How to Fix Slow WiFi

If your home WiFi is suddenly really slow, there’s probably a problem somewhere that you can fix yourself. Here’s how to fix slow WiFi.

We’ve discussed before how you can deal with a slow WiFi connection that you can’t quite fix, but what if your home internet is experiencing performance issues? You can usually fix this as you have access to the router.

There can be many reasons why your internet connection is slow. Maybe another user in the house is streaming Netflix or your router is a bit clogged and just needs a simple reboot. There is even a possibility that your internet service provider is having its own problems, in which case you are almost out of luck. Whatever the reason, slow WiFi can be more frustrating than not having WiFi.

With slow WiFi, websites can take forever to load, YouTube videos lag and freeze, and forget about any media streaming. Slow WiFi is something you would never want to encounter, especially if you are working on something important or timely.

If you are experiencing slow WiFi in your home, here are some ways to fix it.

Look for Bandwidth Hogs

The first thing you should do before actually solving the problem is to see if there are any bandwidth issues on your network. If your little brother is watching Netflix on his computer down the hall, that could be a good reason why WiFi is slowing everywhere else in the house. Please ask him to watch his shows later or wait for them to finish.

Also, check your own computer for unnoticed bandwidth hogs. It’s possible that Dropbox, Google Drive, or another cloud service is syncing files in the background, taking up bandwidth and slowing down other WiFi connections.

Get Closer to Your Router

If you determine that there is no bandwidth shortage on your network, the next easy fix you can try is to approach your router.

WiFi signals can pass through walls and other obstructions, but when this happens the signal drops significantly, so if your router is downstairs and you’re trying to surf the web upstairs, that could be a good reason why your WiFi is slow.

Try to move to a place where you have a clear line of sight with your router, or at least try to be in a room from the router if you can’t be right next to it.

Restart your device

If you’re experiencing slow WiFi, it’s always best to troubleshoot the device (laptop, tablet, or smartphone) you’re having trouble with first.

To do this, simply restart your device to reset the WiFi and hopefully fix the problem. Sometimes our laptops and other devices can get clogged and even processes running in the background or foreground can somehow affect WiFi performance.

Restarting your laptop, tablet or smartphone can end these processes and give your device a clean slate after reboot. After that try your WiFi and see if it is faster. If not, it’s time to switch to the router.

Restart Your Router

If all else fails, perhaps the best solution to fix most WiFi issues is a simple restart of your router.

It is perhaps one of the most famous fixes in all of technology, and many jokes have been made of the popular fix that lets you turn your router off and then on again to see if it fixes the problem.

Again, it’s famous and popular for a reason, because restarting your router can work wonders not only for fixing slow WiFi but also if you have other internet connection issues.

Some routers have a rocker switch that you can flip to turn the router off and on, but even then I recommend unplugging it completely for at least 30 seconds. From there, plug it back in and turn it on, giving it a few minutes to fully boot up before trying to access the internet again.