Internet is slow: causes and solutions

Si Internet is slow, do not be fooled by some claims that promise to speed up the connection and improve the performance of your network. They are usually apps or devices that do not work at all and will make you waste time and money. Therefore, I recommend you read this article with all the truth about what does not work and what really works. So your connectivity problems will go to the background, being able to download quickly, load what you need, or play in multiplayer mode without delays.

common causes

The problems of a slow internet can be due to various causes:

Coverage

It may be for the Wi-Fi or data coverage. And it can be solved with any of these procedures:

• Move closer to the router or move to see if the coverage improves.
• Avoid obstacles such as doors, walls, large bodies of water, etc.
• Use WiFi signal extenders if it is that problem or PLCs.
• Move away from EMI sources that can generate interference.
• Check that it is not an antenna problem.

line problems

They may also be Problems with the Internet network or with the mobile data network. In this case, your device is correct, but you must be patient and wait for them to solve the technical problem that caused it to be cut off or call your operator to notify that there is a problem. And, if it's due to bad weather conditions, like storms, just wait for the weather to improve.

If you have a data rate, also check that you have not exhausted it if you have a limit of MB or GB per month. Or, if it is a prepaid card, that the balance has not been spent.

Settings and apps

Another possible problem is the configuration of your device, such as trying to connect to a slower network, which is connecting by 2.4Ghz instead of 5Ghz if you have a dual-band router, etc. To do this, you can access the configuration of your router. Also check that the network is not being used abusively and that it is congested. In such a case, disconnect some lower priority devices from the network.

On the other hand, the apps on your device can also slow it down, or the operating system itself. Eliminate the background apps to prevent them from consuming network resources unnecessarily. And check that your operating system is not downloading an update and that is why it is slowing down.

Also, you should have good antivirus software to scan the device and rule out malware problems.

firmware

Check that the firmware of your router does not need updating, since sometimes updates are not only for security, there are also updates to improve performance or correct problems.

You are using a VPN

Remember the VPNs they make everything much more secure, but since the traffic is encrypted, and having to carry out the redirection and encryption and decryption process, the network slows down more.

Apps to speed up the Internet?

Many will wonder if there are effective apps to speed up the Internet, And the answer is no. Otherwise, Internet connection providers would not have to offer ever faster connections. In other words, the physical limit of the speed of your line cannot be determined by an app, but is determined by the type of LTE connectivity technology, or by the type of WiFi network to which the device is connected.

However, you will surely find some apps that claim to speed up the Internet. What these apps can do is close other apps background apps that perhaps they are making use of the network so that everything goes more smoothly, but they are not going to go beyond the speed that the line to which you are connected has. In other words, if you want to save installing these applications, you can carry out the maintenance yourself by closing any application that is using the network in the background.

On the other hand, if you notice that before the mobile was going fast and since a while now it has stopped going, then it is possible that it is not a network or hardware problem, but that some malware has been installed on your system and is using network resources to perform malicious actions. In these cases, the best app you can install to “speed up the Internet” is a good antivirus to scan for the malicious code that is causing the problem.

Before concluding this section, I would like to comment on something about download managers, which will not speed up the Internet, but they can save you time by pausing and being able to continue a download at another time instead of it getting lost and having to start downloading again from scratch. But don't be fooled, a download manager is not going to speed up your connection beyond the limits of your line. And, if you want a good download manager for Android, you can use Advanced Download Manager, which is free, or you can also opt for a paid app like 1DM.

Wi-Fi coverage

Another problem for which the Internet can be slow, apart from the apps in the background, is that the coverage of your WiFi network be poor. When connected by cable, you will see that the performance is much higher than that of the wireless network, either due to the router, as we will see in the next section, or due to problems of obstacles that may exist between the mobile device and your router, such as water screens such as deposits. , strong EMI or electromagnetic sources that interfere with the signal, thick walls, or that the point from where you connect is very far from the router.

In that last case, you could use a wifi extender to be able to take coverage beyond what you currently can. They are not difficult to set up, nor are they expensive. For very little you can buy one to act as a signal repeater, capturing the signal from the router and broadcasting from that intermediate point to reach other rooms or floors where before it was slow or a connection could not be established. Also, the nice thing about extenders is that you can buy as many as you like to expand your WiFi network as far as you want, and without some of the drawbacks of PLCs.

Router

On the other hand, the problem with your connection, if it is WiFi, may come from the router itself, which is slow and is generating a bottleneck. To solve this problem, in most cases, you can replace your Internet provider's router with a neutral router. Remember that it supports 5Ghz band and that it is as fast as possible, WiFi 6, with MU-MIMO.

Data connectivity

Finally, to speed up your Internet connection beyond Wi-Fi, when you're pulling the data rate, it's important that your mobile device is compatible with 4G+ or with 5G, and that the service provider you have contracted is also one and offers good coverage in your area. In this way, you can enjoy two of the fastest LTE networks that exist at the moment. Especially, if it is a 5G connection, you will be able to fly.