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Question

Internet speeding up and slowing down

Aug 31, 2016 10:49AM PDT

Recently, in the past 4 or 5 days my internet speed has been drastically slowing down for long periods of time and then going back to normal.

I am trying to stream Hulu and Netflix and videos will play for about 10 seconds if they even load at all and then buffer and not play back up again. I have tried on two different Xbox's In different locations in the house and on an iPhone with the same problem.

I have my router set up to my modem an all my devices run trough wifi.

What I have tried doing: I've tried resetting the modem and router, I even set up a different Ethernet cable from the modem to router so I know it's not the cord.

I have ran the speed test app on my phone and while sometimes the download speed will be above 10+Mbps, even as little as two minutes later I'll test again and the download speed has dropped to 0.04mbps. This pattern has continued on and off over the course of the last few days and I would like some help identifying and solving this problem.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
There's a clue.
Aug 31, 2016 10:53AM PDT

ALL devices run on WiFi. One of the best articles out there is to move what you can to wired. WiFi is a finite resource which is not to be used for everything.

The speed test must be with the WiFI off in the router. As WiFi is subject to interference we have to see if it's the usual or the ISP.

All it takes is a new neighbor.

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Aug 31, 2016 11:03AM PDT

Thank you for the quick reply. Running a wired connection in my house would be difficult because the router is located in my kitchen which would require a longer cord than what I have to reach the areas I need it. I also live out of town and don't have any neighbors that are close to me. There also aren't any new applicances in my house or anything that could be causing interference.

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That adds to the WiFi issue.
Aug 31, 2016 11:08AM PDT

Distance only makes WiFi worse.

Let's say it's your router. Did you try a new router? They don't last forever and this could be the sign.

Keep in mind I may omit the usual advice of rebooting routers, cable modems and other devices.

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Aug 31, 2016 11:18AM PDT

But could the distance be causing a problem now when it's been working perfectly for years, even with multiple people streaming things at the same time? I have tried all the rebooting steps multiple times, so I have ruled that out. I am planning on getting a new router to try and see if that's the problem. If that doesn't help, what else do you think it could be, the modem?

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Sorry
Aug 31, 2016 11:31AM PDT

But I can't find details. The modem is not WiFi but could be, well, I can't tell from the posts so far.

I don't mind lack of detail but it hampers getting new ideas. If it all worked before, then something changed. It could be the usual (gear gets old) or one of the other things like you need to change the WiFi channel and turn off things that don't need to be on when you Netflix.

-> For example, if you have Windows 10 machines, those will PUMMEL your WiFi. Here's the setting to turn off. But remember you have only the slim details here. So I can't guess this applies.

-> http://www.howtogeek.com/224981/how-to-stop-windows-10-from-uploading-updates-to-other-pcs-over-the-internet/