In the age of technology,media and smart home devices, slow internet speeds can be a real bummer. That’s why we’ve compiled this guide with 4 simple hacks to speed up your internet.
#1 Check Your Wifi Router & Cable Modem
Many modern wifi routers are powered by software that needs to be updated periodically. Occasionally the wifi router will get struck during an auto update and it can either slow down or cut off your internet. The easiest way to fix the issue is to unplug the device for 30 seconds and plug it back in. This method is also effective for resetting the connection between your modem and cable provider if the internet connection has significantly slowed down.
#2 Use A Mesh Network
If you have a fast internet connection close to your router but loose speed and signal strength as you get further away from your wifi router consider installing a mesh wifi network system. Mesh wifi routers use multiple nodes to create a wifi network connection throughout your home. These devices are specifically designed to repeat the wifi signal and work together to create full home wifi coverage for your home. The main node is connected to your incoming internet connection and each additional node connects to the internal wifi network to create a wifi mesh internet connection through your home. It’s a great way to both speed up your internet connection and extend the range of your wifi network.
#3 Clear Your Cache & Cookies
We’re all tired of the pop ups that appear each time we visit a website that makes us click “Yes, to accept cookies.” but what most people don’t know is that these cookies take up hard drive space and are also slowing down your internet connection. Each time you visit a website it most likely adds a cookie to your computer. Cookies are little pieces of data that transmit your information to and from the websites you’re visiting so they can serve you targeted advertisements and learn about the demographics of people who visit their website. Just like in real life one cookie is no big deal, but when you eat a hundred it’s going to slow you down. Having hundreds of cookies on your computer will slow down your perceived internet speed because each one in receiving and transmitting data slowing down the available bandwidth you have for browsing the internet. You can clear your cache and cookies by going to your history and deleting everything. It’s best to do this on a weekly basis to prevent the accumulation of cookies.
#4 Upgrade Your Wifi Router
If you’ve ever wondered why is my internet speed so slow? And it’s been consistently slow for a long time. It might be time to upgrade your router. Many people forget just how much the internet has changed over the course of 5 years and are still using wifi routers that are 5 or even 10 years old. The fact of the matter is that older routers were never designed to handle the huge volumes of data that 4k streaming services, gaming and youtube create.
Beyond that most older routers weren’t designed around connecting to the dozens of smart home devices like smart thermostats, smart doorbells and smart voice assistants we’ve added to our homes over the years. Most older routers were designed around connecting to a few low data consumption devices like a computer or phone. They struggle to keep up when routing traffic between dozens of different devices. The best solution is for speeding up your Wifi router is to get a smart mesh wifi router designed for how the internet is used today. Google Wifi, Eero and Orbi are all great solutions for mesh wifi networks and they can significantly increase both your internet speed and wifi network range if you have an older router.