3 Tips for Optimizing Your Internet Speed

The youth of today will never know the struggle of waiting on dial-up internet, or having to tell somebody to get off the phone so you can check your email. They sure are lucky! These days, with all of our gadgets and technology that require the internet, it's imperative that it be fast and reliable. Whether we're checking important emails or relaxing while playing a game, who wants to wait for slow internet speeds? When it comes to having the best possible internet, I recommend that your first step be to visit iinet for internet plans and choose a plan based on your needs. When you have your plan squared away, you can then follow these additional steps to ensure your internet is performing at optimal speeds.

Protect Yourself: This should go without saying, but some people still do not make sure to do routine scans of their security software. Routinely run an anti-virus program as well as anti-malware or adware. This is imperative to maintaining a functional computer, but also any malware or adware that finds its way it can significantly slow your internet speed. Make sure you keep your protection program(s) up to date.

Clean and Close: Take the time to optimize your computer set up. Remove browser extensions or tool bars that you don't use, as they can slow down your page load speed. Check the programs that open upon start-up and shut down any that you don't need. Uninstall programs that you no longer use and clear your cache on occasion because even though it's designed to improve performance, when it gets too large it can have the opposite effect. Routinely run disk cleanup as well as disk defragmenter to make sure everything is where it needs to be.

Optimize Your Network: Most of us use a wireless network and your speeds can suffer if people are piggy backing your wifi. Make sure you use a strong wireless password and limit the amount of people you provide it to. If your router allows, consider changing the wifi channel to a less used channel. You can also make sure that signals aren't conflicting. Interference can come from almost anything, changing your frequency might help improve your internet speed. Consider using ethernet - or hard-wiring - when you can, speed is sacrificed simply by using a wireless network.

If you're still experiencing slow speeds after working your way through these steps, you might need to upgrade either your internet plan or your hardware including your computer, modem, or router.

You might also want to check and make sure that your cat didn't accidentally disconnect your laptop from the wifi...