This story is part of home tipsCNET’s collection of practical tips for making the most of your home, inside and out.
When your home Internet is slow, a obsolete router either less than ideal router location could be the culprit. And there may be easy solutions for your connection problems, like upgrade to a mesh network either restart your modem and router. But you can also blame your slow Wi-Fi on something your internet service provider you are intentionally doing: bandwidth throttling.
Yes, you read it right. Your ISP could be making your Wi-Fi slower on purpose. Resulting from the 2019 Supreme Court Decision By refusing to hear an appeal on net neutrality, ISPs can still legally stifle your Internet, limit your bandwidth if you’re streaming more TV than they want and serving slower connections to websites owned by your competitors.
A solution to slow wifi (if caused by internet limitation) is a virtual private network
. Basically, ISPs need to see your IP address to slow down your Internet, and a good vpn it will protect that identity, though it does come with some limitations and drawbacks, which I’ll discuss below. We’ll walk you through how to tell if throttling is to blame, and if not, what to do to fix your lousy Wi-Fi.
read more: You can get free Wi-Fi anywhere in the world. That is how
Step 1
First, troubleshoot your slow internet connection
So your Wi-Fi is slow and you think your service provider is throttling your connection. Before jumping to those conclusions, it’s important to go through the usual troubleshooting checklist: check that your router is located in the center of your home, reposition your antennas, double-check your network security, etc. If you want to read more ways to optimize your Wi-Fi, check out our tips.
If you’ve gone through the laundry list and your Wi-Fi is still slow, continue to the next step.
Screenshot by David Priest/CNET
Step 2
Test your internet speed
Norton
Step 3
Find a reliable VPN
Screenshot by David Priest/CNET
Step 4
Compare your speed with the VPN
Then test your internet speed somewhere like fast.com either speedtest.net. Compare the results with the same test when your VPN is active. Using any VPN should slow your speed down considerably, so speed tests should show a discrepancy, with the active VPN speed noticeably slower than the idle VPN speed. But a VPN also hides the IP address providers use to identify you, so if your VPN speed test is faster which without the VPN, that may mean your ISP is targeting your IP address for speed.
Screenshot by David Priest/CNET
Okay, this is the hard part. Even if you find that your provider is speeding up your internet, there may not be much you can do. Many people in the US live in regions with ISP monopolies or duopolies, so you may not be able to find a better provider. But here are some helpful answers:
- If you do you have options, use the best provider in your area. measurement laboratory provides a good resource for finding information specific to your region and can guide you to a more reliable ISP.
- Use your VPN to keep speeds more consistent. A VPN can’t solve a poor connection or other reasons behind your slow service, but it can mitigate throttling from rogue ISPs.
- Call your provider and threaten to switch providers if they don’t stop throttling your internet. This may seem old-fashioned and I can’t guarantee long-lasting results, but vendors have responded positively to such tactics when I’ve used them.
Read more about the The best VPNs to use while working from homethe fastest VPNs Y VPN you can try for free before buying. And here are the best high speed ISPs Y the best Wi-Fi extender for almost everyone.
Correction, February 10, 2020: This article previously wrongly attributed the 2019 net neutrality ruling to the Supreme Court, rather than the DC Circuit Court that decided the case. The Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.