Four Ways to Improve Your Internet Speed
In today’s world slow internet can be detrimental not just for entertainment purposes, but for work too. You could be in the middle of a Zoom meeting or a class and next thing you know you’ve missed out some important information given by your colleague or lecturer respectively. To be honest even if you’re just talking to a loved one over a video call, it can be incredibly frustrating to deal with lags; after all you might have been waiting days to be free at the same hour despite different time zones or finally have gotten some time to talk after a hectic work week. If you’re nodding your head and relating to these situations then you’ve come to the right place because we are going to share some ways you can improve your internet speed:
1. Turn It On and Off
There’s a joke among the IT support community where they ask the person requiring their assistance if they’ve tried turning their device off and on. It might seem pointless but the truth is turning your modem off for a minute and then turning it back on i.e. performing a power cycle can actually help get rid of issues that were slowing down your internet speed.
It would also be a good to reset your router as doing so helps clear the memory on the router and increased your protection against malware and hackers.
Overall you should probably be resetting both your modem and router at least once a month and, if you frequently experience issues, then maybe even once a day. Just be sure to inform everyone in the house when you’re resetting your devices otherwise you could land up having to deal with some very grumpy people.
2. Router Location
With newer and newer models of routers some very interesting and perhaps rather unpleasant router designs are coming out. While this may not bother a techie who’s more interested in getting his job done, at home you might want to hide that router for ruining “your aesthetic.” Unfortunately hiding your router in the basement or a cupboard or any other corner of the house is only going to hurt you. So get ready to embrace a few wires and a router in the middle of your house because that’s what’s going to give your internet speed the boost you’ve been looking for. The more obstacles: walls, ceilings, shelves, objects your Wi-Fi has to pass through the slower your internet is going to be. In fact it would be best to work, stream, browse etc. in the same room as your router because there would be fewer obstacles.
Also make sure not to place your router right by objects that also use electromagnetic waves like the microwave, Bluetooth speakers or even baby monitors as these can interfere with your Wi-Fi.
3. A Good Antivirus
You should regularly scan your device for viruses. While most of us are well aware of the dangers posed by viruses in terms of slowing down our PC we don’t realize that viruses can also utilize the internet for their own nefarious purposes thus straining your internet connection due to heavy bandwidth consumption.
4. The Right Direction for Your Router Antennas
Depending on your home the direction your router antennas are pointed in can help improve your internet coverage. How? Well, antennas are omnidirectional i.e. the Wi-Fi signals are transmitted at a 90 degree angle to the antenna. So if you want greater coverage over the same single floor then your router antennas should face up and if you want better coverage upstairs then your router antennas should be kept horizontal as this increases the Wi-Fi coverage in a vertical manner.
5. Ethernet Cable
While using a cable may feel like you’re going back in time, connecting your computer to the internet via an Ethernet cable to your modem is sure to give your internet speed a boost. While Wi-Fi speeds have significantly improved over the years, it still can’t compete with the stability and speed of a cable.
6. A Better Internet Plan
Perhaps you’ve tried all the solutions above with little to no benefit. In that case we recommend you call Spectrum customer service to find out what better internet plans are out there for you.
Final Thoughts
Having slow internet can really bog you down and as customers who pay for your internet connection it is good to look for solutions on your end but also make sure you’ve subscribed to a good ISP to make the most of your money.
