Why Do I Have Such A Slow Internet Speed?

It doesn’t matter what kind of Internet you have, cable, DSL, dial-up, or even fiber-optic. There are going to be times when your Internet speed will be so slow it’s laughable. My job is to show you what sort of things usually go wrong, and to teach you what you can do to correct them and get the highest speed possible out of your Internet connection.

The first thing you should obviously look at is the type of Internet connection that you have. The most common types are Dial-up, DSL, and Cable, increasing in speed respectively. If you use dial-up, there are two ways to make sure you’re getting the most out of your connection. Make sure that you have a 56k modem installed. This means that your modem will send and receive info at a rate of 56 kilobits per second, or Kbps. You usually won’t get the full 56k, but most of the time you will reach somewhere between 45-50 Kbps. The second thing you should do is check to make sure that your phone line is in good condition. If it is old and deteriorating, then you will most likely pick up stray signals and cross talk from other lines, which will slow your Internet speed because the modem must resend the information again and again until it can go through uninterrupted.

If you’re trying to connect wirelessly, there are two major factors that play a role on the speed. The first is proximity. The farther away from the hub, or signal, you are the slower your Internet becomes, so make sure you don’t stray too far away! Secondly, if there are a lot of people using the same wireless internet, that will also reduce your speed because the modem can only take so much.

The two most common reasons for slow Internet speed are caused by spyware, and viruses. Spyware are little bits of programming that can monitor where you go on the internet, as well as record your keystrokes thereby stealing valuable information like passwords to bank accounts. Spyware can also slow your Internet speed by messing with the Internet browser and taking control over your Internet connection. This problem is increased exponentially when there are several spyware programs running at the same time, which can cause you to lose your connection completely. The best thing that you can do to combat this threat is to run an anti-spyware program at least once a week.

The common computer virus is also a concern when it comes to slow Internet speed. Viruses are programs that can hide in anything, and if they get a hold of your computer, can replicate themselves hundreds of times over, and send copies of itself through the email system. They can do this hundreds of times per minute, which drastically reduces your computing and Internet speed. The worst part about a virus is that it will do all of this, and you won’t even know it’s running. So to prevent this from happening, make sure to run a anti-virus software along with your anti-spyware software at least once a week.

By: The Computer Pro

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Ian Orzel is the owner and operator of The Computer Pro based in Detroit, MI. Ian's goal is obviously to fix home and small business computers, but more importantly to teach people how to fix these problems themselves so that in the future they can save money on computer repair. If interested in the services provided, or to sign up for the newsletter please go to www.computerpro1.net