Why is my internet slower than I pay for?
Short answer
Plans are usually sold as "up to" speeds. The most common reasons you measure less are Wi-Fi, an old router or cable, busy evening hours and the way the test was run. Test on a cable first. If a cable test is far below your plan at several times of day, you have a case to take to your provider.
The usual reasons, most common first
- Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi loses speed with distance, walls and interference. Fast plans, especially those near 1,000 Mbps, are rarely reached over Wi-Fi. See how to fix slow Wi-Fi.
- A cable, port or device that limits speed. A 100 Mbps Ethernet port or cable caps you at about 94 Mbps in practice. For faster plans, use a Cat5e cable or better and a gigabit port. Older phones and laptops with older Wi-Fi hardware can also be the limit.
- Protocol overhead. Part of the line speed carries the control data of the connection itself, so a measured result is typically a few percent below the plan.
- Busy hours. On shared infrastructure, such as cable and mobile networks, evenings can be slower than mornings.
- Other activity. Updates, backups, cloud sync and streams on other devices share the same line during the test.
- How the test was run. A VPN, a distant test server or a busy browser changes the result. See why speed tests differ.
- Your provider's equipment. A basic router supplied by the provider can limit speed or add delay.
How to test fairly before you call
- Connect a laptop to the router with a cable.
- Close other apps and pause updates and backups.
- Turn off any VPN, and on iPhones the iCloud Private Relay feature, because they change the route and the speed.
- Run the SpeedUp test three times at three different times of day, for example morning, afternoon and evening.
- Write down the results, or take screenshots. Your recent results stay in your browser's history on the page.
- Compare the typical result with your plan. Remember that plans list download and upload separately.
When to contact your provider
If your cable results are consistently and far below your plan, for example half or less, at several times of day, ask your provider to check the line and the equipment, and send them your results. Check your contract, and the rules of your country's communications regulator, for what speed your provider has promised and what you are entitled to.