3 Things Slowing Down Your Internet That You Can Fix Today

Welcome to another SimpleTech Tuesday Tip! The long holiday weekend is over, and it's time to get back into the routine of work, school, and busy evenings. But as you try to join that important video call, you’re met with a frozen screen. As your kids try to do their online homework, the pages take forever to load. 

Slow internet is one of the most disruptive tech frustrations a modern family can face. Before you spend an hour on the phone with your internet provider, you should know that the problem often isn't the signal coming into your house—it's something happening inside your house. 

In this guide, we’ll skip the complex jargon and show you three of the most common culprits for slow Wi-Fi and how you can fix them right now. 

1. Your Router is in a Bad Spot 

This is, without a doubt, the #1 cause of poor Wi-Fi performance. Think of your router as a light bulb. If you put that bulb in a closet or under a lampshade in the corner of your basement, you wouldn't expect it to light up the whole house. Your Wi-Fi signal works the same way. It gets weaker with distance and is easily blocked by walls (especially brick), floors, furniture, and large appliances. 

• The Immediate Fix: Go find your router right now. Is it on the floor behind the couch? Tucked away in a media cabinet? At one far end of the house? If so, you are choking its signal. 

• The Solution: Move your router to a central, open, and elevated location in your home. Placing it on top of a bookshelf in your main living area allows the signal to travel more freely, which can dramatically improve speeds and coverage across your entire house. This five-minute change is the most effective free Wi-Fi boost there is. 

2. Too Many Devices are Hogging the Bandwidth 

Your internet connection is a finite resource, like the water pressure in your home. If someone is taking a long shower, the pressure in the kitchen sink drops. The same is true for your Wi-Fi "bandwidth." If one device is using it all, everyone else's connection will slow to a crawl. 

• The Immediate Fix: Do a quick audit of what’s running on your network. Is your teenager’s gaming console downloading a massive 100 GB game update in the background? Is someone in another room streaming a 4K movie? Is your work computer syncing a huge folder of files to the cloud? 

• The Solution: Before starting an important, speed-dependent task like a video conference, try to manage the other traffic on your network. Ask your family to pause large downloads or intensive streaming for a little while. Freeing up the "lanes" on your digital highway will give your critical task the full speed it needs to run smoothly. 

3. Your Router and Modem Need a Break 

This is the oldest trick in the IT playbook for a reason: it works. Your router and modem are small computers, and they work hard 24/7. Over time, their memory can get cluttered with small errors, causing them to slow down. A simple reboot, done correctly, can work wonders. 

• The Immediate Fix: Don't just unplug it and plug it back in. Follow this specific "power cycle" procedure for the best results. 

• Unplug the power cords from both your modem (the device that brings the internet into your home) and your router. 

• Wait for 60 seconds. This is crucial. It allows the internal components to fully power down and clear their memory. 

• Plug the modem back in first. Wait 1-2 minutes for its lights to become solid and stable. 

• Then, plug your router back in and wait for it to fully boot up. 

This process often resolves mysterious slowdowns and stability issues. Consider doing it once a month as preventative maintenance. 

If you’ve tried these simple fixes and your internet is still underperforming, the problem might be more serious, like an outdated router or a need for a whole-home Mesh Wi-Fi system. 

Tired of the guesswork? HomeTech Media Solutions can diagnose the real root of your internet problems and implement a permanent, reliable solution. Give us a call, or for a convenient way to get in touch, simply fill out the contact form to the right of this article. We'll receive your details by email and can follow up with you by phone or email, whichever you prefer. Let's get your network up to speed.