Hunter Bonner/Contributing writer
Internet service today is a far cry from what it was when I first got online back in 1992. Back then we just had “dumb terminals” at the university that were all running on old T1 connections. If you were rich enough to have a PC in your room, you were on AOL or Compuserve, but most assuredly you were on dialup.
Fast forward to 2021, and we now have fiber-optics, satellite, and fixed wireless technologies. Most of us have some form of broadband, be it cable or fiber mostly. However, if you have noticed that your internet is slowing down, there are some things you can check to make sure you are getting the most for your money.
First, find out exactly what type of service you have. If you are on cable internet, your connection speed is going to be affected by how many other users in your area are online at the same time you are. If you are a fiber customer, you do not have to worry about being affected by others. Also, you need to know the numbers. What am I talking about? It is your download and upload speed. If you have a 50/50 connection, that means you can download 50 megabits per second, and upload at the same speed.
However, some users may have a service that is 100/10, or 50/10. If you are seeing your online gaming, or your video streaming service starting to struggle, it likely is time to upgrade your service to one with a higher upload and download speed. Be aware that in some areas, especially in Marion County, there are not that many choices when it comes to plans to upgrade speed.
Another thing to check on is your wireless router. Most of us get a router from our ISP because it serves as a modem and a router. To be blunt, these combo-type devices are for the most part crap. Consider getting yourself a dedicated wireless router. If you have a lot of internet-connected items in the home or business, consider getting a higher end router, or a gaming router, which offer greater speeds.
Speaking of wireless, wireless for the most part is great, but sometimes going wired is the best. If you have a home office, or if your actual business is solely running on wireless, you may want to run some internet cables from your router to your PCs. Internet cables are inexpensive and still offer the highest speeds when compared to wireless.
Finally, back to the subject of your internet provider, you need to test to see if you are getting exactly what you pay for monthly. Sites like www.speedtest.net test your internet connection. If your results are way off from what you are paying for each month, you may need to contact your ISP, and let them know of the situation. Oftentimes, it is a quick fix with an update to your modem. Other times, they may need to schedule an onsite visit. The takeaway here is, unless you tell them something is wrong with your situation, they are not going to know about it.
There are other things you can do, such as updating your router’s firmware and the like. However, unless you are experienced working with such things, those are best left to the professionals. One wrong thing done during a firmware, or software update, and you could turn your equipment into a paperweight. Try the above suggested steps, and as always, you can reach out direct to me for any guidance or suggestions.
Hunter Bonner is a Systems Administrator with over 20 years of IT experience. He can be reached at his blog https://techedgeblog.wordpress.com and via email at hunterbonner@outlook.com.