If you find yourself connected to a slow WiFi connection, here’s what you can do to get the most out of it.
There’s nothing worse than connecting to a hotel’s WiFi or another WiFi network in your area and discovering it’s as slow as molasses. Websites load slowly, mobile games lag or not connect at all, and streaming any kind of media is completely out of the question.
Everyone has probably experienced a slow WiFi connection at some point, especially at a hotel where you can get free WiFi, but it probably isn’t all that great in the first place unless it’s a really nice hotel where they genuinely care about their guests. enough to provide at least half-decent WiFi.
A slow WiFi connection is pretty discouraging, but perhaps the worst part is that you can’t do anything to fix it. You can’t restart the router or anything, so what do you do?
You’re not completely out of luck, as there are some things you can do to deal with a slow WiFi connection. Here are a few things you can do to improve a disappointing situation.
restart the computer
It may not work, but it may also work. Wireless networking and networking in general is pretty much black magic. No one really knows how it works – it just works and when it doesn’t, you can do the simplest of things to get it working again.
Restarting your computer is one of the first things you should do to fix any problem, especially if your WiFi connection is working. Like I said, it may or may not work, but it’s possible that a reboot is enough for the WiFi to start working properly again.
This really only works if the problem is on your end. If WiFi is slow overall, a reboot probably won’t help, but if you discover your connection is slow, it’s always a good idea to reboot to rule out anything on your end.
Make Sure Cloud Services Are Not Synced
One reason your WiFi is slow is because Dropbox, Google Drive, or another cloud service is syncing files in the background. This happens when you add files to Dropbox (from your phone, for example) and then turn on your laptop. The Dropbox app will automatically start syncing these added files.
This can consume your bandwidth and slow down overall web browsing. Usually the Dropbox icon in the system tray on Windows or the menu bar on Mac has a circular arrow icon indicating it’s syncing files.
Wait until the sync is finished or close apps to prevent them from using your bandwidth. From there, try your internet connection again to see if it’s still slow. So, move on to these next fixes.
USE Ethernet
If you’re in a hotel, chances are there’s an ethernet connection in your room that you can easily use instead of WiFi, which will significantly improve your internet connection.
Ethernet is actually the wired version of WiFi. Instead of getting your internet wirelessly, you get it by plugging in a special cable that looks like a phone plug. It is much more reliable than WiFi connection.
However, not all hotels (or wherever you are) will have ethernet connections, so this fix will not work for everyone, but if you have the chance to connect to the internet with an ethernet cable, take it without hesitation. .
go to lobby
If you’re in your hotel room and the WiFi isn’t cooperating, you might actually have better luck in the lobby.
Strange as it may seem, it’s more common to get a better signal in the lobby than in your room, as hotels often make it a priority to provide better WiFi service to their lobby, and some hotels already only have lobby WiFi. .
It might also be a good idea to try the computers in the business center while you’re down; it’s basically a fancy way of calling the little room with a few crappy computers and a printer. These computers are most likely connected to ethernet, so the internet connection is probably faster than what you’d find on your own laptop.
Go to a Nearby Coffee Shop
Perhaps finding a place nearby to get a better WiFi connection would be a last resort. Usually you can find this fairly easily in a larger city.
Most cafes, fast food restaurants, and libraries will have good WiFi connections at speeds that can be much better than what you’ve gotten before. These connections are probably much less congested than in a hotel where many people are connected to the network at the same time.
