To determine if the internet speed is really low and not just a feeling of slow connection, it is important, first of all, to check your connection from your home PC. We have seen how to do this in two similar articles, one that explains how to do a speed test on the ADSL and the other to understand how to check the real internet connection speed.
After carrying out the various tests and checks, it will be possible to compare the values measured with those that were promised in the contract signed with our internet provider: TIM, Fastweb, Infostrada, Vodafone or others.
The first thing to do, in case you find a slow internet speed is to call the call center and ask for technical assistance.
The technicians will then be able to check if there is any problem in the line and will solve it, but they will not be able to intervene on the configuration of our computer, which most of the time is responsible for a poor internet speed.
Whatever the ADSL connection we have at home, be it with TIM, Fastweb, Infostrada or other operators, if there is a slowness problem that does not depend on the line, it is necessary to fix the following configurations and settings .
1) End programs that use the internet
If the internet seems slow, the available bandwidth may be occupied by a program.
To free your Internet connection from traffic-intensive programs, you should do two things:
- Make an antimalware scan with Malwarebytes;
- Close all programs that download data from the internet such as Torrent or Emule clients.
If in doubt, some free tools can be used to find which programs use the internet.
It is also worth checking the automatic start of programs.
2) Optimize your wifi connection settings .
The wireless wifi connection can suffer from interference if it is not properly configured and if the router is not positioned in the right way.
As for the first problem, it can be solved in two ways: avoid wifi interference using 5GHz networks or, if you need to use a normal 2.4 GHz network, connect to the best wifi channel by changing a setting on the router.
As for the second problem, however, it is advisable to move the router to a better position, possibly away from microwave ovens or other sources of radiation, away from walls and not closed inside a cabinet.
For more instructions and advice on how to configure wifi, refer to the guide that explains what slows down the network speed (wifi or wired) and the internet connection and also to the more specific one on why the wifi is slow and how to solve.
NOTE: Consider the option, if old, to change modem / router and buy a new wifi router.
3) Change the DNS servers
DNS is an important network parameter to which you are not bound.
That is, you are not obliged to use the DNS servers of TIM, Fastweb or Infostrada, but you can also use the DNS servers of external companies such as Google DNS, OpenDNS or others.
The DNS server is a computer that is located somewhere in Italy, in the USA or in other parts of the world to which you connect every time you browse the internet, because it contains a list that can be described as the world directory of websites. .
To have a fast internet connection it is therefore important that the connection to this server is as fast as possible.
In the guide on how to change DNS on PC, Mac and router quickly .
4) Optimize the operating system .
Although these types of configurations usually do not improve internet speed if it is low, it is still possible to increase the maximum download speed and obtain a more optimized network by making some internal changes to Windows.
In particular, you can speed up your internet connection with 5 Windows tricks.
If you do not want to deal with registry keys and special commands, you can also use automatic programs to optimize the internet such as IOBit Advanced Systemcare or the ADSL internet accelerator.
Final thoughts :
If you want to investigate the speed of your internet, you need to get all the connection information that is described on the main page of the router.
If possible, therefore, access the router (usually just open the address 192.168.1.1 on the browser) and look for the network information card or the statistics one.
On the interface of some routers, this card is the first one you can read, in others like the Technicolor Fastweb you have to go to Broadband connection> DSL connection> details .
READ ALSO: Configure the modem for TIM, Fastweb, Infostrada, Tiscali connections
The network is described on the basis of some values including two whose meaning is important:
1) Line Attenuation (dB), tells us how far is the telephone exchange that provides us with the internet connection from our home.
50 dB can be considered the acceptable minimum, above this value the low internet speed becomes normal.
2) Margin SN is an important value that influences the stability of the network (difference between SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) current and SNR needed to have a certain speed).
If this margin is low, less than 12 dB, then frequent disconnections are explained.
3) Line capacity or Bandwidth or Synchronization speed tells us the maximum achievable speed.
Based on these values, as seen in the guide on how to solve slow internet connection problems, it is possible to calculate the maximum speed obtained by the telephone line operator and then make the necessary interventions, calling technical assistance or changing the operator.
