Slow Wi-Fi: 12 fixes to try in order

Before changing anything, find out where the slowness is: the line coming in, the Wi-Fi in the house, or one device.

First, find where the problem is

1. Test beside the router. Stand next to it and run a speed test, or use a laptop on a cable. If it is slow even there, the fault is the line or the plan: fixes 1, 2 and 12.
2. Test where it feels slow. Fast beside the router but slow in the bedroom means a Wi-Fi coverage problem: fixes 3 to 9.
3. Test another device in the same spot. If only one device is slow, the problem is that device: fixes 10 and 11.

The fixes

1. Restart the router and the modem. Switch both off, wait a minute, switch on the modem (or fibre box) first and the router after it. This clears a surprising share of problems.

2. Check what is using the line. A phone backing up photos, a console downloading a game or a television streaming in 4K can take most of a small plan. Many routers list devices and their use.

3. Move the router. Wi-Fi spreads outward and slightly downward from the router. Put it in the open, high up, near the middle of the home. Not inside a cupboard, not behind the television, not on the floor, and away from thick walls, mirrors, fish tanks and the microwave oven.

4. Use the right band. Most routers send two signals. 2.4 GHz reaches far and passes through walls but is slow and crowded. 5 GHz is much faster but has shorter reach. Use 5 GHz in the same or the next room, and 2.4 GHz only for far corners and simple smart devices. If the router shows one combined name, it chooses for you.

5. Change the channel on 2.4 GHz. In flats, dozens of networks shout over each other. In the router's wireless settings, choose channel 1, 6 or 11, the three that do not overlap, picking the least used, or leave it on Auto and restart the router so that it chooses again.

6. Update the router's software from its settings page. See router login.

7. Check for uninvited users. Look at the connected devices list. If you see ones you cannot explain, change the Wi-Fi password, using WPA2 or WPA3.

8. Cover a large home properly. One router cannot cover a long flat or two floors. Options, best first: a second access point joined by cable; a mesh system of two or three units; a plug-in repeater, which is cheap but halves the speed it passes on. Place a repeater or mesh unit halfway, where the signal is still good, not in the dead zone itself.

9. Use a cable for things that do not move. Televisions, consoles and desktop computers on a cable are faster and leave the air free for phones.

10. On the slow device: switch Wi-Fi off and on, "forget" the network and join again, restart the device, and install system updates. Turn off a VPN to compare.

11. Old devices. A phone or laptop made for older Wi-Fi standards cannot go faster than its own radio allows, whatever the router or plan.

12. Talk to the provider. If a cable test beside the router is well below your plan at different times of day, note the figures and dates and raise a complaint. The fault may be in the line, the fibre box or the local network. Ask whether your router, if it is several years old, is holding back a faster plan.

When pages are slow but speed tests are fine

That pattern points to DNS: the look-up of site names is slow or failing. Restart the router, or set a public DNS resolver. High or uneven delay is the other suspect: see ping, latency and jitter and try our response time test.