Why Is My Internet Slow? 9 Checks to Try First

A practical checklist for diagnosing a slow or unstable internet connection before contacting your provider.

1. Confirm whether the problem is speed or stability

A connection can feel slow for different reasons. Low throughput makes downloads take longer. High latency makes websites and calls feel delayed. Jitter makes response time inconsistent, which is especially noticeable during calls and gaming.

Start with the Internet Speed Test for a quick throughput estimate, then run the Internet Connection Test to look at response time and jitter.

2. Compare Wi‑Fi with a closer position

If possible, move closer to the router and test again. A large improvement suggests the internet service itself may be fine while the Wi‑Fi link is the bottleneck. Walls, distance and crowded wireless channels can all reduce performance.

3. Check for background traffic

Cloud backups, game updates, operating-system downloads and another person streaming video can consume a large share of the connection. Pause large transfers for a minute and repeat the test.

4. Compare another device

If every device is slow, investigate the router or provider. If only one laptop is affected, browser extensions, VPN software, Wi‑Fi drivers or the laptop’s wireless hardware become more likely causes. The Device Information tool can help record basic browser and device details before troubleshooting.

5. Test with and without a VPN

A VPN adds another route between you and the destination. A good service may have little impact, but a busy or distant VPN server can reduce throughput or increase latency. Compare results both ways before concluding that the ISP is the problem.

6. Restart only when it makes sense

A router restart can clear a temporary issue, but it should not be the only diagnostic step. Record a test result first, restart the router, wait for the connection to stabilise and repeat the same test from the same location.

7. Test at different times

If speeds are consistently worse during busy evening hours, congestion may be involved. A single test is a snapshot, so compare several results across the day before escalating the issue.

8. Compare with the speed you actually buy

Internet plans are usually advertised in megabits per second (Mbps), while file downloads are often shown in megabytes per second (MB/s). Eight bits equal one byte, so 100 Mbps has a theoretical maximum of about 12.5 MB/s before overhead.

9. Contact your provider with evidence

If multiple devices remain slow close to the router, record the time, test results and whether you used Wi‑Fi or Ethernet. That gives support staff far more useful information than simply saying the internet feels slow.

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Useful MyLaptopTools checks

Use these free browser tools to test the relevant part of your setup: