Why is the Internet speed low and low? What to do if the Internet is slow? Internet speed is lower than advertised. Why and what to do

Do you have low Internet speed and want to increase it? Then read this article and find out how to increase your Internet speed.

I won’t reveal a terrible secret if I say that Internet speed depends on only two factors: your Internet provider and you. You may ask: what does this have to do with me? Fine. I answer in order.

Factor one: Your provider.

It provides Internet connection and is fully responsible for the serviceability and speed of the Internet connection. Often providers are dishonest in their responsibilities and do not pay due attention to the development and maintenance of their communication lines and equipment. This leads to overloaded lines, and as a result, a decrease in Internet speed. As a rule, this situation can be observed during peak loads, in the evening.

Factor two: You. Or rather, not you, but your skill, and most importantly the desire to correctly configure that part of the Internet, the responsibility for which lies with you. Because, as a rule, most of the problems that prevent normal operation of the network arise not on the provider’s side, but on the user’s side.

Low Internet speed is affected by many factors that you can change

The first, the most obvious, and the most common. Antivirus

Antivirus is truly a double-edged sword. It’s bad without him, and not very good with him. Do you have an antivirus on your computer? Then conduct a simple experiment: check the Internet speed with the antivirus turned on (you can check it with any). Take not one, but at least 10 online tests. Calculate the average of incoming and outgoing traffic.

What can be done?
Of course, the easiest option is to disable the antivirus completely. But it’s probably not worth doing this. You never know... It's better to carefully delve into its settings and change the traffic scanning mode to a softer one. IN different antiviruses this is done in different ways. Some have this opportunity, while others do not. This must be looked at in a specific case.

Second: There may be low Internet speed through the router (if you have one, of course)

Fifth: Browser

Sixth: Install the Internet speedup program Cfosspeed

How to use Cfosspeed is shown in this video

Detailed text instructions on how to use Cfosspeed are in the article. There is also a link to the official Cfosspeed website!

It often happens that even with a good, stable connection at first glance, we can observe how it shakes our nerves, Internet speed is low or less than it should be. Let's try to understand the reasons and offer a solution, if there is one.

Internet speed test

Before you start looking for the cause of low Internet speed, you should take measurements. From my own experience I will say that in 70% of cases there are no problems with the data transmission channel.

For many years now the leader in this direction has been the resource
Speedtest
Even the laziest can figure it out.

And if you really find a discrepancy with the declared Internet speed, then you can further study the issue.

Well, if the test results do not differ from the contract data, then I recommend simply increasing the speed by concluding an additional agreement with your Internet provider.

Why may the Internet speed be low?

The most common reasons why Internet speed is less than it should be:

Check if Windows and other programs are downloading updates in the background;
Find out if there is any work in progress at your Internet provider. Often, due to technical interference in the operation of the Internet provider, the Internet speed is less than it should be;
If you have Internet via Wi-Fi, then check if there is any interference from neighbors. It often happens that several apartments use one channel in the router and this may be the reason for the low Internet speed;
Viruses. In the background, from your computer, various processes, which take away your Internet. Check your computer for their presence with an antivirus;
Low download speed can be set by the site itself. For example, all file exchangers specifically set low download speeds so that people buy premium access with maximum download speeds.

Why is the torrent download speed low?

When downloading files using a torrent client, the main reasons for the low speed are as follows:

In the program itself, in the settings there is functionality to limit the volume of incoming and outgoing flows. Go to settings and check these options
Also, in a torrent, one of the reasons for low speed may be the ratio of seeds and leads. That is, the one who distributes the torrent to you has set a speed limit, or many people are downloading at the same time and the speed is distributed to everyone, thereby it. The next solution is to look for another deal or accept it and wait.
Also in Lately Often telecom operators and Internet providers began to limit the downloading of torrent traffic, which is not difficult to identify and block on the server side. Usually it looks like there are both seeds and leads as needed, and the speed is kept stably at the same level. For example, for me it was 15 KB/sec.
This problem is solved by additional installation of any free VPN client.

Why is the download speed slow on Steam?

low internet speed on steam

Most games have heavy weight and if there are any problems with the download speed, then they will take a very long time to download. The reason for a long download from Steam can be both your Internet and Steam's side:

Steam automatically determines the most suitable download region, from the servers of which games and programs will be downloaded to your computer. In different games, Steam loading speeds can be completely different from each other.

How to increase loading speed on steam

Increase loading speed on Steam You can try changing the region to an alternative one. This is done in the settings.

Firewall, Anti-Virus, VPN client and other traffic controllers very often become the reason for very low speed in Steam. Turn everything off!

Video: Low Internet speed. Causes, diagnosis, elimination

The reasons for slow Internet speeds and their solutions are described in great detail in the video below:

Conclusion

Thousands of people ask this question every day, but to get to the bottom of it true reasons Not many people can manage low Internet speeds. The information provided in this article has been practically verified and reliable.

Good luck in finding and eliminating it, because when the Internet speed is less than it should be, our nerves suffer first of all. And is it important!

The World Wide Web today has become as integral a part of human life as television or radio. Every day, millions of people spend from 4 to 12 hours on it, and few people know what to do when the Internet speed is low.

What is Internet connection speed

Internet speed is the amount of information transmitted in one second. It is usually measured in bits, less often in bytes (for reference: there are 8 bits in 1 byte), although the latter seems more practical.

A quick Internet speed test can be carried out using the built-in Windows programs 8, to do this you need to go to the “Start-Run” menu or by pressing the key combination “Winows + R” and, in the window that appears, execute the command “ping ya.ru -t”.

This function allows you to exchange small data packets of 32 bytes with the ya.ru website. You can judge the speed of the Internet by the response time. For a fast connection, these indicators will be within 10–30 ms; more than 2000 ms are considered very bad. If your connection is unstable, you can simply minimize this window; this will not “eat up” a lot of traffic (about 100 kB per hour) and will help your connection to be “in good shape” and monitor its speed at any time.

Possible speed problems

Here is a list of the most common connection speed problems:

provider restrictions. The reason that the connection speed has become lower than stated may be: too much load on the network, reaching a certain amount of traffic, speed limits in different time days;
server restrictions. Not all sites have sufficient resources to maintain high speed when working large quantities users;
congestion of your communication channel with the work of background applications, such as Windows Update 8, downloading new virus databases, running Trojans and spyware, etc.;
lack of computer resources. Outdated hardware and the simultaneous launch of a large number of applications (including viruses that can work unnoticed) can cause low Internet speed, even if these programs do not use it;
incorrect configuration of network equipment. LAN card, router, modem - any of these devices, if configured incorrectly, will affect the connection speed.

Video: low Internet speed - causes, diagnosis, elimination

Solution

In order to increase the speed of your Internet connection if you have insufficient experience in setting up a computer, software or additional devices best choice there will be an appeal to specialists. If you want to understand for yourself how to find out the reasons for data transmission at a reduced speed, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the most in effective ways solutions to this problem.

What to do if the Internet speed is low:

Please carefully read the contract for the provision of Internet communication services. Perhaps the reason for the low speed lies there.
Consult your provider's technical support service. They ask people “Why are my downloads slow” many times a day and they know most of the reasons by heart.
install antivirus and firewall. If your computer is not powerful enough, it is better to use programs that are not too resource-intensive. For example, Avira Antivir and Outpost Firewall. The latter in “learning mode” will ask you for permission to provide network access to any program. This will help you find out which applications are using the Internet.
if you are using a non-standard operating system (beast, extreme, GameEdition, etc.), it is better to replace it with the original one. Often the reason lies in incorrect shell settings.

If the above measures do not have an effect, try changing the settings of your equipment, namely your router.

Perhaps the whole point is in the passage of the signal through the router; very low speed in this case may be due to the following reasons:

Your neighbor’s router operates at the same frequency as yours;
the number of open channels leads to either slowdown or interference with the operation of the device;
Signal level does not allow dialing maximum speed;
outdated equipment is used or software on the router.

Changing the channel in the router

One of the reasons for low Internet speed via wifi may be overload of the router channel being used. If there are several wireless networks in your area with similar settings, it is likely that your routers are using the same channels, which is causing the network to slow down.

To change the router settings you need to go to its control panel. To do this, you need to enter 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 in the address bar of your browser; it is usually located at this address.

There we look for menu items whose names will include the word “channel”, you need to set the channel to auto-detection, in this case the device will independently search for a free frequency.

Number of simultaneous connections

It is also worth paying attention to such a parameter as the number of simultaneous connections (Current Connected Wireless Stations numbers or something similar).

The security level of your home wireless connection is often too much to stop skilled hackers. To achieve this, router manufacturers have provided another protection option - limiting the number of devices. If you are using constant number

wireless devices - feel free to indicate their number, all others simply will not be able to connect.

If suspicions about the reasons for the decrease in speed fall on the router, there is an easy way to confirm or refute them. To find out what your outgoing (incoming) Internet speed is, today there are many Internet resources, such as: www.bravica.net, www.speedtest.net or NetWorx, DUTrafic programs.

For example, in order to check why on a laptop slow connection You should first disable all programs on it that use the Internet. Next, you need to take measurements on a wireless device using one of the methods indicated above. After that, connect it using a cable and repeat the procedure. If the speed differs by more than 10%, then the router really reduces it.

Ways to increase speed

Reducing the number of connections.
Setting up auto-detection of the data transmission channel.
Replacing the router with a device that uses a more modern connection protocol or flashing the old one (today the 802.11ac protocol is considered the most modern).
Connecting a more powerful antenna to the router will give a better signal in areas with interference and improve data transfer speeds.
If your provider uses a VPN protocol and there is an opportunity to change it, do this by choosing one that uses the DHCP or PPPoE protocols (on a static IP address).

Internet speed from providers MTS, Megafon, ByFly, Beeline, Ukrtelecom is reduced

Most wireless providers and sometimes cable internet limit speed. The problem is this: access to the World Wide Web is carried out through the same channels as communication, which is why, even with a good network signal, the speed will still be low.

As for cable providers, the problem is the same - to prevent network congestion, they set internal restrictions, often without agreement with customers.

There is only one way to combat this - complaints and persistent demands.

Let's take a closer look at the mobile Internet speed limits of different providers.

MTS

Depending on the tariff plan, 50 or 100 MB per day can be provided without a speed limit; everything provided above is limited to a speed of 64 kbit/s. There are monthly tariffs - 3,4,6,20 or 50 GB. Once the limit is exceeded, Internet use is blocked.

Video: how to increase Internet speed

Offers monthly tariffs without limitation of reception speed with maximum traffic of 70 MB and 3,7,15,30 GB. Once this volume is exhausted, access to the service is blocked.

ByFly

This is a cable operator. Its service packages start at 1 Mbit/s and end at 50 Mbit/s. However, it should be remembered that wired Internet also experiences difficulties in areas where there are no fiber optic lines and with the stated 1-2 Mbits, the actual reception speed will be 512 kbit/s, and the output speed will be 256 kbit/s.

Beeline

This company today provides both mobile and wired internet. In the latter, the speed varies from 10 to 100 Mbit, there are tariffs with a speed limit upon reaching a certain traffic threshold, and there are also without it. Mobile Internet differs only in the amount of traffic provided within a certain tariff. The declared speed is up to 256 kbit/s, the real one can drop to 32 kbit/s, it all depends on the network load.

Ukrtelecom

It provides both wireless Internet services using 3G technology, which provides speeds of up to 7.2 Mbit/s, and cable fiber-optic connections, the speed of which can be up to 5 Mbit/s without traffic limitation.

Reduced Internet speed can have a variety of reasons, from banal website restrictions to interference with the operation of your equipment and unauthorized people working through a wifi router. The first step to identifying this problem is to constantly monitor your Internet speed using any of the means suggested above.

If you are convinced that there is an underestimation, begin to act according to the plan proposed above:

calls to the provider's technical support;
setting up or changing software;
reflashing or replacing equipment.

Internet speed via Wi-Fi is a topic that has always been discussed, and will be discussed on various forums, in comments, etc. Very often they ask questions like: “why is the speed via Wi-Fi lower than via cable,” “ why is the speed through the router less”, “how to increase the Internet speed via Wi-Fi”, etc. Why does this even happen, where do these questions come from? I'll explain now.

There is Internet, which is connected directly to the computer. The provider promises speeds of, for example, 100 Mbit/s. When checking, the speed may be a little lower, but something like that. We buy a router, install it, and of course check the speed, because we read somewhere that the router slows down the speed. We check from the router via cable, it seems normal, the speed has not dropped much. We check when connecting via Wi-Fi and see that the speed is two or even more times lower than when connecting via cable. For example, on Wi-Fi, out of 100 Mbit/s that the provider provides, there are only 50 Mbit/s left, 40, or even less. It is clear that this does not suit us, and we are starting to look for a solution. And in search of a solution, we go to pages like this one.

If you want to see specific tips on the topic of increasing speed over Wi-Fi, then I will write about this a little later, in a separate article. But, I want to say right away that the tips that I will write about, and which can already be found on the Internet, as a rule, do not give any results in terms of increasing speed. Although, it depends on individual cases. And in this article I just want to tell you why it happens that when connected via a router, the Internet speed is lower than, for example, via cable.

Why does my Wi-Fi router slow down?

Every router slows down the speed. Some less, some more. As a rule, this depends on the price of the router itself. The more expensive it is, the more powerful it is, and the more powerful it is, the less speed will be reduced. Now I'm talking specifically about connecting via Wi-Fi. If the cable speed through the router is lower, then, as a rule, this is not critical. But over a wireless network, there are significant losses in speed.

Many are still interested in the numbers that are indicated on the box with the router, or in the specifications. There you can see speed information. For example: up to 150 Mbit/s, or 300 Mbit/s. And here the questions arise again: “why does my router support 300 Mbit/s, but my speed is 50 Mbit/s?” So, the manufacturer indicates the maximum speed , which under normal conditions would never be obtained. The speed will always be much lower. And from the 300 Mbit/s that is written on the router, we often get speeds several times lower. But how much less the speed will be depends on the power of the router (mostly), and on a number of other factors, which I will now talk about.

Also, we must not forget that in addition to the router, we also have a Wi-Fi receiver in our network, in our laptop, tablet, smartphone, or. Which also supports different standards, and the speed at which it operates may be lower than what the router can produce. Speed is always determined by the slowest device on the network. For example: the router produces a theoretical 300 Mbit/s. But the adapter that receives the signal can operate at a maximum speed of 150 Mbit/s. And we already get a limit of 150 Mbit/s, since this device is the slowest on the network. Well, I will delve further into these nuances, I just wanted to explain why the speed suffers so much when connecting via a Wi-Fi network.

What determines the speed of a Wi-Fi network, and how to get maximum speed?

As promised, I will write in more detail about ways to increase speed in a separate instruction. And now, I will list the main reasons that affect Wi-Fi speed networks:

Wi-Fi router. Network standards (802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac) which it supports, what technologies it uses, and the power of the hardware itself. As a rule, the more expensive the router, the more high speed wireless network.
Router software and Wi-Fi receiver on your computer. Very often, by updating the router firmware or adapter drivers on the computer, the speed becomes faster.
Interference. Interference can come from other neighboring Wi-Fi networks (mostly) and from household appliances.
Wi-Fi network power. It’s not news that near the router, where the signal is maximum, the speed will be higher than in another room, where the network signal is no longer so stable.
The number of connected devices to your network. If one device is connected to your router, then it will receive all the speed that the router can provide. If we connect another device and start downloading something on it, then the speed will be divided by 2, and so on. In addition, all connected devices create a load on the router’s hardware, which leads to a drop in speed.
The type of internet connection your ISP uses. The fact is that if your provider uses the connection type Dynamic IP or Static IP, then the router will reduce speed less than with a PPPoE, L2TP and PPTP connection.
Router settings. Correct setting network protection, choosing the network operating mode and channel width, as well as changing the channel, can slightly increase the speed.

How to organize a Wi-Fi network so that the loss of speed is minimal?

Regarding the Internet provider: if you have not yet connected to the Internet, and if possible, then choose a provider that uses Dynamic IP or Static IP connection technology. This will make it easier for the router, and setting up such a connection is much easier.

Selecting a router: if you want minimal loss of speed, you will have to spend money on a router. I advise you to buy a router that can operate at the frequency 5GHz(GHz), and support . The 5GHz frequency is now practically free, which means that there will not be much interference there. After all, basically, so far all Wi-Fi networks operate at a frequency of 2.4 GHz. And the new standard 802.11ac, even compared to the most popular on this moment 802.11n allows you to transmit information at speeds of as much as 6.77 Gbit/s. This is of course in theory, with special equipment.

Devices you will connect to the network: as I wrote above, the speed also depends on the network clients. It is advisable that your devices are new, supporting the modern 802.11ac standard, or at least 802.11n. If this is a computer, then update the driver of your Wi-Fi adapter. I wrote about this in.

Check your Internet speed, share the results in the comments, and tell us if your router slows down the speed too much. Best wishes!

Whether you have been using the Internet for a long time or have just connected it, you should probably already be familiar with what Wi-Fi and a router are. Thanks to this device, you get wireless Internet throughout the entire area of the apartment, office, or you can even use this blessing of civilization in certain public places. If the signal is bad, then the speed is low, and when the speed is not enough, then sometimes some pages may take a very long time to load or may not open at all. IN public place you can’t do anything about it except get closer to the source, but if the router is in your home, that’s a completely different question. Today we will look at how to increase Wi-Fi speed.

What are the reasons for poor speed?

In fact, there may be more than enough reasons. Now we will try to list in more detail what Wi-Fi speed depends on and what can “eat up” this speed on your device:

How to solve a problem

We will conduct a step-by-step diagnostics of the system and router, checking everything along the way possible reasons and explaining how to eliminate them or what to do.

Anyway, the first thing we need to start with is range. It is worth mentioning that the transmitter needs to be placed somewhere in the center of the apartment - then Wi-Fi will stop cutting down on speed. Although if you have a device with only one antenna, then you will have to sacrifice something: either move the router or change it to another, otherwise the signal is unlikely to pass throughout the house. You also need to take into account the thickness of the walls.

If you have a powerful router, you have already moved it closer and you have a good tariff plan, then it’s time to check the integrity of the antennas. The easiest way would be to check the router, and it is better to leave the computer to professionals.

Another interesting option The problem is that usually routers operate on the same frequency and in high-rise buildings they clog each other’s signal.

In order to switch your router to another frequency, find instructions on the Internet on how to go to the settings of your equipment, since each manufacturer sets this individually.

If everything is in order, then you should turn off the router and disconnect all the wires, and then connect everything again and check again: if the picture is the same, then move on to the computer.

Ways to increase WI-FI speed: Video

Problems with laptop/PC

Now we need to check what is taking away your speed and figure out how to increase Wi-Fi speed on a laptop. Press the key combination ++ - the task manager will appear in front of you. Let's look at the performance tab - if you see that you are not using the Internet right now, but the network is busy, then you can go to background processes and look there.

The main criterion is the number of simultaneously running programs. To remove some of the startup and clean up the partition, use it, which will do almost everything for you, and what it doesn’t do can be corrected manually in the “Startup programs” section.

If you still have problems after this, then you should download one of free antiviruses and check the system: if he finds something, then there is a 70% chance that after that everything will work much faster. You can use CureIt! or Avast.

If after this Wi-Fi on the laptop works slowly, then the last thing that can be recommended is to update the drivers. Moreover, in the usual way - through the system - as a rule, nothing will work, so it is best to use proven driver packs such as, for example.

One of the reasons for speed problems can be considered incorrect settings routing Resetting them is done quite quickly and will not harm general condition operating system. To do this, go to the “Start” menu and find “Command Prompt” in it, then click on its icon and select “Run as administrator” - a small “Run” window will open.

Now we enter cmd there and click “Ok” - another small window with a black background will appear, which is called command line. All you have to do is enter route –f and press , after which the Internet will disappear.

After that, without closing the line, enter ipconfig /renew without a space and click on again. If this option does not work, then the netsh winsock reset catalog command is an alternative.

The extreme case is to reinstall the system, which unless you have certain skills, it is better not to do. Usually after this everything can return to normal, but only if there is no damage inside the laptop itself.

A little advice: in order for your Wi-Fi to give maximum speed, it would be best if, if possible, you still purchase a more powerful antenna for it; Of course, on the Internet you will find an abundance of various methods with reflectors and homemade antennas, but they either will not give any effect or may lead to equipment failure.

How to measure Wi-Fi connection speed: Video

I work as a private computer technician. I have been repairing computers professionally for over 12 years, as an amateur since the 90s.
Worked as a manager for two years service center, specializing in connecting subscribers to the Internet and computer assistance.