If you’re like the average person, you’ve probably viewed videos online in the past day such as social medias, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. You may be getting frustrated about your video speeds or notice that multiple people can’t view videos within your home without experiencing significant issues with lag.
If you’ve noticed that your internet speeds aren’t exactly high speed, you aren’t alone. The increase in the average amount of data consumption within households globally has greatly increased the demand for bandwidth, which has led to many internet service providers struggling to maintain speeds. Some companies have instituted quotas while others have begun throttling bandwidth during times when their load is high.
Troubleshooting Your Internet Speeds
Sometimes, the issues occurring with your internet speeds may actually have to do with your home. If you’re currently connected on a wireless connection, you may want to attempt a wired ethernet connection instead. You can test your speed at the Internet DSL Speedtest site to see if you’re currently experiencing issues. A wired connection will usually be much faster than a wireless connection and is often subject to less interference. There are a myriad of items that could interfere with a wireless connection: other wireless signals, a lack of line of site to your router and even a slow wireless router or wireless adapter.
If there’s nothing directly interfering with your wireless signal, you may want to check on the speed that your wireless adapter and wireless router work at. Your internet speed will be the lesser of the two amounts. If your wireless adapter can receive at 300 mbps but your wireless router can only send at 150 mbps, then your speed will be rated at 150 mbps. Any speed below 300 mbps may experience significant issues when streaming multiple videos, though a speed of 150 mbps or greater should be enough to stream at least a single video at a time.
If your internet speeds have nothing to do with your router, adapter or ethernet connection, you can also call your internet service provider and ask them if they are currently throttling your line. Bandwidth throttling is an increasingly commonplace procedure which artificially limits the amount of data you can send and receive. If your ISP is throttling your line, it’s likely that you went over the soft cap of their data usage and will need to purchase a higher level data plan.
Finding a New Internet Service Provider
Sometimes there’s nothing you can do to increase your internet speeds without finding another internet service provider. You can find another internet service provider by looking through a directory that lists the services providing internet deals in your area. When comparing ISPs, you should consider the total cost of a cable and internet package, as it is often much cheaper to switch over all of your services at the same time.You should also compare the speeds that they are rated at, but you should remember that the speeds that are advertised are the maximum speeds you’ll achieve, not the average speed you will be connecting at.
When finding an internet service provider, remember to inquire about any soft quotas they have in place. A soft quota is an amount of data you are expected to use every month. The quota is considered soft because the ISP won’t charge you for more data usage, but most ISPs will still disconnect your service if you exceed your quota by a significant amount. Most ISPs do not advertise their soft quotas, which makes it of vital importance to inquire about it separately.