Why does the internet speed fluctuate?

Speed measurement will easily verify the quality of the provider

Some fluctuations are quite normal for shared Internet lines, but they mustn't be such that you are restricted and the connection becomes almost unusable. The shared line is used by almost all regular users, the luxury of owning a line would be very expensive, but the aggregation simply has to move within acceptable parameters. Therefore, at first to measure the speed use one of the commonly available applications.

It is necessary to repeat the measurement several times (at different times of the day and night and on weekdays and weekends) so that the final average is truly meaningful. Speed measurement applications are free and you do not need any installation to use them, it is enough just visit the page where the measurement application is provided. Taking measurement follow not only the values of the downloading, but also the uploading, for online players, the response is also extremely important (ping).

You do not have to write down the measured values, in case you'll carry out repeated measurements using still the same program, the results of the performed measurements will be stored in the memory. So you can see them in the form of a graph or table and get a reliable overview. During the measuring, it is of course important that at the time of acquisition of the data (it doesn't take long, it's a few seconds) the internet connection was no longer used in any direction. Otherwise, the results would naturally be skewed and the data about the data transmission would not correspond to the reality.

h2>Running programs and applications

If you leave programs running on your computer which are not used, this may be another reason why your computer slows down and you think it's a slow connection speed. Programs can be terminated with an icon, but after a restart, many programs will run again automatically. To prevent this, you can do it quite easily - in the window of the program, in the menu, find the item Tools, go to Options, then to ARRANGEMENTS and PRESETS. Find the item labeled by LAUNCH AT WINDOWS STARTUP or similarly. Here you can forbid the running of programs during the start of the operating system and you will let them run manually only in the case if you want to use them. This applies, for example, to communication programs (Skype, etc.), which can sometimes significantly influence the speed.

Aggregation and lines overload

Aggregation can also have a large effect on speed if it exceeds a reasonable limit. Aggregation is, in simple terms, sharing an Internet line with more users. Why do providers use this way of connecting? Having a line just for yourself is a great and very expensive luxury, and it is often really unnecessary, so the aggregation is commonly used. Thus, the providers can offer an acceptable price to a larger number of applicants, but if the aggregation reaches higher values, they prefer to put it in the contract somewhere below and in small letters. The aggregation value (also the number of sharing users per one line) is always given as a 1:X ratio, where the letter X is replaced by the number of users. The acceptable aggregation is basically up to 1:10, but pay attention, you can sometimes meet up with a value of 1:50 or even higher. Then it is obvious that in the period of the so-called "peak", also at the time when the number of connected and the data downloading and uploading users is the highest (usually most often around 18 to 23 p.m.), the connection speed is significantly slowing down. Providers keep the back door open - they state in the contract the speed in conjunction with a treacherous word "WHEN", which somehow indirectly indicates that the speed which is stated in the marked tariff is the maximum of what can be expected and achieved on the line, but this speed is definitely not stable. Therefore, verify the aggregation in the contract and, if necessary, check with the provider whether he has not made any changes that he "forgot" to let you know or that he announced foxily in such a way that you haven't even registered them. The solution may be the change of the aggregation on the part of the provider or the change of the provider (on your part) if this cannot be resolved in another way.

It could be even the router's fault

The router can have a big effect on the connection speed. If it is an old piece that has long belonged to scrapheap or, at best, to a museum, do not try to come up with a rescue solution and get a new one. If you do not believe that it can no longer handle a large amount of the data transfer and the required speed is beyond its power, study the documentation (if you have it hidden) or carry out a comparative test with the connection of some borrowed modern router, which "can" and controls even new technologies. And if the difference is big, then you will just buy a new one, done.

Sometimes it is enough to restart the router, but this is usually the solution in the case of a one-time problem. Before the switching off, save the access data just in case that the router requires it again after a restart. The router can also overheat, didn't you move it to a place for some reason where it doesn't have enough access to air for cooling? The solution may be a cooling pad, but if the required power is above the limit of the device options, it is better to replace it with a more powerful one. Various obstacles can also be a problem for the transmission of the Wi-Fi signal, which can significantly weaken and reduce the signal (metal reinforcements, nets, walls, etc.). If there are problems with the mobile device, use it where the signal is of a sufficient quality or solve the problem by changing the location of the router, or by adding of some another transmitter.