Speed check: Does a firewall slow internet speed?

Are you wondering why your internet connection is slow? Running a speed check to know if you are getting what you pay for before you call your ISP for complaint. There’s a good chance you are suffering from one of many issues that could be slowing down your internet speed: FIREWALL. In this article, we’ll discuss how firewalls affect internet connection and other reasons causing slow internet.

Speed check: Does a firewall slow internet speed?

Speed check: Does a firewall slow internet speed? 

The firewall is considered as the first line of defense when it comes to the protection of the computer system because it prevents malware and viruses from attacking to computer’s files. 

However, it can slow down internet speed and drag down transmission speeds significantly through checking every packet before it's decided if it is allowed or blocked.

So, is it better to have no firewall or have the one that throttles your internet speed? The answer is to get good quality Firewall to ensure that you can enjoy optimum internet speeds with sufficient safety, or better yet, no firewall software.

Does a router slow internet speed?

The speed check results tell you that you’re getting slow speed. So what are the causes?

Well, there are a lot of reasons behind, and the router is one of them. Anything in the path between source & destination that has to do work will affect the time it takes to go from your device to the Wifi router. Thus, the further distance between your router/modem, the weaker the signal, and the slower the Wi-Fi speeds will become. 

Speed check: A router can slow internet speed

Here’s why a router can result in slow internet speed:

• Your router is outdated:

Slow Wifi connection can be caused by the old router that is not able to work with newer WiFi standards. Therefore, the simplest way to fix it is to change the new ones. 

• Your router is in the wrong place: 

If you place your router in the corner, then the signal the signals from your router possibly travel in an outward radius. So you should move it to a central or elevated location such as the top of a bookshelf or mounted on a wall. Remember, don’t put your router near refrigerators and fish tanks as water and metal objects may block WiFi signals. Well, it takes trial and error to find the ideal position for the router, so 

relocate your router/modem closer to your devices to speed check WiFi signal strength before picking your router’s final location. 

Before contacting your Internet provider, be sure to restart your Internet modem and your wireless router before running a speed check to see if this helps fix a slow Internet connection.

• The router is too hot:

The reason could be it is wrapped with papers or is left exposed to sunlight. The poor quality router can contribute to the slow internet.

If restarting your router does not help, there is one last thing to consider: if you are relying on a wireless network in your home, how many other wireless networks are nearby? 

Doing a speed check to know how fast your site loads

Wireless routers switch between different channels and of course each network will automatically seek out the best channel. However, a lot of wireless networks can make channels crowded, and the routers will have trouble finding a free channel. This finally leads to slow Internet connections for everyone in the channel. So what is the solution? 

It’s just a piece of cake. The simplest way is to purchase a “dual-band router”, which basically provides a wide range of wireless channels for less competition among your neighbors. Another way, you can use a LAN connection instead of a WiFi connection to the Internet. While a LAN connection is usually in some cases, it is the most reliable way to connect to the Internet. You can run a speed check to see the difference after making some changes.

Check your speed first

Before adopting any ways to address potential internet speed problem, it’s necessary to know how much speed you’re promised to get from your ISP and how much speed you’re actually getting.

Before doing a speed check, you are recommended to check your ISP service account to get a good sense of what sort of speed you’re paying for. Remember, the provider doesn’t spell out exactly how much speed. What you are supposed to get is an “up to” number (For example, you could get up to 100 Mbps at $80/month). This is considered as a tactic ISPs use to attract customers. 

Speed check: Firewall and Internet speed

All ISPs say that they are committed to providing a maximum or minimum potential speed that you pay for. However, achieving the advertised maximum speed is unlikely to happen, and your speed may fall below the listed minimum.

Another reason that you can not get the advertised speeds could be because you share the bandwidth with your neighbors. 

Running an internet speed test

After knowing the speed you’re supposed to get, you should run a few internet speed tests to make sure what you get is worth your investment. 

Keep in mind that before running your speed tests, you need to turn off any other data-intensive activities such as pausing downloads or turning off online games. This totally makes sense as the more devices are running, the slower your available internet speed becomes. 

Does time affect your speed check? Well, the answer is no. You can run your speed test during the hours you would normally be using your internet. For weekdays, that’s typically in the morning or evening hours. On weekends, it could be anytime during the day.

What really matters is that you run yours before and after speed tests around the same time and that you use the same speed testing website to run both tests. This can lead to wrong results. 

List of speed test tools that you can use for free speed check:

1.  PRTG Network Monitor (Network Performance)

2. MySpeed

3. Visual TruView By Fluke Networks

4. ManageEngine OpManager

5. Obkio

6. Datadog

Summary

In short, firewalls are one of the culprits of the slow Internet. It is recommended that before taking any steps to speed up your speed, you should do a speed check to get in mind how fast your speed is. Next, choose a good quality Firewall to make your internet connection go faster. If this doesn’ help, it’s time to call the ISP and report the problem

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