Computer Slow Internet

First we will look at how your internet connection works. After that we will look at ways to fix a slow internet connection.

Ping and bandwidth explained

There are 2 measurements of internet speed, ping and bandwidth. Bandwidth is measured in KB/s(Kilobytes per second) and ping is measured in ms(milliseconds). Both of these are measured between two computers connected by the internet. It is best to measure it between two computers that are not to far apart physically as moving data over long distances can slow it down.

Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be moved per second. It is important when you are moving large files. For instance when you download a movie. You will probably have a different bandwidth for uploading and downloading data.

Ping is the time that it takes for a small amount of data to travel to a server and back. This is important when you try to play games online.

Adsl vs wireless

For this discussion we will take adsl to mean any means of connection to your ISP(Internet Service Provider) that uses a digital cable. Wireless is any means of connection that does not use a cable.

Generally adsl is always faster than using a wireless solution. The only reason to use a wireless contection is if you move around a lot and want to use the internet wherever you go. The bandwidth of wireless solutions tend to be ok, but the ping is ussually really bad.

If you are only using a wireless solution for web browsing and it is slow. That might mean that you are in an area with weak coverage for your connection type. Call your ISP they should be able to tell you if this is the problem. If it is, switch to adsl.

Testing your internet connection speed

You can test your internet connection speed for free at SpeedTest.net

In terms of bandwidth most people only need about 500 kb/s a higher end user might want 1,000 kb/s. The test should show a ping of 10-100 ms if it's more you have a problem there.