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It’s a different landscape right now for those of us working from home. One less thing we need is to have to worry about slow internet, whether it is due to a slow computer, slow ISP, a slow server, or a combination of the above.

Below are a few tips that might help resolve some common internet speed issues:

  1. Power-cycle all the things

    You will want to power-cycle your equipment to refresh it. All routers, modems, etc. are basically mini-computers and, despite not appearing to be much more than a box with blinky lights on it, they need to be restarted from time to time as well.

  2. Restart your computer

    Do this after you reboot all of your other internet equipment. This will ensure that your computer will connect to the internet properly.

  3. Run a speed test

    Go to a site that checks your internet speed and ping. I recommend https://fast.com, a quick ‘n’ easy site that will check your speed, courtesy of Netflix. If your detected speed doesn’t match what your ISP is charging you for, you may need to make a call to them to figure out what the issue might be. Note that you want to run a speed test while connected directly to the router AND while connected to the router via wireless. Not only will this get you a speed difference between a physical connection and a wireless connection, it’ll help to see if there is an issue with your equipment at all.

  4. Is it just you?

    If other people are having similar issues with a website they will often post it on Twitter or on https://downdetector.com. Both are good places to check to see if perhaps the website you are trying to get to is down through no fault of your own.

  5. Get a pro

    Sometimes, it just helps to have a professional look things over to determine the exact cause of an internet slowdown.

If your work at home experience is not going as well as you’d like, give me a call at 608-571-4466 and I will be happy to check things out for you!