When your phone is reliant on WiFi for data at work or home, you may notice that you don't always get the speed you expect connecting to the Internet. Similarly while out of the office and using your phone provider's data allowance, you may find yourself experiencing Internet speeds reminiscent of a decade ago.
In today’s world, staying connected means having a strong internet connection and a feature-packed smartphone. But you may discover that your Internet-based apps are loading much more slowly after using your handset for just a few months. Learn four possible reasons why your phone’s Internet speed is lagging.
Router or Wireless Access Point location
One simple yet overlooked reason why your WiFi-connected phone may be experiencing internet lag is because of your wireless access point or router’s location (when your router is acting as your wireless access point, typical of most home integrated devices). Although WiFi has a range of up to 70m, the farther away you are from the router, the weaker the signal. Large objects like doors and walls situated in between you and the router can also weaken the transmission.
It’s recommended to place your router or wireless access point in a centralised location, preferably away from concrete and masonry walls or other big objects like a chimney. As the WiFi signal radiates from all sides, blocking any side with big objects will impact your signal quality and as a result, your phone’s internet speed is impeded.
Diamond IT also recommends where possible the use of a dedicated Wireless Access Point (WAP) rather than the WiFi built into most home or small business routers. Dedicated WAPs are usually centrally-placed ceiling-mounted and have far better connectivity than a router in the corner of a building.
WiFi noise
Did you know that home electronic appliances emit wireless signals at a frequency similar to your router’s (2.4GHz)? So before deciding on your router’s location, determine whether there are any wireless devices nearby, as they emit signals that can interfere with your router’s signal. For example, even if the ideal location for your router is at the centre of your house, you shouldn’t place it there if there’s a cordless phone nearby.
You can also set your router on a 5GHz band, as this frequency is less prone to interference from other appliances. But before you start tuning it, make sure your phone supports 5GHz; otherwise, it won’t be able to connect to the router.
Slow network
Another reason for your phone’s slow internet connection is fluctuating network speeds. Ask yourself these two questions to know the exact cause of this problem:
- How many people are connecting to the router/access point?
- What are they doing over the internet?
You should increase your router’s internet bandwidth speed if you discover you have many users and all of them are either streaming movies, or downloading computer games or software updates. This will allow every device on the local network to enjoy faster internet speeds.
If you’re outdoors, and you’re connected to a public WiFi network, consider using your mobile data instead. In Australia, LTE mobile speeds (4G) are close to nation-wide and 5G rollout is underway. This means that it's often faster to access the Internet through your mobile account than through WiFi, but depending on your mobile plan, this may come at a financial cost or a deduction to your monthly download limit.
If you're trying to use Internet services while at or near a large event, you can expect slower speeds as the local services struggle to deal with the heavy load in a single region.
Too much cache
Last, you should check your smartphone’s cache if fixing your router, network, and positioning doesn’t improve your device’s Internet speed. Cache is a component in your phone that saves data from earlier searches in order to increase the speed of similar searches in the future. Although your phone becomes more efficient for that particular search, it also makes your phone much slower when you do other things that require the Internet.
You can clear out your cache manually or use a cache cleaner app to thoroughly get rid of useless cache and optimise your phone’s internet speed. If you decide to download a cache cleaner app, make sure that it is reputable and trustworthy so you don’t accidentally download a malware-infected program instead.
Speak to our mobile experts
There are plenty of reasons behind your phone’s poor Internet speed. If your business relies heavily on a speedy mobile Internet connection and you’re unable to fix the problem, call our experts today. We’re always ready to help you.
Our Carrier Service Solution (CSS) specialists are specialists in managing mobile devices. If you need advice, give us a call on 1300 307 907 or contact us via the form below.
Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
