Slow and erratic WiFi is easily anyone’s nightmare, especially with remote working on the rise. Sometimes the fault lies with the internet service provider or with your Mac’s network settings.
These 15 tips will help you diagnose and trouble your internet troubles. Let’s take a look.
Make sure your router is on
First things first, make sure your router is actually on. You may have turned it off and forgotten to turn it back on. If you see all the lights blinking, then it’s likely a different issue. If not, go ahead and turn it on.
Figure out the right router placement
Your router and device shouldn’t be too far away. The closer you are to the router, the better the signal strength. If it is not possible for you to be close to the router, then clear any obstruction in the path to get stronger WiFi signals. Another alternative is to use a booster to boost your router’s signals, according to technology blog.
Reset your router
An easy way to fix your unusually slow internet is to reset your router. When you reset the router, you basically clear the memory and reset stalled tasks. This usually works well, and if you want to understand the technicalities in more detail, you will dig this article.
Restart your laptop
Similar to resetting your router, restarting your laptop can speed up your computer and your internet connection as a result. A simple reboot clears your computer’s RAM and closes all of the apps and background processes, thus improving your Mac’s performance.
Reconnect to your WiFi
Turning on and off the WiFi on your laptop and reconnecting to your router can also help solve your connectivity issues.
Use Wireless Diagnostics
Apple’s in-built feature on Mac ‘Wireless Diagnostics’ allows you to diagnose the issue and possibly troubleshoot the issue as well. You will find this in your System Preferences, or you can use Spotlight to open Wireless Diagnostics.
Use Safari on Mac
Safari is the fastest browser for Mac beating Chrome and Firefox. If you have persistent issues with other browsers, changing your browser to Safari may be key.
Disable browser extensions
Browser extensions can slow down your computer and, by that, extensions cause a slow browsing session. Disable your extensions or remove the ones you don’t need.
Clear your browser cache
Your browser cache is another thing that can hog up your computer’s storage. Clear your cache, and you may notice an improvement almost immediately.
Declutter your storage
Sometimes the problem is not your internet connection. It could be your almost full storage that makes your laptop slow as a whole. Declutter your storage, optimize it, and offload important files either to an external drive or use a cloud storage service to back up your files.
Test your internet speed
To have a clear understanding of your internet bandwidth, test your internet speed online. This will give you two speeds – upload and download. You can stack this against the ideal streaming speeds required and what your internet service provider is supposed to provide you. If there is a discrepancy, then you can raise an issue.
Upgrade your connection
If you see that you are getting the promised internet speed and it is still slow for your needs, you should consider upgrading your connection or switching to a different internet service provider if your current one is unable to meet your needs.
Use an Ethernet cable
Instead of using WiFi, you can access the internet with an Ethernet cable. There is some signal loss using WiFi, whereas that does not happen with a direct connection through Ethernet. You will probably see a spike in your speed once you try this.
Get rid of all unnecessary tabs
The number of tabs that you have open can affect your internet speed. If you are in the habit of opening multiple tabs, close the ones that you don’t need if you want a faster load time. There is a way to close all tabs at once, depending on the browser that you use, that will make this easy for you.
Upgrade your router
There are two wireless bands – 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. A router that offers both will be very helpful, and here’s why. Both these wireless bands have their own benefits. The 2.4 GHz band allows you to be far away from the router and access the internet, albeit at a speed that is slow. The 5 GHz is much faster but works better at short distances.
All in all
Most internet issues can be fixed with a simple reset or restart. If this does not solve your issue, it may be a hardware problem that needs to be checked out by an expert.
James is a great tech-geek and loves to write about different upcoming tech at TechyZip. From Android to Windows, James loves to share his experienced knowledge about everything here.
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