Painfully slow internet browsing cannot only substantially decrease productivity, but can also cause a rather nasty headache. Below are the top ten reasons for slow home broadband.
1) The distance from the nearest telephone exchange:
The closer a home is to where the internet originates the faster the connection is going to be. The only real way to ratify this is to move closer to a telephone exchange.
2) The number of computers sharing the network:
The more people sharing the connection the less speed each is allocated.
3) The time of day:
The more users using the internet in a general area the slower the connection will be. Weekday peak times are easy to monitor as they revolve around the average work day. Extremely high right around the beginning of the day and then it tapers off a bit, spiking around lunch time. The early afternoon tends to not be so bad and then it peaks again about an hour before the workday ends. Night time and weekends see significantly less internet traffic.
4) Quality of the computer:
An old, virus infected, slow computer will provide a slow browsing experience. Clean it up or upgrade to a new one.
5) Quality of the cables used:
The telephone infrastructure in and around a home, the cables linking it to the modem, and the cable from the modem to the computer (if wired) will all determine how fast a browser is running. Upgrade all cables, especially if current ones are older, and an increase in speed should be apparent.
6) Quality of internet hardware used:
That is the modem and wireless router. Like anything mechanical, they tend to degrade over time, so if a modem from 1999 is still being used it may be time for a new one.
7) Personal browser settings:
Some internet browsers are slower than others. Installing other apps on top of that will only slow a computer further. Things like cookies will also decrease surfing speed. It may be wise to download a new browser and strip away some of those unnecessary extra features.
8) Traffic management:
Internet providers penalize for excessive bandwidth use, slowing speeds if the user tends to download a huge amount of large files. This can also include video and, to a lesser extent, music streaming.
9) Popular websites:
The website itself is only designed to handle a certain amount of traffic each month. If it is a massively popular website with a multitude of users it might run a bit slow.
10) Weather:
Thunderstorms, snow, hail, wind, and all other types of unpleasant weather can disturb the ADSL signal and slow a connection down. It may be better to wait until it passes so the broadband can work to its fullest potential.
If the internet has been bothersome recently it may help to try out a few of these tips. Of course, there are ways to avoid a great number of these problems, such as finding a new place to search the web or using some sort of mobile broadband, which would cut out many hardware and sharing problems.
1) The distance from the nearest telephone exchange:
The closer a home is to where the internet originates the faster the connection is going to be. The only real way to ratify this is to move closer to a telephone exchange.
2) The number of computers sharing the network:
The more people sharing the connection the less speed each is allocated.
3) The time of day:
The more users using the internet in a general area the slower the connection will be. Weekday peak times are easy to monitor as they revolve around the average work day. Extremely high right around the beginning of the day and then it tapers off a bit, spiking around lunch time. The early afternoon tends to not be so bad and then it peaks again about an hour before the workday ends. Night time and weekends see significantly less internet traffic.
4) Quality of the computer:
An old, virus infected, slow computer will provide a slow browsing experience. Clean it up or upgrade to a new one.
5) Quality of the cables used:
The telephone infrastructure in and around a home, the cables linking it to the modem, and the cable from the modem to the computer (if wired) will all determine how fast a browser is running. Upgrade all cables, especially if current ones are older, and an increase in speed should be apparent.
6) Quality of internet hardware used:
That is the modem and wireless router. Like anything mechanical, they tend to degrade over time, so if a modem from 1999 is still being used it may be time for a new one.
7) Personal browser settings:
Some internet browsers are slower than others. Installing other apps on top of that will only slow a computer further. Things like cookies will also decrease surfing speed. It may be wise to download a new browser and strip away some of those unnecessary extra features.
8) Traffic management:
Internet providers penalize for excessive bandwidth use, slowing speeds if the user tends to download a huge amount of large files. This can also include video and, to a lesser extent, music streaming.
9) Popular websites:
The website itself is only designed to handle a certain amount of traffic each month. If it is a massively popular website with a multitude of users it might run a bit slow.
10) Weather:
Thunderstorms, snow, hail, wind, and all other types of unpleasant weather can disturb the ADSL signal and slow a connection down. It may be better to wait until it passes so the broadband can work to its fullest potential.
If the internet has been bothersome recently it may help to try out a few of these tips. Of course, there are ways to avoid a great number of these problems, such as finding a new place to search the web or using some sort of mobile broadband, which would cut out many hardware and sharing problems.
