10 Tips To Boost Your Internet Speed

“Keep your speed up!” comes the collective cry of a nation trying to adapt to mass home working, kids of school and newfound unexpected free time.

Fortunately, the infrastructure is bearing up – but did you know there’s a number of things you can do at home to boost your internet speed – and not all might be as obvious as others.

1 – Plug into your router

In the age of wifi, it’s easy to forget that there’s still the good ol’ ethernet cable and your router will have a few spots available to plug one in. Even at the best of times, you’ll notice that this increases your speed dramatically. The signal through a cable is much stronger than through the air (and walls, and ceilings) so plug in directly if you can.

2 – Switch off the microwave

Nope, I don’t mean at the socket – you can leave it in ‘standby’! But beware, if you’re router’s in close proximity when you’re heating up your beans for tea, it’s likely to interfere with your wifi signal.

3 – Move the router higher

Take it off the floor and put it on the shelf. Higher up means fewer obstacles for the signal to hit and bounce off. No shelf? Try the table, a chair or even a makeshift plinth!

4 – Leave your router on

Tempted to switch it off in the evening? Your ISP is constantly tweaking your internet connection to provide maximum speed and stability. They can’t do this while the router is off. Leave it on (it uses a minute amount of power) and you’ll find that you have stronger and faster internet connections.

5 – Start conference calls at 10 past

Everyone is starting these calls on the hour and half past the hour. Break the habit and start at 10 past. Starting at these times will give you the best chance of successful connection. Just like real-life meetings, keeping them brief will also likely keep you on topic and mean that you can be off before the next spike at half past the hour.

6 – Audio-only conference calls

Trouble with call quality? Switch off the video. Chances are your co-workers aren’t bothered about missing seeing you in your One Direction onesie anyway…

7 – Avoid extensions

Of the telephone variety. Plug the router straight into the master socket wherever possible. Whilst cables are great (see 1 above), unnecessary cabling is just extra room for a signal to degrade – which results in lower stability and lower speed.

8 – Switch off unnecessary devices

Your internet could be slow – or you could have twenty devices all trying to update at the same time. Mortal Kombat downloading a 40GB update is sure to hamper the video call to your Mum that keeps dropping out. If you’re having trouble with speed, switch off devices you’re not using now.

9 – Avoid the fridge

For the same reason as the microwave, the fridge is no good for wifi signals either. It’s humming along in the background – and clearly you need to leave it on (remember no food waste!) but positioning your router away from the fridge should help your wifi signal.

10 – Social distance your devices

Wireless devices interfere with each other’s connections. Think about it – there’s signals beaming through the air from your router to each device. And, just like roads, the more signals trying to get to a single area, the more congested it gets. On a road, this means a delay to your arrival time. In internet terms, it means a slower (and more unstable) internet connection.

Got any more?

Share them with us in the comments below! Keep those speeds high and frustrations low!