Slow Cable Internet: Causes And Solutions

Slow Cable Internet: Causes And Solutions

Today the Internet has become essential for leisure or work on many occasions. If the cable connection works slow it can be for many reasons. An essential step is knowing how to detect the origin of our problems to discover the solution. In many cases, this slowness is related to a problem with the hardware or software. Here, we are going to explain what are the main causes why the Internet is slow on cable, why it happens and how to avoid it.

The trend towards increasingly complex networks

In the last ten years, both home and office networks have changed a lot. At first we only had a PC or laptop connected to the Internet. However, this situation began to change with the appearance of smartphones and tablets. From that moment on, we saw an increase in the use of Wi-Fi networks.

However, the networks continued to grow in complexity. In that sense, Smart TVs, Android TVs, smart plugs, appliances related to home automation and IoT devices appeared. Therefore, it must be taken into account that finding out why the Internet is slow on cable is now more complex.

The causes, as we will see below, are many, they can be hardware, software, related to our Internet connection and more.

Hardware items to check when the Internet is slow on cable

Although at first it seems that there are few elements to take into account, there are many more than what they seem. Regarding the hardware of our home or office network, we must pay special attention to the following sections:

  1. The router.
  2. That PC or laptop connected by network cable.
  3. The network cable.

Regarding the router, a section that we must review are the LAN ports where we connect the RJ45 network cable.

Trasera del router ASUS RT-AX82U en detalle

Currently most routers are Gigabit Ethernet, so one step we could take is to enter the router configuration and check the speed at which it is connected. It would also be a good idea before starting, review the specifications of our router to know the details of the Ethernet part of our router.

An enemy of hardware is heating. Routers are on many occasions on all day and that in the end ends up taking their toll if they do not have proper cooling. For this reason, it is a bad idea to place the router on top of nearby heat sources, because it could cause the equipment to malfunction, lower speed, intermittent WiFi cuts, etc.

The interconnection link between the router and the PC is the network cable that must also be checked. In that sense, we must verify that it supports the maximum speed of our local network and the Internet connection. One of the ways we can do this is by looking at the category that is printed on the cable.

Categoría del cable de red de la TP-Link NC250

Currently a CAT 5 cable would fall short, since we could exceed the speed of 100 Mbps. Therefore, we have to opt for a minimum CAT 5E, CAT 6 or CAT 7 network cable. They do not usually fail much, you can try to replace it. Sometimes bending them can cause one of the pins to make bad contact.

The next section to review is the PC or laptop , here we must focus our eyes on the Ethernet network card . If with another PC or laptop we see that it is going well, it can indicate that the problem is in our PC network card. That would also rule out router and Ethernet cable problems. Here we would have to review the specifications of that network card, which especially in old laptops can be 100 Mb and then we could not exceed that speed. In case of failure in the desktop PC, we could install a PCI Express network card and in the laptop, opt for a USB Ethernet adapter. Before proceeding to buy something, you should review the software first . Finally, if these computers do not have adequate ventilation and cleaning, they can also affect their performance.

Check the status and drivers of our network card

One of the problems for which the Internet is slow by cable may be because it is not well detected or it does not have the latest drivers. In Windows, in Control Panel , System and Security , System , you can see it in Device Manager .

In that sense we have to check that the minimum detects that it is Gigabit Ethernet. Desktop PCs for many years already are. With this we could support Internet connections of up to 1 Gbps.

Another measure that we could take is to click on Update driver to check if there is a more modern one. In case you do not find any and we continue to have problems, we could look at:

  1. The motherboard or laptop manufacturer’s website.
  2. The website of the manufacturer of our network card. In the above case it would be Realtek.

How to test our Internet connection via network cable

One way to check if the internet is slow on cable is to do a speed test. In this case we are going to do it from our internet browser on the web speed test.es. Generally by Ethernet network cable, unless they are old equipment, the contracted speed is obtained in the tests. This happens even if we have a Gigabit Ethernet network card, but we are already talking about very low-end equipment or before 2010.

To carry out the test I have used a 600 Mb symmetric connection. This means that the upload and download are identical. The results obtained are the following:

As you can see, I have both 600 Mb download and upload which indicates that it is correct. If, for example, it had not exceeded 100 Mb, it is usually a sign that I am connected by a category 5 cable or I have a 100 Mb network card or that it is badly detected.

Network saturation, connected Wi-Fi clients, and intruders

One of the most common causes of slow internet is network saturation . When we have many connected devices that effect can occur and we have to take into account:

  1. Both the computers that are connected by cable and by Wi-Fi have to share the bandwidth of the Internet connection.
  2. What actions are they taking at the moment.

For this reason, it is normal for a network saturation to occur when we have enough computers performing tasks of:

  • Video streaming.
  • Use of P2p programs.
  • To play online.
  • Video calls

In that sense, if we can turn off the Wi-Fi and the rest of the equipment when performing a speed test it will show us more easily if we have a problem. Thus, in theory we should reach the full bandwidth. Also, another thing to check is the devices connected to our router. They can give us a clue that they are connecting at the right speed.

It would also be interesting to check the Wi-Fi devices in case we have an intruder on our network.

Our ISP Failures and Software Problems

If the Internet is slow by cable, it may also be due to a failure of our Internet provider. In the event that it does not go well and you have checked the hardware and software, it may be that there is a specific failure. Also, one way to check this can be to test on multiple computers.

Regarding the software we must look at the following things:

  1. Check that we do not have any virus or malware. For this we will pass an antivirus and, if possible, an antimalware such as Malwarebytes.
  2. We must have our operating system updated with the latest security patches.
  3. Empty the cache of our browser and try other DNS servers.

In short, the Internet is slow on cable due to hardware problems, software problems, saturation or a fault in the Internet connection.