How To Increase Internet Speed

If you need to know how to increase Internet speed, you need to look at several factors. Internet speed can be affected by many things, including your Internet plan, the wiring in your home and the hardware and software you use. Having a fast connection these days is important, as downloading movies, television shows and participating in online gaming, have boosted consumer’s demand on quality Internet service. The following will help you get the most out of your internet connection.

Maximize Internet Speed

The very first thing you should look at is the type of service you have. If you’re using Satellite, DSL or ever worse dial-up, then you already now where the bottleneck is happening. You need to begin with a fast connection coming in. When gaming, you want both a fast download and upload speed. Watching television content online or downloading movies via Netflix requires a service with primarily a good download speed. Satellite Internet can be expensive, DSL can be okay under the right circumstances. But if you really want the best type of service, you should look into your local Verizon FiOS or cable Internet provider.
If you already have a fast Internet provider, the following can help you diagnose slow Internet connections:

• Reboot your router. You should reboot your router monthly to clear its memory. You can power cycle your entire network by shutting down your computers and unplugging all routers, switches and modems. After a few minutes, plug in your modem, then your router, then any switches or hubs, and finally boot up your computers. Be sure to wait a minute between each device.
• Find out what type of service you’re paying for and visit a site like Speedtest.net to get a baseline speed. Try it from a couple computers in your home to make sure the readings are similar.
  
• Scan your computer for viruses. Some viruses will live on your Internet connection, doing whatever evil things viruses do.
• Turn off your anti-virus. Some anti-viruses will actually slow down your Internet speed as they try monitor everything coming in. If the Internet speeds up when you shut down your anti-virus, find a different anti-virus and install it. Microsoft Security Essentials is our pick for a free anti-virus.
• Run general maintenance on your computer. If it’s been a while since you’ve performed a Disk Cleanup or defragged your computer, do both by going to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools.
• Upgrade your computer. You Internet speed is only as fast as your computer can process it. Adding RAM and investing in a new graphics card is a great way to speed up your computer.
• Optimize your TCP / IP settings. Both Vista and Windows 7 are already optimized, but if you’re running Windows XP or an older Operating System, visit a site like Broadband Reports and run their TCP / IP Optimization tools to tweak your Internet settings.
  

  Sample Result From Tweak Test
• Upgrade your infrastructure. If it’s been a few years since you bought your equipment, it’s time to upgrade to N routers and network cards that support Gigabit speeds. Keeping up with technology is essential. Get Wireless N Network Devices here.
• Lastly, we recommend wiring your connections if possible. If this is not desirable, be sure to get a wireless N router and network adapter from the link above. Both the speed and the range will be better with newer routers and cards. But in general, having a hard-wired connection will be faster, more reliable and more secure.

In conclusion, there are a lot of factors that determine the speed of your Internet connection. Pay for a fast connection, run basic maintenance on your computer, upgrade your hardware and reboot your router occasionally and you should have a blazing fast connection.