How to Speed Up Your Internet: 5 Helpful Tips

Have you recently asked yourself, “Why is my internet slow?” Whether you’re playing or working, slow internet can be frustrating and even have lasting negative effects on your education and employment.

Keep reading for a guide to common internet problems and how to speed up your internet if you encounter these problems.

Reason 1: Your Internet Plan

Your internet plan most likely has a cap on speed and data usage. Your plan may be too slow, or you may be getting throttled for using too much bandwidth. You can test your connection speed and bandwidth with many helpful online tools.

How to Speed up Your Internet:

If your data plan is the issue, you can upgrade to a new plan or pick a different plan with a different provider. It’s important to read the fine print on every data plan, however. Even “unlimited” data plans can have a soft cap unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Reason 2: Your Network Provider

Telecomm services are dominated by major networks like AT&T and Verizon. There are benefits to large network providers, but there are also downsides.

Major companies can neglect customers in rural areas and struggle with network congestion. They’re also less flexible with their plans and customer service.

How to Speed up Your Internet:

If your major company is struggling to provide you with consistent high-speed internet at an affordable price, consider a local ISP instead. They may offer comparable services without major network issues.

For example, Windstream has high-speed internet plans available outside of major Texas metro areas. Contact a Windstream Authorized Sales Agent to learn more.

Reason 3: Your Network Devices

Your internet connection may have the best plan, but it’s still only as good as your network devices. If they’re outdated or have slow processing power, your internet problems will persist.

How to Speed up Your Internet:

Find out the max speed and bandwidth your device supports, and consider upgrading if it falls far short of your internet plan. If all your devices have similar troubles, your modem or router may be the culprit.

Reason 4: Your Background Apps

We’re all guilty of having too many tabs or applications open at once. There are also apps that run in the background continuously even if you’re not using them. Device overload can bog down your bandwidth and CPU quickly, even if everything else is working great.

How to Speed up Your Internet:

Make sure to keep all unnecessary active and background apps closed. There are many how-to guides to do this on different devices. You can also try speeding up an internet connection by adding extra memory or storage, or updating drivers and software.

Reason 5: Your Device Health

Keeping hardware and software up to date is also important to maintaining your device’s health. Outdated hardware and software can not only slow down your high-speed internet, but it can also leave your device vulnerable to malware and viruses.

How to Speed up Your Internet:

Malware can slow down your device even further by overloading its memory or creating performance instability. Always make sure your antivirus programs are the latest version, as cybercriminals quickly exploit vulnerabilities that aren’t patched or updated.

Enjoy High-Speed Performance for Your Internet and Devices

Most internet connection issues are straightforward problems with simple solutions. Now that you know how to speed up your internet, you can enjoy internet and device performance at the speeds you need.

If you want to learn more internet-savvy wisdom, take a look at more articles in our tech section.