Speed Up A Slow Net Connection

On this day and age we are used to a life at its top speed & quality, thanks to the various means of instant communication. A decent internet connection is one of the key features of our day to day schedule. Hence, all of the present day tech hungry public want a fully beefed up internet speed & are ready to shell out dollars more than ever before which sometimes leads to poor service sometimes. 

                     Also, sometimes, its completely your network router to be blamed & not your ISPs. This can tend your internet connection to slow down even if you are shelling a premium amount to get the most expensive net connection out there. Today we shall have a peek on some of the main causes behind the slowing down of the speed of your internet connection without much hassles .

1. Talk To Your Service Provider

First of all, make a call to your service provider and check whether they are doing their job properly and delivering the service you are paying for. Or perhaps your package is outdated and the company will upgrade you to a better one either for free or for a small upgrade fee. Another important but temporary cause may be some faults in the fiber optics or the cables that may be running from the server to your modem/router.

Keep in mind, though, that very few people are getting the top speed (remember the words "up to" in your contract) because of distance exchange, congestion, and traffic shaping.

2. Switch To A Different Browser

Mostly people use Internet Explorer, which, while being a decent browser, uses a lot of resources. Moreover, as web pages become more advanced, the number of processes necessary to load them grows, meaning you’re usually better off with a browser that can be customized to cut back on ads and other non-essentials.

• When it comes to speed, Google Chrome is something you can rely upon for being blazing fast. While it is new, it uses very little memory and can also be good for sites that have a lot of JavaScript and Flash. You may also want to try the FastestChrome add-on.

• Firefox has a wide range of extensions that allow its ability to block elements such as JavaScript, advertisements, Flash and other things until you enable them. One critical add-on is Adblock Plus, which virtually eliminates ads from your surfing experience and speeds up load time considerably. You may also want to try the add-on Fasterfox Lite, which will give Firefox enhanced speed options. Though one may find it or not, it is nearly as fast as Google Chrome but it has a slower startup time maybe because of the loading of the add-ons.       

• Safari is, as usual the fastest way to go for Mac users.

3. Remove unwanted add-ons, extensions, and plugins

As we start the talk about latest web browsers, it is sure to make an urge to most of the geeks within you to know about & install various types of add-ons either to have fun or to do some work in a simplified way or just to show the time in a beautiful but small space. But each & every thing (even a tiniest add-on) uses the network resources to do the specified work and also your system's resources or both. Hence, the gadgets or themes you have grown bored with are your targets. 

• To turn off add-ons on Firefox, Go to Tools > Add-ons and disable both unwanted add-ons and plugins you have grown bored of and seldom use them. Restart Firefox to put changes into effect.  

• To turn off add-ons on Google Chrome, Go to Customize (the wrench icon on the right) > Tools > Extensions and disable unwanted plugins. Restart Chrome to put changes into effect. 

• To turn off Internet Explorer add-ons, Go to Tools > Manage Add-ons and disable unwanted add-ons. Restart IE to put changes into effect.

4. Close Unused Tabs

Yes, you got'em right! The open unused tabs are the resources hogger and result in a slow overall connection. Many pages are so designed as to refresh themselves automatically to keep you updated (Facebook is an excellent example). Hence, develop a habit of closing the unwanted tabs hence, resulting in a congestion free bandwidth.

5. Avoid interference from other wireless devices

A most important point to those who are using Wireless LAN. Specifically, the wireless devices like Cordless phones and other wireless devices may generally come in the same frequency range which is same as that of your WLAN devices' frequency. Hence, ensure that there are not any type of wireless devices that may produce a risk of interfering with your WLAN devices. A simple advice for that, keep all the wireless devices atleast two devices from your WLAN device.

6. Upgrade your device

A very important piece of advice. DONOT NEGLECT THIS. Keeping the old modem/router may not be physically capable of accommodating the speed potential of your internet package. Make sure to know that with each day, the way to connect to the internet is improving. Hence, it is of great importance to anyone to keep up with the pace of the development. 

                      

                Generally, a specific hardware is so made that it can support the developments for the coming two years. But after that, the old hardware becomes a sort of useless for supporting the new developments. Even, I had ignored this fact and carried my works on a 256 MB RAM in my desktop, But the day I bought a laptop with 3 GB(which is generally sufficient these days) made me use the internet connection with an increase of 40% speed without any lags(which were obviously due to the poor hardware).

7. Check Your Online Speed

This should get you results close to what your ISP is supposed to provide. If you get a low result, try another computer on your network first. If both get a low result, contact your ISP. If only yours has a problem, then the problem lies with the computer.

Conclusion

The internet speed depends on a wide range of factors. Concentrating on one factor or by worst, thrashing the ISP may do no good but instead of a disconnection of the internet. Start noticing, keep a strong vigil on what you are doing and what may be its consequences  Also, get one good anti-virus programme as per your need and also a spyware, if you need so. But then, again, remember to install only one (strictly not more than that!) antivirus programme. This little day-to-day practices will soon lead you from a sluggish connection to a faster than ever before connection. Good Luck.