Slow internet is never a good thing. It doesn’t matter if you use it for streaming movies, online gaming, basic web browsing, downloading files, or exclusively for your remote work. Once a connection lags or drops, the experience becomes bad pretty quickly.
So who should benefit from an internet speed increase? Check if your situation falls under one of these reasons to make connection better:
1. Your internet service provider isn’t performing well.
A connection that isn’t performing as advertised is the most common reason why people decide that it’s time for a change. In general, people switch to other internet providers if their current connection isn’t reliable anymore due to various reasons, including:
- Frequent disconnections – It can be a hassle to have a connection that keeps on being disconnected when you’re on a good series marathon or playing online games with friends. What more if you rely on your internet for your job or your business and every time you lose connection, you either lose revenues or get in trouble with your boss.
- Bad customer support – If the lags are infrequent, but you receive reliable and helpful customer support from your ISP, maybe the connection issues could be forgivable. But if bad service is paired with customer support that is either nonexistent or useless, this is often a reason for concern.
- Network security issues – It doesn’t matter if you’re using your internet for work or play. Every router and home network contains your private data and information, which can be susceptible to threats if your ISP has outdated data encryption or other security measures. Unfortunately, most people wouldn’t know if their connection isn’t secure until it’s too late.
2. Your connection is unreliable.
While it’s easy to blame this on the internet service provider (ISP) quickly, note that it isn’t always their fault. In most cases, you can solve slow internet speeds if the issue revolves around your router or modem.
Sometimes, your current internet requirements just aren’t the same as your requirements when you first got the plan. These could be due to several reasons, such as:
- There are more people using your home or office network than before.
- You are now working from home exclusively.
- Your kids are now teens and have longer online gaming credits allowed.
- Large work files used to be saved on portable drives and office hard drives, but now cloud-based storage is the way to go.
- You got your internet plan when streaming services are not yet popular, or your current plan cannot accommodate advanced formats such as 4k Netflix videos.
Any reason why your internet use or needs have increased over the past months or years is reason enough to have your connection upgraded.
3. Your gaming is affected.
Let’s say you joined the world of gaming just recently. When you first got your internet plan, your activities only involved web surfing, watching videos, and other basic tasks.
Now that you know that one lag or drop in speed could mean a loss for you or your team, or that a new game title requires a much higher internet speed, it’s understandable why you’d want a plan that could accommodate your game’s internet speed requirements.
4. Your devices upgraded or increased.
The technological advancements in almost every part of our lives have led to an increase in devices and gadgets in our homes and work. Many of these devices connect to the internet, which means it shares bandwidth with all your existing devices.
For example:
- Entertainment system and gaming consoles – Screen-mirroring devices like Apple TV HD, Google Chromecast, Roku Express, Microsoft 4K Wireless Display Adapter, and other similar devices lets you connect your TV to the internet. There are also smart speakers (like Apple’s HomePod), gaming consoles, entertainment hubs are just a few examples of devices that can share your internet’s resources.
- Smart technology and Internet of Things (IoT) – Smart devices and IoT devices are kinda similar in that they both involve the interconnection of devices via the internet, except IoT doesn’t require human interaction to work (but smart devices do and often is paired with an app for control). These devices can range from universal remotes to doorbell cameras, lighting systems, voice controllers, air quality monitors, wi-fi home systems, smart plugs and so much more.
- Smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other portable devices – Count the number of portable devices your household has, then estimate how much internet each one uses based on the activities of your household members.
Note that every addition or upgraded device you own and connect to your internet would affect the overall speed of your internet connection.
5. New Providers Are Available in Your Area
Did you subscribe to DSL internet or to a particular ISP several years back because it was the only option you had? If you answered yes and recently discovered that other types of internet or new ISPs are available now in your area, this could be the reason for the switch and get the best internet deal you can possibly get.
Can you relate to any of the reasoning above? If so, it’s never too late to get an internet speed increase from your ISP. And if your current ISP cannot accommodate your needs anymore, then find another ISP that can step up to the plate.