How to speed up your internet. Difficulty: Basic .

See how fast and reliable your internet connection is by using DSLReports tools to speed test, ping test and monitor. Read news, information and join our community. Here are seven ways that you can increase your Wi-Fi signal. Some tips require new hardware, but other recommendations are totally free.

Some of the tips, those about the cable especially, could be considered Basic)Want to speed up your internet? We’ve got the guide for that. Who would have thought fifteen years ago that good access to the internet would be valued alongside your gas, electric and water? And that when looking to move house, one of the most important search factors is broadband coverage over schools, colleges and even crime statistics.

The internet has become such a powerful driving force in our modern lives that do without it would . Naturally if you’re working from home then a high degree of access and speed is necessary. However, for most people simply not being able to get to their Facebook page is enough to send them foamy about the jowls.

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Video: How to improve your home’s Wi- Fi network    This probably explains then why we, as a modern society, get a little hot under the collar when our internet speed grins to a near halt. We instantly forget the days of 1.

K modems, and instead curse the ISP and try everything we can possibly think of, short of invoking some eldritch horror from the pit, to get it back up to speed. Related: What is Li- Fi? The tech that could make your internet 1.

We’re here to help – not the raising an ancient behemoth part – you to try and see what can be done to speed up a flagging internet. Regardless of whether it’s on a go- slow for some reason, or you simply want to try and get the most from your already decent broadband line, there’s a surprising amount you can do to help speed things up. The most common cause of a slowdown though isn’t always the fault of the actual broadband line coming into your home, it’s the internet network side of things. Where poor cabling, improper Wi. Fi signals, and even some software issues can have an effect on the speed in which you access the internet.

We’ll begin then by looking at the more common internet causes, and what can be done to fix them. Internal networking solutions. A network bottleneck will severely lessen the amount of bandwidth that goes to and from your computer and the router. We’ve seen exceptionally fast fiber broadband lines that access a house to a top of the range router, only to come across some of the craziest cabling imaginable to a single PC upstairs. The end result in that instance was a dead slow access to the router, and as such a problematic access to the internet. It’s not always the case, we’ll grant you.

But it’s always a good idea to know that your home network is in tip- top condition. Reposition your router. This isn’t an obvious one to begin with, as most people are quite happy with the router staying put in the living room and branching out from there. However, you’d be surprised to see how effective simply repositioning your router actually is.

Take for example the wireless signal from the router. Wi. Fi diminishes greatly with distance and when it has to travel through walls.

Ideally the best connected Wi. Fi device is the one that has a direct line of sight to the wireless source, in other words the router. This isn’t always possible in the average home, an open space flat perhaps, yes, but not so much a three- bed terrace. You can plan your repositioning to eliminate as many obstructions as possible, with it being a little higher placed on a wall and maybe in the centre of your home, you may find an improvement in the wireless signal and as such better speeds.

Experimentation is the key here, and you may find that if all the Wi. Fi devices are used upstairs, with the wired equipment like a NAS box and Smart TV downstairs, then placing the router upstairs would be a better placement for an improved Wi. Fi reception. Signal optimisation.

Related: Best VPNs. Interference from other devices, even microwave ovens, can have an adverse effect on the broadcast signal of your router. A poor signal means a poor connection, which in turn will lower the speed and reliability of your home network. Again look to position the router away from anything that will interfere with the signal, generally the cluttered 2. GHz range. Change channels Most, if not all routers, will automatically pick a particular channel to broadcast its signal on, regardless of whether it’s a 2.

GHz or 5. GHz channel. If you have a neighbour in close proximity, such as in the flat above or below, or in the case of a terrace house, next door, who is using the same signal, then there’s a good chance that the signals can end up interfering with each other. This interference can cause some severe speed drops in an otherwise well- oiled network setup. It’ll take some experimentation again, but try the router’s Wi. Fi with different channels settings to see if you can find one that offers the best possible connection without any or little chance of interference. Check your cables.

For wired setups the network speeds are often fairly rapid, and as such you won’t notice an issue unless you experience another network with the same setup. If though you think you’re not getting your maximum speed via the Ethernet cable, plus it’s generally good practise to do this anyway, it might be worth checking the state of your cables. Although a cable can still transmit and receive data, it might not be doing it to its best abilities. Check the cable ends, and make sure that the coloured wire pairs match up to an Ethernet diagram, like the one above. Also check that the cable isn’t being twisted or hasn’t been part sliced by furniture, or when you originally fed it through the hole in the floor to reach downstairs.

As an extra piece of advice, check that the Ethernet cable isn’t wrapped around a power cable, as this can cause interference with the data and slow down the overall speed of transmission. If at all possible, avoid running the Ethernet cable near a power cable. Cable length. The length of an Ethernet cable is one of most common causes for a slow wired network.

There are some differences of opinion regarding the maximum length, but on average an Ethernet cable can transmit data to a maximum of around 3. Although three hundred feet is quite a distance for a house, you’d be surprised by what you’d see in some homes. A good example was when we traced a problematic cable into a loft space to find it was coiled up to around two hundred and fifty feet before being dropped back down into another bedroom.

In that case, snipping the coiled section off and joining the two ends together solved the problem. To keep your wired network trim and speedy, keep your cables as short as possible without putting strain on the cable ends to the device. Better quality cables. Although Ethernet cables, regardless of their cost, pretty much do the same thing and work at the same speeds, there is a slight difference in the quality of the signal. Some cables offer better shielding, others, like Cat. And Cat. 6 cables are an improvement again with strict specifications and even less interference.

So rather than buying a box of ultra- cheap Ethernet cable, perhaps go for the next cable type up, Cat. Run a cable where possible. A quick and obvious one this, but one that’s often avoided. Cabling your house isn’t an easy job, most of the time, and we try and avoid it where possible. Using a powerline adapter is an ideal solution to running a cable, but it’s slower and more unreliable. So for the best possible speeds on your home network, spend a bit of time planning out your cabling and neatly run one from one room to the next.

Software solutions. Another aspect of the internet section is the actual software side of your network and internet access. Although a software tweak is often more of a temporary solution, many users have sworn that playing around with various settings within Windows does have an effect on the speed of their internal and internet access. Some of these may work, or they may not. It’s up to you to experiment, but always make sure you’ve got a good working backup before playing around with any Windows settings.

Disable TCP Auto- Tuning.

Broadband Speed Test - Measure ADSL, DSL and Wireless Speeds. It's pretty cool to be able to test your current broadband speed, but remember, it's only a guide. The Darkness 1 Pc Game Free Download on this page. Your speed can be affected by lots of different factors, both inside and outside of your home.

Things that affect your connection speed. Inside your home, broadband speed can be affected by: Your equipment. The program that you're using.

The plan you're on. Wi. Fi connection. Type of content that you're downloading or uploading. Whether your internet hardware is NBN ready (if you're using an NBN connection).

Outside your home, other potential factors include: The quality of the connection between your house and the exchange. The capacity of backhaul at the nearest exchange. Capacity on international cables. Check out our plans. Need help choosing a plan?

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