Little unknown things you can do to maximize your bandwidth

byZenn

154 followers

Updated 10 years ago

Not everyone is using a fiberoptic Internet connection riding the Internet highways. Many people are still on slower roads and if that's your case, then every little improvement counts.

In this article you will find few things you can tweek to get a better performance.

First, understanding why you get a low bandwidth is important. Only when you know where the problem is, you can do something about it.

Huhhhh, bandwidth? It's like a hose. If it's like the fireman's, it will get lots of water through. If it's a little straw, not much will pass. The water is how much information you will get on your computer at any given time.

One factor may not be too noticeable, but when you add two or three, that can make a big change. When the bandwidth is very slow, a little change can make a huge difference.

So here they are, just check if any of these apply to you:

Your internet provider

Basically the one who rents your phone line and your Internet connection. They are not all equal. I used to be with one which always had problems and was very slow. If speed is important to you, check to make sure you are with the best one.

The subscription you have with your internet provider

Sometimes you choose a cheaper option, not knowing that it comes with a lower bandwith. If you are not sure, call them and ask them what their prices and options are.

Where you are located

If you are in the middle of a city, you can have fiberoptic, which is the superfast option. Some areas don't offer that. The more you go out of human concentration, the lower the bandwidth. The reason is: that this depends on the wire installation from your house to the Internet, not necessarily the provider. There is not much you can do about that except moving.

Your modem

Some Internet providers will give you the modem or recommend one with the connection. If that's your case, then you are good to go. If your modem is old, it may be limiting in what you can do with it. Just make sure you are using the adequate technology.

The channel you are using in your modem

Well this can get quite techy depending on your modem. If you are not sure, ask someone more experienced, but the idea is the following:

The modem uses a certain channel. If many people are using the same channel at the same time, you will get a slow traffic. It can sometimes also interfere with other devices such as cell phones, specially if you are on a wifi. Try to change the channel and see if that helps. I won't go into it here as each modem is different and… well… I don't really feel like writing a book about it!

The wiring in your house

I don't know if this is the case in all countries, but no less than 10 years ago, when the electricians were installing phone lines in some houses, they were putting wires in very neat square angles to go around corners. It was working fine for the phone and looked prettier.

Then Internet came… and it happens that square corners are the ennemies of your bandwidth. It was my case. I changed the wiring and I gained in quality and speed… and it cost me $15.-, so well worth it. One piece of advice, if you are not sure what you are doing and you want to do it yourself, take a picture of the way wires are connected before removing them. That way, you can be sure to put them back the right way.

The wiring outside your house

If the wiring from your house to the main connection point is old, it may be slightly oxidized. That can stop the information from passing through. Changing it will do the trick.

The times of the day

Well I used to live in the city with very high bandwidth and every Friday 5pm, everything went slow. I deducted that everyone was doing a last minute job on their computer before the weekend (probably like me trying to send a last file to my client). Now I live in a village and get it on Sunday evening, when every one is back home. It can slow me down to the point I cannot even see a video.

Nothing you can do about that one, just wait.

Oversea bottleneck

Well just like I mentioned above, the same phenomena can happen, but when you load things from one continent to the other. Well I only noticed this when I was loading really heavy files.

Those are few things I encountered and had to deal with if anyone has other ideas, let me know and I can add them to the list for everyone to read.