Why your Wi-Fi is slower than the plan you pay for

The most common complaint in home internet, and the honest answer is usually the one providers avoid: your connection is fine, the Wi-Fi isn't. Here's how to tell in two minutes.

First, separate the two

Run a speed test with a laptop plugged into the router. Then run it again over Wi-Fi, where you normally sit.

• Cable fast, Wi-Fi slow: your connection is delivering. The problem is between the router and your device, and everything below applies.
• Both slow: that's your connection or the router, and it's your provider's problem. Call them. (If it's us: (805) 322-0086.)

Almost every "my internet is slow" call turns out to be the first case.

The four things that actually cause it

1 · Distance and walls

Wi-Fi drops off fast, faster through walls, floors, foil-backed insulation and anything with water in it. A router in a closet at one end isn't serving the other end, whatever you're paying.

The fix is placement first, central, out in the open, off the floor, and an extender second if the shape of the house needs one.

2 · The device, not the connection

A phone or laptop from a few years ago physically can't receive gigabit speeds over Wi-Fi. It'll show a strong signal while topping out at a fraction of your plan.

Test with a newer device before concluding anything about your line.

3 · Old equipment in the path

A five-year-old router throttles a gigabit line to whatever it can manage. So does an old powerline adapter or switch. If you kept old equipment in front of new, take it out of the path.

4 · The upload, which nobody tested

If calls break up while everything else is fine, look at the upload, not the download. On coax it's a small fraction of the download and degrades first when the street gets busy, which is why it shows up at 8pm and not at 3am.

That one isn't a Wi-Fi problem and no amount of moving the router fixes it. It's how the network is built. We've written about the difference here.

What good support should do

Ask you to test with a cable first. Look at your connection from their side instead of asking you to reboot three times. And say when the answer is your laptop, rather than selling you a faster plan.

If you're told to upgrade your plan before anyone has established whether the problem is even your connection, ask why.