Reasons Why Highspeed Internet Can Become Sluggish

Question: Reasons Why Highspeed Internet Can Become Sluggish

Answer: Slow internet connections happen for various reasons, even when you pay for a 'highspeed connection' like DSL or cable. Because the internet (and World Wide Web) is built on hundreds of different technologies trying to talk to each other, there are many places where data can slow down before its reaches your computer screen. Your ISP might be at fault, certainly, but there are many other factors to look at before assigning blame. Some of these slow points are within your control, and can be quickly fixed with a little do-it-yourself effort.

Common reasons why highspeed internet connections perform more slowly than claimed:

1. You might have poor hardware connecting your machine to the wall.
2. Maybe your modem-router is not configured correctly.
3. Perhaps you have dishonest people leeching your wireless connection from across the alley.
4. Your network interface card (NIC) is older and slower hardware.
5. You might have spyware/malware infecting your machine, and secretly using your Internet bandwidth.
6. A download may be occuring in the background, and you are unaware of it as it leeches your bandwidth.
7. Your ISP (internet service provider) may be having issues with routing signals to you.
8. DNS (domain name system) tables might be outdated, so signals are getting sent to the wrong addresses on your ISP network.
9. Your browser memory cache is so full, your browser has to slow down to allow for its limited hard drive space.
10. Radio or microwave devices in your home might be degrading your internet wireless signal.
11. Your computer is more than 3 years old, and is not able to move electrons fast enough for modern web pages.
12. You have unwittingly left dozens of windows open in the background, and they are clogging your computer CPU.
13. A Windows or Mac dialog box is sitting open and unanswered in the computer background, stalling your computer CPU while it awaits your yes/no input.

These are just some of many possibilities. If you think that your internet connection is slow, we recommend you do two things:

1. Do a speed test on your computer: DSLreports.com speed testing or Speedtest.net
2. Perform a troubleshoot on your computer: Troubleshooting list for your internet connection

Source: http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/basicinternethardware/f/Why-Internet-Connections-Can-Be-Slow.htm