How to Solve Your Slow Wi-Fi or Internet

Whether you are trying to work from home, trying to play online games with friends or just trying to relax with some Netflix, slow wireless internet is a problem. What causes slow Wi-Fi? It can be caused by a few things.

• Your router could be blocked by obstacles
• Your router’s Wi-Fi signal could be weak
• Your router’s Wi-Fi signal could be struggling to reach far enough to where you are.
• Your wireless network could have unwanted guests connected that are using up your bandwidth

There are many options, and sometimes more than one happening at a time.

Fortunately, problems are meant to be solved and this one can be. Here’s how to solve slow Wi-Fi or internet in your home or office:

Protect your home or office Wi-Fi network.

First and foremost, always protect your wireless network. A network with bulletproof protection keeps unwanted guests out, which in turn can help your Wi-Fi to not slow down. Too many people connecting at once bogs down a network. If anything, make sure some of those people are not hackers.

Solution: There are multiple ways to protect your Wi-Fi network, and you should be doing them all:

Create a strong, unique network address name.

Create a strong, unique password.

Set up a virtual private network (VPN), especially if you are going to be working at home or taking your personal device onto public Wi-Fi.

Set up a guest network for visitors in your home.

Set up a separate network for your IoT smart devices.

Have a system with advance security in place to monitor your network 24/7.

A protected network performs best.

Check your Wi-Fi signal.

Slow speeds = weak signal. If your signal suffers your speed suffers. So, make sure your router’s Wi-Fi signal strength is strong enough to support your devices and online activity.

Solution: You can do that by running a signal strength test.

Try moving your router.

Since your router is the heart of your Wi-Fi network, make sure it’s setup to succeed. Without it, the whole thing crumbles. This means that your router shouldn’t be tucked in a back room, on the floor in a corner, in the basement or blocked by thick walls. All of these are obstacles and will slow down your Wi-Fi speed.

Solution: Move your router to a central location in your space. Make sure it is up off of the floor. And if your router has antennas, move them into an optimal position – one parallel to the ground/pointing directly to your device and the other straight up (like an ‘L’ shape).

Free up bandwidth.

Do you know all of the devices connected to your network and how much bandwidth they are taking up? You should. If too many devices are connected to your network at once and applications are running in the background, they could be bogging down your Wi-Fi speed.

Solution:

1. Take inventory of the device and applications running on your network.

2. Kick off unwanted guests that might be using up your bandwidth by changing your network password to a new strong one.

3. Close out any applications that are not necessary and that might be running in the background without you being aware.

4. Create a guest network or another separate network for your smart devices from your other personal devices.

Try a different kind of connection.

Maybe your Wi-Fi isn’t slow because of the signal strength, maybe it’s because the signal cannot reach far enough to get to you.

Solution: Use Wi-Fi extenders to make sure the wireless signal can reach every corner of your space. No more dead zones! Or, maybe wireless internet by itself isn’t cutting it for your needs, so you need a “wired” solution to give you stronger, faster internet. That’s okay, too!

Solution: Use powerline network adapters or MoCA network adapters. Both of these tools use the existing wiring in your home to create an internet speedway. Check out this article to see more about how powerline network adapters work. Or, check out this article to see how MoCA network adapters work and how they are different than powerline. Both are solid options to make your internet faster.

Manage all of these solutions at once.

Woah, that sounds like a lot of work. Yes, it can be. But it doesn’t have to be.

There are Wi-Fi management systems out there that help organize everything that is going on. And by knowing everything happening on your network, the system will optimize your network to be fast, safe and heal itself should any issue arise.

Solution: Invest in a Wi-Fi management platform like Optim. Optim Wi-Fi Management Solution™ does everything for you, and then puts it into a dashboard that is easy to understand.

With Optim you get:

• Faster, better Wi-Fi
• Immediate troubleshooting
• Wi-Fi performance reports
• Advanced security

And more. All without having to do the overwhelming work yourself.

No one wants to deal with slow Wi-Fi, ever. But especially not when there are important things on the line. You can make sure your wireless network is always performing its best by protecting and optimizing it.

Easily manage and protect your home network and all the devices on it with Optim. Optim is a wholistic solution to every element of your home network, from router security to optimizing your Internet so that it is faster. Ask your Internet service provider (ISP) if Optim is the right solution for you.