How to improve Wi-Fi speed
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Most slow internet at home is really slow Wi-Fi, a busy connection or an old router, not the plan itself. Before spending money, find out which it is. It takes two tests.
Step 1: Find the bottleneck
- Test on a cable. Plug a laptop into the router with an Ethernet cable, close other apps, pause downloads on other devices and run the test. This measures your internet line.
- Test on Wi-Fi in the room where things feel slow, on the device you normally use.
- Compare the two in your history panel.
| What you see | Most likely cause | Where to start |
|---|---|---|
| Cable is fast, Wi-Fi is slow | Wi-Fi coverage or interference | Fixes 1–6 below |
| Both are slow, all the time | Plan, modem or line | Fixes 9–10 |
| Both slow only in the evening | Congestion at your provider | Fix 10 |
| Speed is fine but games and calls lag when others are online | Bufferbloat | Fix 7 |
| Speed is fine but latency or jitter is high on Wi-Fi only | Wi-Fi interference | Fixes 1–5 |
The HowFast result names the metric holding back each rating, which narrows this down further.
Step 2: Fix your Wi-Fi
1. Move the router. Put it in a central, open, raised spot, not in a cupboard, behind the TV or on the floor. Walls, floors, mirrors, fish tanks and metal all weaken the signal.
2. Use the right band. 5 GHz (and 6 GHz on Wi-Fi 6E and 7 equipment) is much faster and less crowded than 2.4 GHz at short to medium range. 2.4 GHz reaches further but is slower and shared with neighbours, microwaves and Bluetooth. If your router combines bands under one name, it usually picks well; if a device clings to 2.4 GHz, try separate network names.
3. Change the channel. In a flat or dense area, neighbouring networks on the same channel slow each other down. Most routers have an automatic channel option; restarting the router often makes it pick a quieter one.
4. Add mesh points or an access point, not a repeater. A mesh system or a second access point connected by cable gives fast coverage in distant rooms. Basic range extenders often halve the speed they pass on.
5. Update or replace old equipment. Install router firmware updates. A router more than five or six years old, or one without Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) or newer, is likely the limit on a fast plan. Old phones and laptops can also be the slowest link.
6. Use cables where it counts. Gaming consoles, desktop PCs, TVs and work computers that sit in one place are better on Ethernet. You get full speed, lower latency and less jitter, and the Wi-Fi has more room for everything else.
Step 3: Fix lag when the line is busy
7. Turn on Smart Queue Management (SQM). If latency rises sharply during the download or upload part of the test (a bufferbloat grade of C or worse), turn on SQM or adaptive QoS in your router and set it to around 90–95% of your measured speeds. This keeps calls and games responsive while others download. See bufferbloat.
8. Tame background traffic. Cloud backups, photo sync and game updates can fill the upload in particular. Schedule them overnight or cap their speed in the app’s settings.
Step 4: When it’s the plan or the provider
9. Restart, then check the basics. Restart the modem and router. Check that cables are firmly connected and undamaged, and that the modem is the one your provider recommends for your plan’s speed.
10. Gather evidence and contact your provider. Run cabled tests at different times over a few days. If results are consistently well below your plan, or slow every evening, contact your provider with the results. If your plan simply doesn’t cover your household’s needs, see what is a good internet speed before choosing an upgrade.
Frequently asked questions
Does restarting the router help?
Often, for a while. It clears memory problems and can move the router to a quieter channel. If you need to restart it every few days, the router is probably failing or overloaded.
Will a faster plan fix my Wi-Fi?
Not if Wi-Fi is the bottleneck. If a cabled test is already much faster than your Wi-Fi, a faster plan won’t change what you get on Wi-Fi. Fix the Wi-Fi first.
Why is my phone slower than my laptop?
Phones have smaller antennas and often support fewer Wi-Fi streams, so they usually measure slower at the same spot. Test both before deciding the network is at fault.