How to Efficiently Work with Poor Internet Connectivity

This article will teach you how to work effectively with a poor internet connection - brief periods of very bad or no connection. In some cases, the problem self-corrects; in others, you may have to disconnect and restart your router. This can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, so it's useful to learn how to analyze your problem and find a way to work around it.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Learning Why Your Connection is Poor

1
Understand low bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data you can transfer per second for uploads and downloads. It is usually reported as a pair of numbers, one for the download speed and one for the upload speed. If you have lots of connected devices using the internet, your bandwidth will be reduced.
- Check your connection speeds. Although it does vary depending on your connection type and location, typical home internet connections should offer download speeds over 5 Mbps and upload speeds above 2 Mbps.
- Most home broadband and 4G networks offer higher download speeds than upload speeds. Download speed is more important for things like streaming video and browsing websites with images and videos.
2
Check your device's latency. Latency (also known as ping) refers to the time it takes for an instruction to be passed from your computer to the server. The higher the latency, the slower the connection, and vice versa.
- Using satellite internet is a situation where you might see high latency while having an otherwise stable connection and reasonably good bandwidth. In this case, the high latency is literally because of the huge distance that the signal needs to travel.
- One way to distinguish high latency from the other problems (packet loss and temporary loss of connectivity) is to see if there is a reasonably constant lag between making a request and getting the response.
3
Consider possible packet loss. Data is sent in 'packets' between your device and the server, which can sometimes be lost due to issues out of your control.
- One way of checking for this is to run a command like ping example.com in a terminal and check if some pings fail.
- The causes could be geographical: for instance, you might traverse through network blind spots of your cellular carrier if on a train. The causes could also be related to varying network congestion levels based on who else is using the network.
- For cellular networks, this often manifests itself as "Lie-Fi": the cellular device will claim to be connected, but in practice, all network calls from it fail or take a very long time.
4
Understand how the relationship between your device and the immediate upstream it is connected to (a router, range extender, access point, or cell tower) affects your internet connectivity. Of course, the biggest effect is bandwidth. However, the others (latency, packet loss, brief periods of bad connectivity) may also be affected.
- Home and small office WiFi networks are usually set up using the main router and sometimes one or more range extenders. Large public networks (such as libraries or large office spaces) have a wired network with multiple access points. Devices will connect to the router and/or range extender in the former case and to the closest access point in the latter case.
- In cellular devices using a cellular data plan, the device will connect to the closest cell tower. The cellular network may use amplifiers, especially for deep indoor or underground locations.
- In each case, the bandwidth that your device gets from the upstream is dependent on five factors: how much bandwidth the upstream has with its own upstream (e.g., the router may also be getting a limited bandwidth from your Internet Service Provider), hardware-imposed limits on the maximum bandwidth your upstream is willing and able to give your device, hardware-imposed limits on the maximum bandwidth your device can support, other resources using up the capacity of your upstream, and obstacles (distance, physical obstacles, and channel interference) that weaken the communication between your device and the upstream. Usually, in a given context, only one of these factors is the constraining factor causing poor connectivity. In other words, until you solve that problem, addressing others won't improve your connectivity.
In many residential areas, internet use is heaviest during the evening hours of 7 PM to 9 PM (and sometimes till 11 PM) due to heavy use of streaming media for people watching TV shows, movies, and other videos. This time is called internet rush hour. In addition, bandwidth may be lower at this time because of congestion at the level of your ISP.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Improving Connectivity

1
Switch to WiFi. If you're using your phone within range of a WiFi network, it's best to connect to the WiFi, instead of a cellular connection.
- Using WiFi, you're connected to an access point in the building, rather than a cell tower that could be kilometres away.
2
Move around. Physical objects can interrupt network communication for both WiFi and cell signal. If you have solid brick walls in your house, the connection will be reduced compared to that of studded drywall. To combat this, try and have your access point as centralised in your house as possible, to reduce the distance signals need to travel.
- In an open space, signal strength generally falls quadratically with distance from the upstream. This means that if you double the distance to the router, the signal strength becomes one-fourth of its value.
- In closed spaces, the effect is less dramatic because signals may reflect off the walls and not get diffused too quickly with distance.
- For a typical home network, the signal will generally be strong within spaces directly in the line of sight of the router or one or two rooms away from the router's line of sight. Beyond a certain distance, signal strength will start falling rapidly.
3
Restart your router or modem if you suspect that it is causing the problem. Sometimes, routers or modems can get stuck or overloaded and need to be reset to restore normal functioning. To do this, unplug the power cord from the device, wait for about 10 seconds, and then plug it back in. Wait for a few minutes until the device reboots and reconnects to the network.
- Your router may also have firmware updates that require a restart to be applied.
- Your device may take up to ten minutes to reestablish network connection.
4
Update your device's drivers and firmware if they are outdated. Drivers and firmware are software components that help your device communicate with the network hardware and software. If they are outdated, they may cause compatibility issues or performance problems. To update them, you can check the manufacturer's website for the latest versions and follow their instructions to download and install them. Alternatively, you can use a tool like Driver Booster or Driver Easy to scan your device and update all drivers automatically.
- Most modern devices will do this automatically, although you may need to restart the device for the updates to be applied.
- On a Windows machine, go to Settings>Windows Update>Advanced Options>Optional Updates to view available driver updates.
A wired connection, such as an Ethernet cable, can offer faster and more stable speeds than a wireless one, especially if there are many devices competing for the same WiFi signal or if there are sources of interference nearby. To use a wired connection, you need to have an Ethernet port on your device and an Ethernet cable that connects it to your router or modem.
6
Stream at lower qualities. Although your video won't look the best, it might still load if you change the streaming quality to somethings lower. Most streaming services allow you to change this, although the majority adjust it automatically.
- Streaming services adjust the quality to be the highest possible, without the video buffering or loading.
- Netflix allows you to control your general data usage and data usage when on mobile cellular connections.
7
Use an ad-blocker. Many websites load dozens of annoying ads that all take up bandwidth on your network, slowing your connection down. Using an ad blocker can prevent these annoying data-hogs from loading, speeding up your connection.
- There are many ad-block extensions available from sites such as Chrome Web Store and Edge Addon Store.
If you know you're going somewhere with poor connectivity, consider downloading things such as videos, movies, online files, and other applications that can work offline before.
If you're video-conferencing, streaming your webcam can take up a lot of bandwidth, and can potentially even boot you from the call. Consider turning off your webcam and avoid sharing your screen to avoid this.
Many ISPs will allow you to upgrade to a higher bandwidth level for an additional cost. This will most likely alleviate your issues if they're purely based on bandwidth and the number of devices.
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