Tag: slow

Internet Throttling: Your ISP Might Be to Blame for Your Slow Wi-Fi Speeds

Laurent

This story is part of Home Tips, CNET’s collection of practical advice for getting the most out of your home, inside and out.

CNET Home Tips logo

There are many reasons why your internet could be moving slowly. It might be because of an outdated router or a less-than-ideal router location. You might be able to solve slow speeds with an easy fix, like upgrading to a mesh network (which also has to be set up in the right spot) or simply restarting your modem and router. But if you’ve already attempted many of these tried-and-true methods and your internet speeds are still subpar, the issue might be something your internet service provider is intentionally doing: bandwidth throttling.

Yes, you read that right. Your ISP could be making your Wi-Fi slower on purpose. Because of a 2019 Supreme Court decision in which the court declined to hear an appeal on net neutrality, ISPs can still legally stifle your internet, limiting your broadband if you’re streaming more TV than they want and serving slower connections to websites owned by their competitors. 

Shopping for a faster internet speed?

We’ll send you the fastest internet options, so you don’t have to find them.

One solution to slow Wi-Fi (if it’s caused by internet throttling) is a virtual private network
. Basically, ISPs need to see your IP address to slow down your internet, and a good VPN will shield that identity — though this comes with some limitations and downsides, which I’ll discuss below. We’ll walk you through how to tell if throttling is to blame and, if not, what to do about fixing your crummy Wi-Fi. (You can also learn more about how to get free Wi-Fi anywhere in the world.) 

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 you jump to those conclusions, it’s important to run through the usual troubleshooting list: Check that your router is centrally located in your home, reposition its antennas, double-check your network security and so on. If you

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Slow Wi-Fi? This Might Be the Problem

Laurent

This story is part of Home Tips, CNET’s collection of practical advice for getting the most out of your home, inside and out.

Is your internet suddenly moving super slowly? It might be due to an outdated router or a less-than-ideal router location. Your connection issues may need only an easy fix, like upgrading to a mesh network or simply restarting your modem and router. But if you’ve already attempted many of the tried-and-true methods and your internet speeds are still subpar, the issue might be something your internet service provider is intentionally doing: bandwidth throttling.

CNET Home Tips logo

Yes, you read that right. Your ISP could be making your Wi-Fi slower on purpose. Because of a 2019 Supreme Court decision in which the court declined to hear an appeal on net neutrality, ISPs can still legally stifle your internet, limiting your broadband if you’re streaming more TV than they want and serving slower connections to websites owned by their competitors. 

Shopping for a faster internet speed?

We’ll send you the fastest internet options, so you don’t have to find them.

One solution to slow Wi-Fi (if it’s caused by internet throttling) is a virtual private network
. Basically, ISPs need to see your IP address to slow down your internet, and a good VPN will shield that identity — though this comes with some limitations and downsides, which I’ll discuss below. We’ll walk you through how to tell if throttling is to blame and, if not, what to do about fixing your crummy Wi-Fi. (You can also learn more about how to get free Wi-Fi anywhere in the world.) 

Read more: Best Internet Providers of 2022

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 you jump to those conclusions, it’s important to run through the usual troubleshooting list: Check that your router is centrally located in your home, reposition its antennas, double-check your network security and so on. If you want to read about more ways to optimize your Wi-Fi, check

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Following programming ‘best practices’ will slow you down

Laurent

Who has not stolen a cookie from the jar when Mother was not searching?

Or stayed out with close friends extensive immediately after bedtime?

Or — God forbid — taken the shortcut by means of the park in which shady men and women lurk, rather of heading the extensive way about the main road?

Or, indeed oh sure, which programmer has not violated a single of all those etched-in-stone greatest tactics, you know, a person of the types that you should really adhere to at all expenditures?

It is risk-free to say that a lot of, if not most, of us have accomplished this right before. But possibly your rule-breaking is specifically why your code was much better than normal. At minimum it didn’t make you drop your job. Or make your pc explode at runtime.

Sure, breaking principles is never ever devoid of possibility. If you’re a mind surgeon, you really need to abide by the rule of “never lower this piece off.” (Forgive me for my bluntness, I’m no health-related professional.)

But if you’re setting up software package, what’s the worst circumstance? Certain, if you are developing killer drones or software program for electrical grids or assistance programs for spaceships you may well want to go slow and comply with the regulations.

But those programmers who don’t have significant stakes like that — and that is most of us — you might want to dilemma your rulebook from time to time.

Duplicate-pasting code isn’t the root of all evil

The die-hard open-sourcers and the die-tough purists could argue normally. But, in all earnesty, who hasn’t copy-pasted code snippets from StackOverflow and other destinations of the big large web?

Initially of all, if you have a problem that can take 5 seconds to google, you would not go annoy your coworker for ten minutes to make them resolve it. And if the remedy is on Stack, then, nicely, the solution is there.

The purists would argue that you shouldn’t copy anything since you could possibly not fully grasp what’s going on in the copied code. And they have a

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