Internet is very slow. Viruses on another computer in the local network

We live in an age when everyone has forgotten about carrier pigeons and messengers, and you can live comfortably without leaving your home at all. In an age when the word "teleportation" is no joke. I don’t know why, but it’s rather unfortunate that in the era of high technology, you have to watch how video slows down on the Internet.

Users complain that the Internet freezes at the most inopportune moment

On the other hand, there is nothing terrible and unusual in the fact that from time to time your computer or laptop becomes dull, and the Internet speed drops. Why is this happening and what can be done about it? Let's try to figure it out.

So, if your Internet slows down, then do not rush to call the support service, because, most likely, you are the main culprit. Why? So after all, only you decide: what your computer should do and store.

First, we need to determine what speed we have now. To help you, specialized services that will help you quickly find out the current speed of your Internet connection. After measuring, leave yourself a note with the data - this will be the control result. After diagnosing each problem, take speed measurements and compare with the control result to find out for sure what is the cause.

TOP reasons for internet slowdown:

  1. Viruses:

Oh, those interesting links "download without registration." Why does everyone's hands itch to touch them? Most often, when you enter such a site or download files from them, you acquire POTS (diseases acquired via the Internet). They hide all sorts of trojans, adware, and much more, which not only slows down video on the Internet, but also slows down the speed of the computer.

The solution is simple - get yourself a set of anti-virus programs to clean your computer , and also install a stationary antivirus with real-time protection. Contrary to popular belief, cacti on the monitor no longer save you from new viruses.

  1. Antiviruses:

Put - put, set up - forgot. Yes, since this is protection - it can greatly reduce speed. And the stronger the "armor" - the more the Internet slows down.

It's all about network screens. They check all the information in real time, thereby trying to protect you from POTS and visiting suspicious sites.

Measure the speed of your Internet connection with the antivirus turned on and off. If the reason is in it, then you should either think about a new "blacksmith", whose protection will not burden you, or about high speed and the risk of being infected.

  1. Other software:

Let's not forget about what we use ourselves, without thinking that the "background mode" is the very reason why the video on the Internet once again slows down.

The Internet was created to communicate quickly and conveniently, to transfer information. But why does your computer and Internet channel have to take on an excessive load? Applications that work in minimized mode - ICQ, Agent@Mail.ru, Skype, Viber, RaidCall, and other messengers and talkers - also use Internet channels, even if you do not use them, and they are minimized. Therefore, if you crave high speed Internet, then do not forget to free yourself from "unnecessary passengers".

Add-ons and all sorts of bars are the trouble of those people who do not know how to refuse installer programs. As a result - surprise, why do they see only half the screen. All these add-ons, for your information, can be easily disabled and removed in the Extensions and Add-ons sections.

  1. WiFi

If your devices connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi, then it would be useful to look into the router settings by adding all your devices to the list of MAC addresses and turning on the filter.

One of the common reasons why the Internet slows down is multiple connections to WiFi networks. Why not encrypt the channel if you really want all the traffic and speed to go only to you?

Builds, builds, builds. Happiness for the homegrown geek who low price will reinstall your operating system, ignorant of computer matters. At the same time, in the kit you get a whole set of incredibly "useful" programs. But in such assemblies, even more “background” operations take place behind your back. Various services, performing their tasks, "suck" to the Internet, and significantly reduce the data transfer rate.

There are two ways out of here: the first is to independently disable services, you can find ways on our website. And the second is the installation of a clean OS, followed by the independent installation of the necessary software, and why not?

  1. Hardware configuration

Not the last issue is the modernity of your computer. After all, Internet technologies work to improve the quality of the material, and, therefore, to reproduce. Therefore, when your video on the Internet slows down, think about it, but does your Pentium Blu-ray pull?

The main efforts fall on the video card and RAM, so do not forget to calculate the strength of your iron "beast".

  1. Hardware malfunctions

Well, the last thing that depends on you is the quality of care for the equipment. Don't be surprised if your internet video slows down if your cat uses the internet cable like dental floss. Why not remove all the wires under the baseboard?

When was the last time you serviced your computer? And when did you clean the modem with the router from dust? All these are good reasons for Internet problems to start pestering you.

A faulty network card is checked by simply connecting the cable to another computer / laptop.

Internet connection problems that have nothing to do with you:

They can be explained by technical and preventive work provider, broken wires, heavy network load due to the large number of connections, and much more that you cannot do anything on your own. Therefore, when all the points are checked and checked, feel free to call the provider and demand the restoration of the declared speed (which, by the way, is always higher than the real one).

What do we end up with?

Not always slow Internet can be blamed on the provider. For the most part, the problem starts with the user. We figured out and found out the reasons why the Internet speed may decrease, and now you share your successes with us or ask questions!

How long does it take for pages to load in the browser? Do not rush to sin on the slow Internet, because in 90% of cases the problem is on the user's side. If you also experienced this, it is worth spending 1 hour of your time to find out what is the reason and improve the speed of loading sites. Let's get started.

Reason #1: Full cache

Surely everyone has come across the situation when a newly installed browser "flies", but after a few weeks it starts to fail and freeze, everything loads slowly and it is almost impossible to work. Why is this happening?

When you use the Internet, all information about the sites you visited and your actions is saved. Over time, data takes up more and more space and slows down the browser.

Solution

Clearing all temporary files - cache, archive of visited sites and downloads, as well as cookies. The history can be opened through the control panel or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + H (History). Click "Clear History", select the options you want and confirm the action.

Reason #2: extensions and toolbars

Another option why pages take a long time to load is a large number of additional applications and toolbars built into the browser. In practice, almost no one uses them, that is, these add-ons simply take up space and consume traffic.

Solution

Go to the extensions menu and remove everything except the most necessary. First of all, you need to get rid of everything that ends with -toolbar, -bar, etc. We recommend leaving AdBlock, an intrusive ad blocker.

The same situation with plugins. To see them, enter about:plugins or "browser name:plugins" (for example, opera:plugins) in the address bar. What should be left?

  • native client;
  • Adobe Flash Player;
  • Google update;
  • java
  • Shockwave Flash;
  • QuickTime and VLC Web Plugin if you watch videos on different sites;
  • Adobe Acrobat and Chrome PDF Viewer if you frequently view PDF documents in your browser.

Everything else is deleted or disabled, after which you need to restart the program.

Please note: in some browsers (in particular, "Opera" sins with this), the same plug-in may appear several times in the list. In this case, you need to leave only the latest version.

Reason #3: lack of space on the system disk

It is extremely important that there is always at least 10% free space on drive C, and ideally several gigabytes. If it is full, the computer inevitably begins to "hang". Often the browser loads slowly for this very reason, the system simply does not have enough space to process all temporary files and operations.

Solution

If the hard drive is divided into sectors, transfer some of the information from drive C to another, for example D. Photos, music, videos and various documents can take up a lot of space, so you should start with them.

If there are no free disks, remove programs and files that you do not use. Alternatively, some documents can be transferred to cloud storage (for example, Google Drive or Yandex.Disk) or sent to a USB flash drive.

Reason #4: Antivirus checks pages for a long time

Modern programs scan the sites you visit in "live" mode. That is, first the antivirus analyzes the page you want to open, and only if everything is in order, gives permission to continue downloading and displaying information.

Solution

If pages in the browser take a long time to load, you should try temporarily disabling protection. Sometimes it helps. In this case, you will most likely have to set a lower level of protection in the settings or select a different antivirus.

Reason #5: Background Apps

Most users do not even pay attention to what programs and services are running in. However, it is they who can sort out a significant part of the traffic. One of the most powerful "vampires" is everyone's favorite torrent clients (as soon as you download the file, it starts to be distributed from your computer, which can seriously reduce the speed of the Internet).

Solution

Go to "Task Manager" > "Startup" and look at the list of applications that automatically start when you turn on your PC. It is advisable to disable everything except system programs responsible for the operation of the speakers, touchpad, etc.

Reason #6: High HDD load

A fairly common reason for a slow browser. The fact is that information is written to the hard drive unevenly, that is, the beginning of a file may be at the edge of the disk, the other part is somewhere in the middle, and the end is not far from the beginning. This is called fragmentation. Why is she dangerous? Instead of quietly sliding, the head constantly "jumps" from side to side. In addition, your disk makes several times more revolutions, slowing down the entire system.

Solution

Defragment (forced ordering of the physical location of information on the hard drive). To do this, go to "Start" > "Accessories" > "System Tools" > "Disk Defragmenter". Run the program and wait for the data to be overwritten. As a result, not only the browser will start working faster, but the computer as a whole.

Reason #7: Browser Settings

Some modern browsers have built-in options that, on the one hand, make surfing the web more comfortable, and on the other, lead to the fact that pages in your browser take a long time to load. A striking example is the prediction of network actions in Google Chrome.

Solution

Open your browser settings and disable such features. For example, the prediction of actions is in the "Advanced settings" on the "Privacy" tab. If the problem persists, it is recommended to re-enable all functions.

Reason #8: Viruses

If the Internet takes a long time to load, the cause may be banal viruses - malicious programs that somehow got on your computer.

Solution

Scan your system for viruses and spyware. It is best to use several programs - the usual Kaspersky, AVAST, AVG, McAffee, etc.), as well as special scanner applications. The most popular are Dr.Web, Malwarebytes, HitmanPro and SpyHunter.

Tip: It's best to scan in Windows Safe Mode (with network driver support). To do this, when the computer boots up, immediately press the F8 key and select the appropriate item. After the scan is completed and the infected files are deleted, you must restart the PC again to return to normal mode.

Reason #8: Outdated Hardware

What to do if the browser is still loading slowly? If no attempts to "stir up" it are successful, most likely you just have a weak computer. Every year, websites use more and more sophisticated technologies that outdated technology can hardly cope with.

Solution

Of course, ideally, you should at least partially upgrade the hardware, for example, buy more powerful RAM. However, this possibility is not always available. In this case, you can try to install an older version of the browser, as a rule, they consume less resources (for example, Opera 10 "eats" 1.5 times more RAM than Opera 9). True, you have to come to terms with the fact that some sites are displayed incorrectly.

Useful programs

Finally, we will talk about several applications that will help you understand why pages in the browser take a long time to load and solve the problem.

  1. speedtest.net. Online service for analyzing the speed of the Internet connection - you just need to click the "Start test" button. If the connection speed is low and does not match your agreement with the provider, you need to deal with the company providing access.
  2. CCleaner. The most popular junk cleaner on PC. The application is automatically in the system, removes temporary files and memory dumps and fixes errors in the registry. Here you can also select programs to autoload.
  3. Active Speed. A special program designed for Allows you to quickly clear history and cache, find out the speed of the Internet and optimize your Internet connection. There are many useful features and "chips" in the settings. For example, there is additional features to improve the performance of online applications (useful if the game takes a long time to load).

For the stable and fast operation of the browser, it is extremely important to regularly clean the program itself and the PC. It is recommended to set the cleaning of history and cache, as well as defragmentation to automatic mode (the optimal frequency is 1 time per week).

Today, when the Internet is increasingly woven into our daily lives, a slow connection speed is an unaffordable luxury for many. Electronic cinema halls, online trading, remote courses and webinars - all this requires a stable high-speed signal. Therefore, if you do not want to “admire” the download icon for hours, it does not hurt to figure out why the Internet has become slow and whether something can be done about it. So, the cause of all troubles can be related to:

With autorun settings

Skype, torrents, antivirus - you can't even imagine how many programs are launched when you turn on the device. Yes and operating system, if this is not forbidden to her, she will clog the channel, trying to download updates, which, by and large, you may not even need. This is treated quite simply - by disabling the auto-update function, which is located in the program or account settings (if we are talking about Google Play or similar services).

With malware

Even experienced users, no, no, yes, and they catch so-called “worms” and “trojans” in their system. What can we say about ordinary users who mindlessly follow links, send SMS to download files, and do many other things that put the security of their computers and mobile devices at risk. But news about new viruses (such as Petya or nRansomware), the use of other people's computers for mining, and other digital “crimes” constantly pop up on the Internet. Therefore, if your Internet suddenly becomes slow, be sure to scan your PC with an antivirus.

With other users

Connect to the Internet via WI-FI router? Does the speed of the signal fluctuate only at certain time intervals? Most likely, someone else besides you began to use the communication channel, and it is he who causes the “braking”. What to do in such a situation? The answer is simple - change the password to connect to the network. Just do not use the standard “fiwa”, “12345678” and similar simple combinations, otherwise you will have to constantly suffer from the slow operation of the Internet.

With artificial restrictions

It also happens that the speed of your Internet is slowed down by the system itself, and intentionally. There may be several reasons for this. For instance:

  • The site you are trying to open is not liked by your firewall for some reason. To solve the problem, it will be enough to add his address to the list of exceptions).
  • You are trying to enter the site by redirecting through several anonymizers (exclusion of some nodes from the connection chain will help here).
  • The browser cache has overflowed, or the system drive has run out of space. In this case, the optimal solution is to clean not only the cache, but also the system as a whole.
  • The settings of the browser you are using are set incorrectly, which leads to an internal system conflict. If you are unfortunate enough to encounter a similar situation, the best thing to do would be to seek help directly from the developers of this software.

Or maybe you just forgot to pay for the Internet or exceeded the allowable download limit? Yes, yes, this is also possible. Some providers prefer not to disconnect users from the system as a whole, but simply limit their maximum connection speed. This is treated by replenishing the personal account.

With technical problems

If none of the above options suits you, try entering from the other side. The reasons for the low signal speed may well be due to equipment malfunction. So, if your cable or socket is damaged, the router settings are incorrectly set, or the signal-amplifying antenna is broken, you can’t do without calling the wizard.

With tariff plan

If the Internet started to “stupid” immediately after connecting, most likely you have chosen the wrong tariff for your needs. Therefore, before filling up the provider and repairmen with complaints, make sure that there is a real problem, or the situation with a low connection speed is nothing more than the consequences of unreasonably high expectations. To do this, use any program to measure the connection speed between your device and the nearest reliable server. If the results correspond to the declared ones, the only way out is to change the tariff.

With a low level of services provided

The problem provider is one of the most common causes slow internet. Regular maintenance work on the line, outdated equipment, a large number of subscribers (who simply overload the system during peak hours) - the presence of any of these signs is a sure sign that the operator needs to be changed. Luckily, it's easy to do this today. For example, you can, and the consultant will select a tariff for you that best suits your wishes.

To find out why home or Mobile Internet began to work slowly, no need to be a programmer. Enough basic knowledge PC user. After all, in order to find out the balance in personal account on the provider's website, check the system for viruses, restart the router or properly configure the network equipment does not require professional knowledge.

How to determine the real connection speed?

The Internet is clearly transmitted at a low speed if:

  • Yandex and Google take a long time to load;
  • files are not downloaded from torrents;
  • video hangs from VK and other sites (except Youtube - this video hosting works at a minimum speed);
  • at wired internet sites automatically open not in the usual, but in the mobile version.

But the exact determination of the speed of the Internet occurs:

It is more efficient to use Yandex.Internetometer (www.yandex.ru/internet):


If the Internet is slow, you need to find out the reason and understand what to do next.

The Internet may be slow if the paid period has expired. The balance is checked in your personal account on the site (for all providers).

Instruction for Yota:


Other Solutions

But what if the Internet is slow with a positive balance? Can:

If the Internet does not load the site (shows a “crashed” loaded page), you should check the incoming traffic and disable torrents and network updates (including on a mobile device if it distributes wi-fi).


Yandex website with slow internet

There are 2 more reasons why wireless Internet is slow:


More advanced settings and actions

Internal system problems are easily diagnosed. Necessary:

Checking the system for viruses

If the Internet slowly loads sites, viruses may be to blame (due to the fact that they slow down the operation of the entire system), for prevention, Windows should be cleaned at least once a week. If an antivirus is installed on the computer, when the Internet speed decreases, you should immediately run a virus scan.


The computer is not protected by antivirus

If there is no antivirus (or the validity period has expired), then you can download the program for free on the network, for example, on the Kaspersky website (www.kaspersky.ru). But some installed antiviruses (for example, Avast) slow down the Internet by themselves, because they check all incoming traffic.

Settings and nuances of work in various browsers

Browsers can also slow down the Internet if they are all open at the same time.


Various browsers

If you have problems with the network connection, you need to clear the history (old cookies are one of the reasons why the Internet does not load sites).

Cleanup in Chrome:


Similar actions in Yandex browser:

In Internet Explorer:

Setting up a network connection

An example plan for diagnosing a network connection:


Checking for problems with devices (router, network card) or cable

Before rebooting the system and changing network settings, make sure that the cable is connected to the computer or router. The main criterion for a wireless connection: a burning light on the router or modem. If everything is on, but the Internet slows down (and it is not clear why, for what reasons such a slow Internet), you need to restart the router and computer. For a PC, there is a special menu item, and the router is rebooted with a button on the device box.

Possible provider restrictions

If the connection icon hangs, but there is no access to sites, then the restrictions arose due to:

  • incorrect settings of the router for synchronization with the provider (they do not fit together and cannot connect);
  • the user incorrectly set the WAN settings and connection type (you can find out by calling hotline provider);
  • incorrect operation of drivers (licensed installers do not function well on "pirated" versions);
  • incorrectly configured connection;
  • dealer owner mobile device Changed the password during the connection.

System Boot Check

What should be done if the Internet does not want to load, loads poorly or does not load individual pages (for example, with a video)? Sometimes network connection problems arise due to the system load: the computer simply cannot cope with all the programs and processes. In this case, it must be cleaned.

Modern programs and services are firmly tied to the Internet. Network games; streaming content: video, audio, radio; as well as applications for work and entertainment - useless without a network connection. So low speed Internet does not allow you to perform daily tasks in full. Why the Internet is bad and slow, why it takes a long time to load and what to do to fix it, you will learn from this article.

Router speed limit

Open the router's control panel and check the Internet bandwidth settings. Increase the value if necessary.

It is also recommended to measure the speed of the Internet using a router and directly connecting the cable to the computer's network card. With a noticeable difference in speed, the probable reasons why the Internet is slow are as follows:

  1. Failure of the router. Sometimes it helps to reset the settings and reconfigure, change the firmware. Rarely replace the router due to irreparable damage / marriage.
  2. The maximum bandwidth of the router is lower than the speed provided by the provider. Just replacing a router with more bandwidth.
  3. The Internet cable is not connected correctly in the provider's equipment. There are common cases when the wizard plugs the network cable into the service port instead of the usual connector. When a router is detected, the speed is automatically reduced. Therefore, it is important to inform the provider about the decrease in speed when using the router, in order to troubleshoot and fix the problem.

Cookies overflowing

With each new visit to the site, the browser saves to disk a part of temporary files called cookies. The data stores site setup information and speeds up identification. When you revisit the resource, the browser accesses the disk for the cache to speed up page loading. If the disk is slow and/or full of files, the duration of the page open increases due to the cost of searching the cache. Therefore, clearing cookies sometimes helps speed up page loading. To delete the cache, open your browser settings, select the appropriate section and delete temporary files.

However, this method will not help if the problem is that your Internet is slowly loading files, then the reason for poor performance is something else.

Outdated network card drivers

Check for network card updates. Sometimes developers make corrections to previously found errors, optimize common work, which contribute to the improvement and acceleration of data exchange. If support is discontinued, a pluggable NIC with support provided will do as an alternative.

Outdated computer

The speed of the Internet is also affected by the components of the computer. Morally and/or physically worn out components slow down page loading, downloading or file transfer speed.

It is worth paying attention to the condition of the hard drive. Slow, worn out and fragmented HDD negates all benefits high speed internet. Therefore, replacing the HDD with an SSD will significantly improve the response of the computer. At the same time, it is important to correlate the update of some components with the overall assembly. Sometimes it is rational to replace the computer completely. And in some cases, improvements are seen after installing an SSD and increasing the RAM.

This item also disappears if yesterday your Internet was fast, but today it began to work slowly.

Power saving modes activated

Some network cards support "green" technologies aimed at saving energy or optimizing the Internet. Sometimes these functions do not work correctly or limit throughput when maximum speed is required. Therefore, it is worth opening the properties of the network card in the “device manager”, and on the “advanced” tab, select and disable automatic rate limiting functions and other “green” technologies.

Also open the “power supply” section of the computer, where you can select a balanced or productive mode. If the modes have been changed, reset the settings to avoid power restrictions.

Viruses and malware

With a slow Internet, it is important to check the system for viruses. Because malware degrades system performance and reduces Internet bandwidth by loading the channel and / or deliberately using traffic redirection.

Applications running in the background

It is also worth checking out programs running in the background, such as torrent clients and file download managers. Pause or limit the download speed.

You should also pay attention to third-party programs. Check the list of installed utilities. Remove programs that you have not installed, including plugins and services of various search engines. You should also not keep "optimizers" on your computer, supposedly aimed at improving the performance of memory, the Internet, system resources and services. Since such programs sometimes worsen the operation of the OS, slow down the Internet.

If you like to spend time playing online games, check if updates are downloading. If necessary, set a limit on downloading updates.

Applications running in the background can slow down your internet speed.

Tariff plan

Internet speed is affected by the speed described in tariff plan provider. The measurement is made in the form of received volume of traffic per second. At the same time, some companies slyly present the speed, indicating “Mbit” instead of MB, which leads to confusion. So the "large" figure of 20 Mbit is equal to 2.5 MB. Therefore, a 100 MB file will download in 40 seconds, not 5.

It is also important to carefully study the terms of the tariff plan for the presence of hidden restrictions. For example, a provider is willing to provide unlimited Internet at 40 Mbps, but indicate in small print - automatic speed reduction to 4 Mbps when downloading 100 GB per month.

Often users are lured high speed at 100-150 Mbps. At the same time, they do not report that the declared speed applies only to the local, internal, network with limited access to information. Whereas the speed to global access is noticeably lower.

The reason for the slow Internet may be in the tariff plan, if you did not switch to another tariff and did not notice jumps in network speed.

Activated VPN

The Internet is slow if a traffic redirector is installed or a VPN plugin is active. Incoming and outgoing traffic passes through a virtual private network, which allows you to change the actual location, thereby gaining access to resources and services that are not available in a particular region. At the same time, the bandwidth of the boarding school is reduced by 10-20 times, for example, 3 Mbps instead of 70 Mbps without using a VPN.

Typically, speed limits are present in free virtual networks. V paid subscriptions, throughput is higher. Therefore, it is rational to disable VPN and traffic redirection functions if there is no urgent need for this.

Aggressive advertising

The presence of a large number of advertising banners - reduces the page loading speed. Pop-up windows with music or video accompaniment actively consume traffic. On such sites, it is recommended to enable AdBlock, a program for blocking ads. The utility is available for download from the internal software stores of most popular browsers.

Firewall active

Internet is often slow due to antivirus and/or firewall. Since by default the programs are configured to check all incoming and outgoing traffic. Therefore, it is recommended to measure the Internet speed with and without antivirus/firewall enabled. If there are restrictions, you should change the settings or find an alternative program where the Internet speed is not limited.

ISP problems

In many ways, the speed of the Internet is affected by the service provider. Some unscrupulous companies deliberately cut bandwidth to evenly distribute speed among other subscribers. Contribute to automatic underestimation of speed when connecting a router or active traffic exchange. In this case, it is recommended to break off the relationship and use the services of another, honest provider. And frequent equipment breakdowns and interruption of the Internet supply are an additional reason to switch to another provider.

Conclusion

Slow Internet speeds are often caused by ISP issues, traffic wasted by background programs, failures in network equipment, or an outdated computer. Therefore, it is important to alternately diagnose problem areas and troubleshoot. The article describes in detail why the Internet is slow and how to solve the problem. The list contains the most common causes, including minor ones that users rarely pay attention to.