Internet speed test: 5 factors affecting internet speed

In modern life, the appearance of internet connection is one of the greatest inventions, it helps people a lot in many aspects of life. However, people also have trouble with the internet. Have you ever dealt with slow internet speed? Have you ever waited for a long time to open a file? There are a lot of other internet troubles which relate to internet speed. People often run speed checks online when meeting slow speed. But it just shows the current status of the internet connection. What is slowing down my internet? Here are the top five major factors that may be affecting your speed test internet, and what you can do about it.

The speed you are paying for: internet package

First of all, your internet speed fast or slow depends on the internet package you have paid for monthly. Based on your demand of using the internet, ISP ( internet service provider) will offer you different packages with different bandwidths for many useful objects such as household, business, and individual. In detail, the internet package for households will be smaller than that for businesses.  Internet speed test for most of today’s households which is 25 Mbps of bandwidth speed is ideal. Otherwise, to serve for work effectively, enterprises need fast speed. Anything close to or at 1000 Mbps is considered a Gigabit speed or service. The big enterprises will choose the premium package like that. For individuals, it would be a cheap and low package if there were 1 or 2 devices needed to connect to the internet. Besides, you also choose the package with more bandwidth meant for higher-quality video streaming and faster downloads. 

is 25 Mbps a good internet speed

In addition, with a certain bandwidth, the more devices connecting the internet, the slower the internet speed is. Therefore, when using the internet speed test and get a poor result, you can consider that the cause may be the internet package you have paid monthly and change to a higher one. 

Your service connection type

Your service connection type also influences your internet speed. Internet connections are categorized according to their uses like at home, offices, organizations, etc. So you need to research and find out which is the best for you. There are 6 common types of internet connection: Dial-up, ISDN, DSL, Cable internet connection, Fiber, and Satellite. Each type has its unique pros and cons. To be detailed, in the past, dial-up was used to connect the internet through telephone lines. For accessing the internet, you have to dial a specific number, and Your ISP will open the internet line for you. However, using dial-up, you just use the internet or telephone, not use both at the same time. Although this is the cheapest internet connection, the internet speed test shows it is too slow from 28 Kbps to 56 Kbps. 

Internet speed test shows it is too slow from 28 Kbps to 56 Kbps

Nowadays, in the breakthrough of digital technology, fiber internet connection is chosen mostly because it is the fastest internet speed today. The upload and download speed it provides can be up to 1000 Mbps. In the fiber optic cable, signal transfers in the glass in the form of light, it can travel to long distances without any losses. Of course, it is more expensive than cable and DSL. 

Satellite is also the best option for those who live in the rural area, it provides a high speed. However, the internet speed test shows its performance increase or decrease, not stable.  Sometimes, the speed of satellite internet connection is slower than that of DSL and cable. Each type has its strong and weak points. It is recommended that you should consider your finance, location, use purposes and then find the best internet connection service for you. 

Number of users

When having a lot of people try to connect to the internet at the same time, the internet speed will be slower and even laggy. It often happens at peak hours such as 8 am, from 11 am to 1 pm, after 9 pm when people relax and entertain after working and study hours. Public places like airports, cafe restaurants, train stations, etc have similar circumstances. Many devices using one internet network, which leads to network congestion, overload. 

Therefore, what you can control is the number of devices that connect to your internet connection. Opening an internet speed test, checking the internet speed, you can know whether someone hacks your password wifi, steals your internet or not. From that, you can change to a stronger password or upgrade the internet package to have a better internet experience. 

Router capabilities

Like your devices, the older version they are, the slower they will be on your network. It would be time for you to think about changing a new router if your router is used for a long time, more than three years old. The latest routers use the latest 802.11 wi-fi standards to create faster networks and can keep up with the needs and speeds of the modern user. Older routers also have weaker antennas and that affects the range of your wi-fi at home as well. Using the internet speed test to check, you can see poor performance of old routers, weaker broadcast capabilities easily. 

Poor performance of old routers, weaker broadcast capabilities easily

The location of the router is also a critical factor for internet performance and range. When installing, a router is often placed in the center of the house, in  an open area in order to take advantage of fast speed. The reason is that walls and doors somehow prevent the speed of the internet as well as the ability to connect the internet to your devices. Especially in working and study rooms, people often install other routers to help them suft internet smoothly and fast. 

Material of cable

Material of cable also can make the internet speed fast or slow. Nowadays, fiber internet connection is chosen because it is the fastest internet connection service today. It uses light to transfer the data through the optical fiber cable. You can use the internet speed test to be sure that it is the truth or not. 

Material of fiber optic cable

In other forms of the internet, connection data is transferred in electrical form, so signals get weaker and weaker at large distances because singles in the copper cable can be affected by electromagnetic interference. But in the fiber optic cable, signal transfers in the glass in the form of light, it can travel to long distances without any losses.

Conclusion

These are the top 5 popular things influencing your internet speed: internet package, internet connection type, the number of users, router capabilities, and material of cable. Also, some other factors can make the speed of the internet slow and laggy. Running an internet speed test, it will check the real status of your internet, show the errors and suggest to you some solutions to tackle them.

See more: The internet speed test: Is the result right or wrong?