replacing. Because if one of them is old, the internet will lag for sure because both of them need to be in good condition for the Internet to be fast.

Some might think that maybe their internet is slow because the router is old. Do not rush to replace it before you’ve found out what is the issue and find ways of fixing it. If that doesn’t work then you can go ahead and replace it.

If you have devices like gaming consoles, smart televisions, and a desktop computers, you can experience better internet by using wired connections. These devices are categorized as high priority devices, and they do better with using an Ethernet plugged into the router than relying on Wi-Fi.