Top ways to quickly speed up home internet connections

Our reliance on the internet means any interruption or delay can feel disproportionately annoying, while even a temporary broadband outage has the potential to trigger anxiety.

Many of the activities we conduct online every day have no strategic importance, such as browsing social media, but there are occasions where a stable internet connection is essential.

Examples might include an online job interview or a video call with a travelling relative, a piece of work with a same-day submission deadline, or a financial transaction.

A slow internet connection might jeopardise these activities, causing anxiety and embarrassment, neither of which would be welcome in an already pressurised situation.

Fortunately, there are ways to speed up home internet connections – temporarily, at least.

We’re talking here about optimising data speeds on individual devices, not upgrading your broadband service or improving the maximum connection speed into your property.

Line speeds tend to be dictated by technical factors outwith your home, though high-speed full fibre connections are occasionally throttled so ISPs can offer them more affordably.

The following advice relates to maximising the rate at which webpages load, streaming media files download and apps/games/utilities respond.

None are intended to be long-term measures, and some may only be practical for short periods of time.

However, they could be invaluable in situations where a sluggish or dropped connection really isn’t an option…

Ten ways to temporarily speed up home internet connections

Before starting our ten-step guide, run a line speed test on the computer or tablet you want to use. This will ultimately reveal how much the following steps improve your connection speed.

Firstly, restart the device you’re using. PCs, Macs and tablets may bog down if they have too much temporary data in storage, or have been running without a break for too long.

Next, restart your broadband router . We’ve previously explained how hard routers work; an occasional reboot allows them to purge their memory and install firmware.

If possible, hardwire your device directly into the router. Ethernet connections avoid the interference which often occurs over a wireless connection, and data travels more quickly.

If you can’t find a cable long enough, connect Powerline adaptors to the router and the machine you wish to use. Home electrical networks are superb conductors of internet data.

Next, turn off wireless devices. Whether you’ve hardwired your router and display device or not, every connection to the router uses data that could be directed to your key task.

The same applies to smart technology, so temporarily disable smart speakers and other Internet of Things hardware which might be consuming bandwidth at any given moment.

If there are other people in the house, ensure they aren’t hogging data by asking people to stay offline while you complete the essential task that requires all available bandwidth.

Ensure their sacrifices (and complaints) aren’t wasted by suspending any data uploads, smart TV downloads or firmware updates scheduled to take place during this time period.

You should also close non-essential webpages and utilities on your own device, since websites or apps may be drawing data for adverts and other on-page content.

Finally, minimise potential wireless interference on your home network from microwave ovens, baby monitors, car alarms and other 2.4GHz-reliant gadgets.

With all this done, re-run the line speed check and see what difference your actions have taken. You might be surprised at the improvement…