Why Is My Internet so slow? Easy Things To Change

With the increasing influence of the internet on our livelihood, slow internet can bring our lives to a halt. With more and more users streaming, video conferencing, and working on the internet during this pandemic, users cannot afford to have their bandwidth dropping during crucial moments.

There are multiple reasons that can lead to your internet connection being slow. So, if you can narrow down to the reason that is causing this on your particular device, you can easily troubleshoot that issue using easy solutions.

Why Is My Internet So Slow On My Desktop? Check For These Things First

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As mentioned above, you will need to narrow the error down to the reason why your internet connection is slow. This will make it easier to troubleshoot the error and you will not wander around trying out generic solutions. Usually, the issue is with the network provider or the router, however, you can also see slow internet due to a bunch of other reasons.

If you are using a VPN service, usually the internet connections are slow due to the network encryption. If you are using a premium solution, contact the developers who will resolve the issue for you.

Here are some of the simple solutions that you can try to troubleshoot this error. Follow them in the order provided and you should see the error fixed.

Note: If you are using Coaxial splitters, disconnect them and check first, as low-quality coax splitters are also one of the primary causes of slow internet connections.

Solution 1: Check The Internet Speeds

One of the first things you should try is checking if the website you are trying to access is at fault or not. One of the quickest ways to check this will be testing the internet speeds, and there are many online services such as Speedtest.net and Fast.com allowing you to check your bandwidth.

Another method you can try is checking the website itself. Downforeveryoneorjustme.com, downdetector.com, and uptrends.com are some of the services that you can use to check if the website itself is down for just you, or everybody.

Solution 2: Restart The Router

Many modern-day routers can support up to 100 devices, with some even more. However, in reality, home routers usually distribute bandwidth efficiently among 10-12 users, beyond which you will start seeing performance issues. Some routers may store the connected device profiles, which can accumulate over time.

A good place to start to fix slow internet connections is by power cycling the router and the computer. Power cycling involves draining the residual power on your hardware and then powering them on again. Simply unplug the power cords after shutting down the devices, and then press the power button for 30 secs.

Power on the device and you should see an improvement in the internet speeds if the router was at fault.

Solution 3: Move Closer To The Wi-Fi Router

If you are using wireless connections, you may see slow internet connections due to interference from various sources. An easy way to check this is by noticing the Wi-Fi signal icon, where lesser bars indicate poor signal strength.

If you see that the signal is weak, try moving closer to the router. If changing your position does not solve the problem, your router itself may be facing some interference from other appliances. Try changing the position of your router, and test the internet speeds.

Solution 4: Check Active Downloads

Usually, users see the internet so slow at night due to congested network traffic. As the bandwidth you receive is limited, multiple users consuming a high amount of data may lead to the internet speeds falling. If some devices on the network are downloading, others streaming at higher resolutions, you will see the internet speeds drop.

If your internet came with an app to monitor the users and their internet consumption, log into the application, and check if any unknown devices are using excessive amounts of data. Some routers also come with a Quality of Service feature, which allows you to set a priority for applications being used on your network.

Stopping the network congestion should help you reduce the load on the bandwidth, therefore improving the internet speeds altogether.

Solution 5: Flush DNS

DNS cache mismatch can also lead to network throttles. You may see an improvement in your network speeds after flushing and renewing the DNS if all the devices on your network face slow internet connections. To flush DNS, follow these settings:

Open an elevated command prompt. In Windows Search (Win + S), type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch a command prompt with admin access.
Type the following commands one at a time, and press Enter after each one:
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew
nbtstat -r
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
netsh winsock reset

Restart your computer after receiving the confirmation message.

Solution 6: Switch To Public DNS

If your current IP address results in slower internet connections, you can change the DNS switchboard operator from the DHCP client to third party Public IP addresses. This is a fairly effortless process, follow these settings for the same:

Solution 7: Contact The ISP

If none of the solutions provided above helped you, you will have to call your service provider. If your error cannot be solved over the call, the provider should send you a technician who will analyze your issue and provide you the appropriate resolution.

Wrapping Up

Unless the problem is from your end, your ISP should help you solve your unstable network issues. So there you have it. Now you know why your internet is so slow, and how you can easily resolve this using the solutions provided above. Comment below if you found this useful, and to discuss further the same.