A slow internet connection is no less than a nuisance for remote workers and students. After all, it can take a toll on your productivity and disrupt your daily routine. It can also cause delays in streaming videos, downloading files, and loading websites.
If you are a hughesnet internet subscriber looking to boost your connection speed, there are many ways you can do so. For instance, you can restart your internet equipment or use a wired connection. To help you ensure a fast internet connection, we’ve compiled a list of effective tips you can use, so let’s start exploring.
Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Home Internet Speed
Improving your internet speed isn’t that difficult if you follow the right instructions. Before you call your Clearwave Fiber customer service to resolve internet connectivity issues, follow these simple tips to get a faster connection for all of your online activities:
- Check Your Internet Speed
The first step to fixing your slow internet is to check your current speed. Before you start working on troubleshooting and hardware, it’s important to know what kind of speed you are dealing with now.
Make sure all your other internet-enabled devices are offline—this will give you the most accurate reading. A simple online test can help show how fast (or slow) data is flowing between your modem and devices. Simply enter “internet speed test” into a search engine for several free options.
Checking your internet speeds regularly helps ensure that you’re getting the best performance out of each device. Keep in mind that an average household should have a minimum download speed of 25 Mbps and an upload speed of 5-10 Mbps depending on the activity taking place online. If these speeds aren’t quite what they should be, it might be time to explore some other tweaks or upgrades that could get things running smoothly again.
- Restart Your Modem and Router
Restarting your modem and router is one of the easiest ways to increase your internet speed. Unplugging both devices and leaving them off for at least 30 seconds can clear out any excess data that could be preventing a fast connection. Give your modem and router a quick reset to eliminate issues like slow loading times or spotty connections.
Moreover, restarting regularly helps maintain optimal performance, so consider turning off both devices once per week for better efficiency. This simple step may not necessarily provide an immediate boost in speed, but it will make sure you’re getting the most out of what you’re paying for with your internet plan.
- Position Your Router in a Central Location
Positioning your router in a central location is key to maximizing internet speed. Too often, routers are positioned near the edge of our homes, where they struggle to broadcast Wi-Fi signals evenly.
To get the best connection and speed possible, place your router in the centermost room of your home or apartment. This way, all devices have a roughly equal distance from the router and can receive a good signal for optimal performance.
For ideal performance, make sure that walls or other obstructions aren’t blocking any paths between your devices and the router itself. You should also consider mounting or positioning it as high as possible. This way, you can achieve maximum coverage with minimal interference from furniture or other electronics in-between it and connected devices.
- Use a Wired Connection
Using a wired connection is one of the best ways to boost your home internet speed. That’s because wired connections are more reliable than wireless, so you can be sure you’re always getting the most out of your network.
For this purpose, you need to plug cables directly into your computer and router. This will make speeds much faster than Wi-Fi and boost performance all around. Once done, you’ll be able to stream video and media much faster than before with no interference or lag.
- Upgrade Your Router
Upgrading your router can also enable you to boost your internet speed. A modern router uses the right technology to provide faster speeds, better coverage, and enhanced security. If you want to maximize performance and range, choose one that features dual-band capabilities.
This allows you to combine two Wi-Fi frequency bands together for a broader reach without interference from other networks in your area. Have a look at new technologies like MU-MIMO too, which can make sure everyone connected in your home gets their own dedicated bandwidth for seamless streaming and gaming sessions.
- Use a Wi-Fi Extender
Using a Wi-Fi extender can be an effective way to boost your home internet speed. Placing one between your router and the areas of your home that are seeing poor signal can help extend coverage and eliminate dead spots. With a stronger connection, you’ll get faster speeds and better overall performance, so it’s worth considering if you’re dealing with slow internet.
Installing a Wi-Fi extender is easy and straightforward—just plug it into power near the spot in your home where you’re experiencing poor reception and pair it with the router. Many come with automatic setup features that make installation even simpler, so you don’t need to be tech-savvy to get it up and running.
- Update Your Device’s Software
Updating your device’s software is a great way to boost your home internet speed. Ensuring that all of your devices are running the most current version of their operating system can help improve the performance and reliability of your network. Not only will you have access to the latest security updates, but you may also see an increase in speeds.
The process for updating device software is usually quick and straightforward. Many devices can automatically update themselves or notify you when an update is available, so keeping up-to-date on these updates should be relatively easy. Moreover, check out online tutorials or product manuals if you aren’t sure how to proceed with updating devices on your network.
- Limit the Number of Connected Devices
One of the fastest and simplest ways to improve your home internet speed is to limit the number of devices that are connected. That’s because, when you have too many devices on at once, it can slow down your overall speed and decrease its reliability over time.
Make a list of all internet-connected items in your household and unplug any that aren’t necessarily needed when you’re using the connection to ensure maximum bandwidth availability.
Moreover, try grouping like-devices together when possible – such as phones, tablets, or computers – and connect them to one router instead of having them spread out between multiple ones. This way, fewer resources are being used overall, which allows for more efficient streaming or downloading when online activities require more data usage than usual.
- Turn off Background Programs and Apps
Deactivating background programs and apps can significantly increase your home internet speed. Much like extra devices, unused applications may be slowing down your connection without you even realizing it because they often use data automatically when running in the background of your device.
To prevent unknowingly using up unnecessary bandwidth, identify any apps or programs that are not being used and turn them off. Close all running applications to maximize the amount of RAM available to processes that need it. Don’t forget to check which services are set to start up with each device restart as well.
- Enable Quality of Service (QoS) Settings
By enabling QoS, you can prioritize which applications, services, and devices receive more bandwidth and facilitate faster data transfer over your network. This will help optimize the speed and efficiency of streaming, gaming, or other activities that rely on quick download/upload performance when using multiple devices at once.
For example, if two people in your family are trying to stream movies at the same time, it might be helpful to prioritize one device over the other in order to prevent lag or buffering due to lack of bandwidth. QoS also helps protect against latency spikes during peak hours when demand is greater than usual. Thus, you’ll experience fewer glitches resulting from overall congestion on the connection.
- Block Ads and Malware
Blocking ads and malware is a great way to improve your home internet speed. That’s because. too many malicious ads can slow down your connection since they’re typically loaded with tracking elements, pop-up scripts, and JavaScript that encourage heavy loading time. Additionally, spyware or adware that is embedded in some banner ads can use up a lot of bandwidth when transferring data back to the cybercriminal. This not only affects your overall speed but also puts you at risk for identity theft or other security issues.
Fortunately, there are certain parental control programs and network filters you can install on each device connected to the web, which will help filter out suspicious content before it reaches your computer/phone/tablet.
These software tools identify malicious files and websites so that none of them make it onto your system while blocking streaming services if they’re deemed potentially dangerous. By taking proactive steps toward online safety – you have one less thing to worry about when surfing the net.
- Upgrade Your Internet Plan
Upgrading your internet plan can be one of the most effective ways to increase your home internet speed. When it comes to upgrading, you’ll likely want to compare plans in terms of price, speed, and data usage so that you find the best one for your needs.
If streaming is important to you, then consider getting a plan with higher upload and download speeds. Thus, you can watch more content without encountering buffering or other lags due to insufficient bandwidth.
In addition, many providers offer discounts for those who subscribe to multiple services—such as internet, TV, and/or Phone. So, even if the monthly cost seems steep up front – there are usually deals available that end up significantly lowering what you pay overall.
Moreover, with faster speeds and greater reliability at your fingertips, you’ll enjoy a smoother browsing experience. You can also access several more online activities, like gaming or downloading music/movies quicker than ever before.
- Contact Your ISP
If you’ve already tried the usual tricks for boosting your home internet speed and it’s still not hitting the mark, getting in touch with your ISP may be the best solution. There may be a number of underlying issues that could benefit from their specific expertise and troubleshooting tactics. They can also diagnose network problems and provide solutions tailored to help you get the most out of your connection.
Additionally, many ISPs keep track of maintenance work or upgrades that have been made in certain areas which might affect users’ connection speeds. They can also let you know about scheduled maintenance or new features available in your area that could help boost speed if you decide to upgrade plans accordingly.
Final Thoughts
Slow internet speeds can be frustrating but with these tips and tricks, you can boost your home internet speed and enjoy a smoother online experience. Remember to check your internet speed, position your router in a central location, and limit the number of connected devices.
Consider upgrading your router or internet plan if necessary. By following these steps, you can improve your internet speed and enjoy faster browsing, streaming, and gaming.
