Bandwidth management goes a long way in trying to improve the internet experience for users at home. This is especially true in homes where many devices use just one connection. As more and more smart devices, computers, and smartphones connect over the same connection, bandwidth can easily be stretched thin. Poor management of this may lead to slowing down the speed, dropping of the connections, and frustration. Fortunately, there are ways of managing bandwidth usage and optimizing performance on your network to meet the needs of each device without any interruption.
Understand Your Internet Speed
Understanding your internet speed is the first step towards bandwidth management. ISPs offer different plans, each at a different speed, and knowing what exactly is at work is vital. For example, if you pay for a 100 Mbps plan, it means your network is able to handle up to 100 megabits of data transfer per second. That bandwidth, though, is shared across all devices in your home. So, if several people are using the internet to stream video, game, or work from home, that bandwidth might be split up, slowing down the general performance. You can use online tools to check your current home internet speed to ensure that you are actually getting the speeds promised by your internet service provider.
Connect Important Devices First
The devices that consume most bandwidth usually belong to HD or 4K video streaming, online gaming, or video conferencing. These should always be connected first in order for them to receive their required bandwidth without buffering or lag. QoS settings are common in the newer routers, which allow you to set certain devices or activities to move to the head of the line, so to say. You can set your gaming console or smart TV to the highest priority level so that those activities receive the lion’s share of available bandwidth. You can assign lower priority to lighter tasks like web browsing or email checking.
Use Wired Connections When Possible
Wi-Fi is easy, but it can be a bit less stable sometimes and isn’t as fast when compared to being directly connected. It is recommended that in cases of desktops or gaming consoles that might have problems with bandwidth, considering hooking up Ethernet cables from the devices to the router is advised. Wired connections are predictable and offer faster speeds without the common interferences seen with Wi-Fi, such as physical barriers or network congestion. If your router supports gigabit Ethernet speeds, that will go a long way in enhancing the performance of high-demand devices and freeing your wireless network for lighter tasks.
Limit Bandwidth-Hogging Applications
Many applications and services consume a great amount of bandwidth and consequently slow down the speed of an entire network. Such examples include video streaming services like Netflix or YouTube, large file downloads, and cloud backups. This is because you can prohibit these applications from commanding all the available bandwidth by controlling when and how they run. For instance, you may schedule auto backups at a time when other devices are not actively using the network. You can also limit video streaming to resolutions that are not high definition during peak hours, among other things.
Upgrade Your Router
If you’re still on an older router, it might be a good idea to upgrade. Newer ones are much faster, have wider ranges, and include new features like band steering and MU-MIMO technology, all of which work together in a much more effective way to dole out bandwidth to multiple devices. MU-MIMO technology, for instance, allows the router to communicate with multiple clients at one time without bottlenecks and clogging. Also, upgrading the router ensures that you are getting the maximum possible speed your ISP has to offer. It also helps you manage the bandwidth demand from all your connected devices.
Another significant element of managing bandwidth effectively might be performance monitoring for your network. Several routers have integrated tools that allow you to monitor bandwidth usage with each device. You should keep a regular tab on this usage statistics to find out the devices or activities that are using too much bandwidth and make necessary changes in that respect. You can also find out the devices that don’t have much reason to consume bandwidth, such as a background application or a device left connected to the network that you are not using.
