We all use the internet, so we had better make sure that there’s enough of it to go around. If everyone could happily surf, tweet, and game off a single server, then that would be fine, however, chances are that people will be using it at the same time and those overloaded connections will end up causing friction to build up in the household. Let’s keep the peace and make sure there’s plenty of bandwidth for everyone.
Make sure your signal is strong
A lot of the problems of bandwidth getting through the house can be traced to the router itself. For instance, most routers offer different channels that you can switch between when you’re getting slow download speeds on one. But beyond that, you need to make sure a signal’s path is clear throughout a house. The more walls and other obstructions between the router and the devices of the home, the weaker that signal gets. A lot of possible arguments could get cleared up with a Wi-Fi signal booster. You should also look at the surroundings of the routers. Materials like mirrors, metals, and electrics are also common culprits in signal blockage if they’re within 3 feet of a router..
Track that data usage
If it isn’t the signal strength that’s the problem, it may very well be that some people are just doing things that hog up a lot of bandwidth. Streaming videos on the internet and broadcasting themselves are two of the most common bandwidth hogging actions. If you don’t have the fastest connection, then playing video games online can be as much of a culprit as well. You can use your router’s device-side controls to find out who exactly is using the majority of broadband. Some routers even come with a Quality of Service option. This ensures that you can spread the bandwidth evenly across all devices. Be careful though as if there are many active devices, this may result in making things like streaming and gaming a lot less possible.
Clean up any pesky bandwidth bugs
Perhaps your connection is strong enough to handle people gaming and streaming videos. What might give it more difficulty are the programs and harmful malware that suck up bandwidth under the surface. Some operating systems like Windows 10 have peer-to-peer update systems that even when inactive, keep a device connected to many others throughout the world, which can take up a lot of your internet. Then there are viruses like those that use your computer to send of thousands upon thousands of emails a day, slowing the internet to a crawl. These viruses can get on any device as well, so it’s important you protect every device.
The most important part of keeping things sweet with internet for all is a bit of consideration. If you need a little more bandwidth your way, make sure it’s known beforehand so people aren’t streaming videos and clogging everything up. Besides peaceful negotiations, the tips above should help you solve any problems.
