Lots of things can slow down your Internet connection, or it could even be that your computer, router, or Internet connection aren’t capable of supporting the speeds you expect. Here are a few things you can quickly test to find Internet connection speed problems.
Bandwith Versus Latency
When people say Internet speed, they ofter refer to two different things under the same name. Bandwidth is how much data you can download within a particular amount of time. Latency is how long it takes to get a response from a particular server on the Internet.
Downloaders mostly care about bandwidth. Gamers mostly care about latency (which they often call ping).
A good Internet speed test will let you test both. Your bandwidth should be between 30% and 50% of what your Internet Service Provider (ISP) promised on your plan. (Yes, that means it will only be half as fast as they promised. I don’t know how they get away with it, but practically every ISP in the U.S. consistently lies to their customers.)
Latency will vary by where you live and what type of connection you have. Less than 10 milliseconds latency during a test is fantastic. Less than 20 is good-to-great. More than 30 is mediocre. More than 50 is slow, and more than 100 means you’re probably on dial-up, satellite link, or you live in a very remote area (or the speed test site is located on a different continent than you).
Equipment Problems
If your speed suddenly dropped, you probably don’t have an equipment problem. Most networking equipment either works or it doesn’t. But if your speed never reached the amount you expected, you could have a hardware incompatibility.
The three main speeds for wired home networking equipment are 10BaseT (standard ethernet), 100BaseT (the most common), and 1000BaseT (gigabit). Wireless networking speeds vary all over the place by protocol version (802.11 a/b/g/n) and by the distance and number of obstacles between your computer and your wireless router.
If all of your wired networking equipment, including your computer, are from the last fifteen years, you should be able to support the maximum speed on an DSL or cable connection. If you have fibre optic service, you may need to upgrade to gigabit equipment to get the best speed—that means you should only use computers and routers made in the last five years, plus you should use CAT-5e or CAT-6 cords.
If you have cable or DSL, wireless a/b/g are fine. Try moving your wireless computer closer to your router and re-run the speed test to see if your speed improves.
If you have fibre optic service, you need wireless-n equipment (including the card in your computer) to get the best speed. Once again, try moving your computer and your router closer together.
Software Causes Of Slow Internet
The most common causes of slow Internet in my experience are all software related. The easiest way to determine whether software is at fault is to run the same Internet speed test with two different devices connected to the same router. If they’re wireless devices, keep them roughly the same distance from the router.
If the speed test indicates vastly different speeds, check the slower device or computer for viruses. Then look for programs which are downloading updates or files, such as Windows Update and other software updaters. Also check for any file sharing programs you might have left open, such as BitTorrent.
If multiple computers on your network are running slow, check to see if any of them have a bandwidth-hogging virus or downloading program. Maybe your next door neighbour is hogging your bandwidth? You can see who is using your Wifi easily, but I find that most slow Internet connections are caused by viruses and BitTorrent applications.