Can you really get faster Internet for free? Yep. Sometimes, getting better Internet is as simple as making sure things are in the right place. Other times, you may need to invest in some Internet boosters. Here are 5 tips that you can do in minutes to make your Internet faster for free or for a low cost.
5 Ways to Speed Up Your Internet
Before you try any of these tips, start by running an Internet speed test on your network so that you know the speeds you are working with. There are free tools online to do this. You want to know where your speeds currently are so you can measure the results as you do each of these steps to know if they are working.
- Reset your router.
Sometimes turning things on and off again will do the trick. If this doesn’t help, try the next steps.
- Move your router.
Make sure that your router is in a central location to your devices and that it is not on the floor. If your router is behind doors, walls or separated by floors, your Internet speeds will suffer because of the interfered connection.
- Create an Ethernet backbone for your network.
While this tip isn’t completely free, it is an affordable solution to getting faster Wi-Fi by creating an Ethernet over coax network (MoCA network). Sometimes a wireless network cannot support all of the high-capacity bandwidth of your devices. That’s when you can invest in affordable options to boost your Wi-Fi like with MoCA adapters. MoCA adapters help you convert your existing coax wiring to an Ethernet network that is super-fast and able to support all of the devices lagging your Internet. - Extend your Wi-Fi network coverage.
Similar to MoCA adapters, Wi-Fi network extenders help boost your Internet speed by extending your Wi-Fi signal coverage. With more coverage, you get better performance. - Make sure your Internet service provider (ISP) is providing you with what you are paying for.
Take the speeds you got from the Internet speed test you took at the start and compare them to the speeds you are supposed to be getting from your ISP. Look on your online account or Internet bill to see. If the speeds you are paying for do not match the ones you are getting, that’s a problem to call your ISP about. In the end, your network may be underperforming, and you can boost it with MoCA adapters or Wi-Fi network extenders or with some of the tips above. Otherwise, you may have to switch providers or upgrade your plan. While this won’t be free, it will save you a lot of hassle in the long run.
Want more Wi-Fi and Internet boosting tips? Check out Hitron’s Learn Page and blog for more.
