Actual vs. announced speeds: Here is why you see slower internet speeds at home

The internet speeds at home have become faster in recent years. For example, the 50 gig service from Ziply Fibre is one of the fastest speed offers from an internet provider. Today's speeds have the spirit of a 10-year-old, but there is still room for improvements.

Nobody wants to get slower downloads than they pay, especially if their home is full of strong internet users. Regardless of whether you stream the latest Netflix show from Bingflix or lead a smart home full of onions, locks and vacuum cleaners that have to remain online, broadband speeds can be of crucial importance. Cable connections can be relatively stable, but if you use a 5G -home internet service, things can go wrong quickly. When my T-Mobile-Home internet experience of a current X-Files reimbursement festival stood in the way of Hulu, I wanted to answer-and I'm not alone. Here is what happens to the realities of your home announced and real speeds of your home.

What are advertised internet speeds?

Internet service providers are happy to focus on download. These are the speeds that the ISP emphasizes when shopping in its marketing. For example, the cable internet provider Xfinity offers plans with downloads from 150 Mbit / s to 1,200 Mbit / s in my house in Albuquerque, New Mexico. These speeds are ideal if everything goes well.

When you buy the Internet, open the broadband identification of the ISP -Widband to check details about plaque speeds. The “typical speed” of a plan can vary from the potential maximum speed. This applies in particular to 5G-home internet plans such as Verizon 5G Home Internet, T-Mobile Home Internet and AT & T Internet Air. The 100-Mbit / S-Plan from Verizon 5G Home Internet lists typical download speeds of 50-85 Mbit / s, while its 300-Mbit / S plan usually delivers 85 to 250 Mbit / s. This is a broad swing that shows the potential for volatility in its broadband speeds due to the network overload or the placement of devices in your house. Expect more stability of Fiber and cable connections.

Some users can experience the pleasant surprise to pull faster speeds than expected. “Consumers can be announced faster than anywhere, since ISPS are often transferred across the advertised service level cross-commissioned connections,” says Nick Feamster, professor of computer science at the University of Chicago.

In my neighborhood, XFinity, for example, sells a 150 -Mbit / s plan, but the broadband facts of the Plan lists a typical download speed of almost 176 Mbit / s. You are probably not here because your internet is faster than expected. You are here because you try to find out why it is slower. There are steps that you can take before you contact customer service.

What are actual internet speeds?

Actual internet speeds are the reality with which they live. You may pay for a gig plan (940-1000 Mbit / s). However, if you carry out a speed test on your laptop from the kitchen, only move 620 Mbit / s. In the back yard, check your home internet speed on your phone and log 280 Mbit / s. Test your desktop computer, which is executed on Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi, and receive 940 Mbit / s. Your actual internet speeds are formed by a complex interplay of factors. It is a dance between the speeds of your plan, your equipment (including modem, router or gateway), network overload and your online devices.

What does a speed test tell you?

An internet speed test is a snapshot of the speed that a device receives at a certain point in time. As a rule, your speed test is lower than the maximum speed advertised for your home Internet plan, especially if you test a device connected via WLAN. Feamster warns that online speed tests may not be reliable to assess ISP speeds due to performance bottlenecks within the house.

Here you will find the CNET instructions on properly executed speed tests to get the most accurate picture of your home internet. The most important tip is that you try to connect your computer to an Ethernet cable with your modem or gateway with an Ethernet cable and the running speed tests at various times of the day.

Do you know how much speed your household needs? According to OpenVault's report by OpenVault 2024, the average US budget uses download speeds of 569 Mbit / s. Take a look at our comprehensive speed guide and learn how much speed your household actually needs.

Why do I see slower speeds than what is advertised?

A separation between advertised and actual speeds can be frustrating. However, the problem is not always with your broadband provider. “With increasing ISP speeds, bottlenecks are increasingly moving to Wi-Fi/WLAN networks at home,” says Feamster. “In addition, the latency becomes a much more restricted function for application performance than conventional speed.” Check these tips for reducing your latency.

Here are some common problems that cause slower speed:

1. Network overload

There is only as much bandwidth to walk around. If many houses bring strong demand into a network, this can lead to slowing down. This usually occurs at peak times such as evenings or public holidays. If you then notice slowdowns, the network overload may be a perpetrator. This problem has an impact on cable, festival and DSL customers. For example, T-Mobile can slow the internet speeds for domestic Internet in times of overload. Spectrum does something similar: “Obera management identifies which accounts use the largest range, and these accounts are temporarily managed until internet traffic slowed down so that no other users are affected.”

2. Equipment

Your internet speed is only as fast as your equipment. This means using a current modem and a router that can avoid the speed that your ISP delivers for your home. The specifications change over time, as with the latest DocSIS cable modems. If your equipment is old, a Gear upgrade can increase your speed. Older computers, tablets and other devices may also be able to support higher speeds.

3. Wi-Fi

The use of WLAN can mean that the speed for convenience is sacrificed. “Many past experiments show that the Wi-Fi of the User-Nor's ISP-common is the bottleneck for network performance,” Feamster wrote in a paper about measuring the internet speed. If you receive solid speeds from your modem, but your devices connected to Wi-Fi are in a crawl, it is time to examine your wireless home network. Here are some signs that you should update your router. The construction of your house and the distance that a router has to cover can also lead to slowing down. Here a network network or a range extender can come to the rescue.

4. Number of devices

You play Call of Duty. Your children run Mario Kart online against her friends. You have Netflix -streaming -Stranger things in the background, and your partner downloads a video file for work. In the meantime, your home security system, intelligent speakers and phones are also connected. If you have DSL, firm wireless or a cable or fiber plan at a lower level, your internet is probably hyperventilated and nobody is happy. Here you will find more information on dealing with bandwidth hogging devices. If this is a uniform problem, you may need to consider improving your plan to meet your requirements.

5. Throttling of your ISP

Check the details of your plan. Some ISPs state that you can exceed your speeds in times of congestion or if you can exceed a data cap. Follow these simple steps to identify and deal with the Internet throttle.

6. Planning speed

Sometimes the problem is the plan itself. There is only so much that you can carry out with an outdated 12-Mbit / s DSL connection, or a 100 Mbit / S cable plan may not be sufficient for a house with high inquiries. Then it is time to buy a new internet provider or to improve your plan to a higher speed.

What the FCC says about advertised and actual speeds

The Federal Communications Commission issues a report by broadband America in which the announced compared to actual fixed internet speeds are examined by large ISPs. The latest report fell back in August 2024 and includes ISPS such as Centurylink, Comcast (XFinity), Cox Communications, Frontier and Verizon. The report found that cable and fiber ISPs cut better than DSL when providing consistent speeds. Read our review via cable and fiber internet.

The report painted a rather rosy picture of solid internet speeds. “From the tested large broadband providers/technologies, eight measured download was 100% or better than advertised speeds during the peak times (7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. local time),” said the FCC. “The four other ISP/technologies provided between 86% and 90% of their advertised speed.” In the past, the measurement band report America has been checked for its methodology in the past, together with questions whether it is really representative of the experiences of most broadband consumers.

Ultimately, your personal experience and what you can do is to bring your actual speeds as close as possible to the advertised speeds of your plan. Are you looking for a starting place? Follow these steps to speed up your internet connection.

Advertised against actual speeds FAQ