Why Do Download Speeds Slow Down and Speed Up Again
Internet throttling is real, but a VPN could be a solution.
Tyler Lizenby/CNETSlow net speeds can be acquired by a number of things. Your router could be outdated or it could exist too far away from your TV or computer, for instance. Those fixes may exist equally easy every bit restarting your modem and router or upgrading to a mesh network. But another reason for your slow Wi-Fi could be bandwidth throttling. Resulting from the 2019 Supreme Court decision declining to hear an entreatment on net neutrality, ISPs can withal legally stifle your internet, limiting your broadband if y'all're streaming more than TV than they want and serving slower connections to websites owned by their competitors.
1 solution to slow Wi-Fi -- if information technology is, in fact, caused by internet throttling -- is a virtual individual network. Basically, ISPs need to encounter your IP accost to tiresome down your internet, and a good VPN will shield that identity -- though it comes with some limitations and downsides, which I'll discuss below. We'll walk you through how to tell if throttling is to blame and, if not, what to do almost fixing your crummy Wi-Fi.
Read more: 11 Ways to Make Your Wi-Fi Faster
Read more:The Best Wi-Fi Extender for Almost Everybody
Step i
Beginning, troubleshoot your slow internet connection
So your Wi-Fi is irksome and you think your service provider is throttling your connection. Before you bound to those conclusions, information technology'southward of import to run through the usual troubleshooting list: Check that your router is centrally located in your domicile, reposition its antennas, double check your network security and and then on. If you want to read about more than means to optimize your Wi-Fi, bank check out our suggestions.
If you've run through the laundry list and your Wi-Fi is still chugging, motion on to the next step.
Screenshot by David Priest/CNET
Step 2
Test your internet speed
Norton
Step 3
Observe a reliable VPN
Screenshot past David Priest/CNET
Pace 4
Compare your speed with the VPN
Next, test your cyberspace speed somewhere like Fast.com or Speedtest.net. Compare the results to the aforementioned exam when your VPN is active. The utilise of whatsoever VPN should cut your speed considerably, and then the speed tests should testify a discrepancy, with the VPN-active speed notably slower than the VPN-inactive speed. But a VPN also hides the IP address that providers use to identify you, and so if your speed examination with the VPN is faster than without the VPN, that may mean your ISP is targeting your IP accost for throttling.
Screenshot by David Priest/CNET
OK, this is the difficult role. Even if yous find out your provider is throttling your internet, at that place may not be much you can actually do. Many people in the US alive in regions with Isp monopolies or duopolies, and so yous might non be able to notice a better provider. But here are a few useful responses:
- If you do have options, utilise the best provider in your area. Measurement Lab provides a adept resources for finding info specific to your region, and that can guide you to a more reliable Isp.
- Use your VPN to maintain more consistent speeds. A VPN can't solve a bad connection or other reasons backside your slow service, simply it tin mitigate throttling from unscrupulous ISPs.
- Phone call your provider and threaten to switch providers if they don't stop throttling your net. This might seem quondam fashioned, and I tin't guarantee lasting results, but providers have responded positively to such tactics when I've used them.
Read more than about the all-time VPNs to use while working from abode, the fastest VPNs, and VPNs you can effort gratuitous earlier ownership. And hither are the best loftier-speed ISPs. Plus, how to find the best free Wi-Fi if you lot tin't connect at home andwhat cyberspace speed exercise y'all really need?
Correction, Feb. 10, 2020: This commodity previously misattributed 2019'south net neutrality ruling to the Supreme Court, rather than the DC Circuit Court that decided the case. The Supreme Court declined to hear the entreatment.
Source: https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/how-to-tell-if-your-slow-wifi-is-from-internet-throttling-and-what-to-do-if-it-is/