A slow Internet connection can be caused by any number of reasons. There is no magic program or tweak to increase your overall Internet speed, and reading this can help you know why.
Slow Internet connection
If you are using a dial-up connection or a modem, this will be much slower than any broadband connection or fibre. If you are using a modem, no matter how fast your computer is, the speed of the Internet will remain the same or very close and can cause some users to believe their computer is slow. Go to http://www.speedtest.net/ to test your internet speed.
Virus or malware infection
Check your computer for a virus or malware infection. Internet speed can be reduced because viruses and malware are corrupting essential operating system files using up system resources that would otherwise be for Internet function.
Site or download
Depending on the web page or website you are visiting or the download you are receiving, your Internet connection may appear to be slow. The composition of the page or site, including text, images, and videos make a difference on how fast your Internet speed appears to be.
Downloading while browsing
If you or someone else in your network is doing more than one thing on the Internet your Internet will appear to be slower.
Time of day or day
The day or time of day affects the overall speed of the Internet, as well as your individual connection. When more people are online, servers and Internet connections can become overloaded and cause delays in the response time.
Slow computer
If the overall speed of your computer is slow or has performance issues with doing tasks such as watching videos it may appear as if your Internet connection is slowTest the Internet on another device to make sure it is not the computer having the problem.
Server or website location
The location of the web page you are visiting can also determine the speed of the Internet. If you are accessing a web page that is in a different part of the world, it will be much slower than a page that is hosted closer to your location.
Network or site maintenance
If your Internet service provider or the host of the website is performing maintenance on their network, computers, or network equipment, this can cause speed related issues.
Amount of visitors on a site
A server and website can only handle so many users at once. If hundreds, thousands, or millions of people are trying to visit the site at the same time, that page will be much slower and, in some cases, pages may not even respond or load.
Third-party programs and tweaks
No matter how many web services or programs you see advertised, there is no magic program or tweak that is going to increase your actual overall Internet speed.
You or your ISP is under DoS or being attacked
Although not a common situation, a slow Internet connection can also be caused when you or your ISP is being attacked, e.g. a DoS attack. When this kind of an attack is performed, the computer becomes so overwhelmed with requests that it causes your connection to be slow or time out.