Having a good Internet connection is not always possible. Sometimes we can find ourselves with limitations when browsing the network, loss of coverage or even the connection being blocked. This is more common when we connect wirelessly. Now, what programs can affect WiFi ? We are going to talk about some applications that you may have installed and that are slowing down the connection without you realizing it.
Apps that slow down WiFi the most
When the bandwidth is limited or if the coverage is not optimal and good speed does not arrive, any program that affects the connection can mean that the speed decreases a lot. Therefore, it is convenient to know what can slow down the WiFi and take measures if necessary.
VPN
Without a doubt, a program that will make WiFi work worse is having a VPN. They are very useful applications, since they are used to encrypt the connection and be able to navigate safely on public networks. However, it is a fact that they can cause the speed to decrease significantly.
Therefore, if you have a VPN installed and you see that the WiFi is not going fast, think that this may be the cause. If you need to use this type of application to browse, you can try connecting to another server or even install a different program. Not all of them work the same, so choosing the best VPN is important.
Firewall or antivirus
It should also be mentioned that security programs could affect your WiFi. There is no doubt that they are very important to prevent attacks and keep things running smoothly, but sometimes they can interfere with the connection and slow down the wireless network. This will depend, once again, on which application you use.
Mainly the firewall is what can affect the WiFi. Perhaps you have it more configured or that particular firewall that you use does not work well and generates this type of problem. But it can also happen with the antivirus, since it could generate conflicts and lead to speed loss.
The latter occurs especially when we install more than one antivirus . That is a mistake and is not recommended at all. The best thing is that you choose a good antivirus and protect your system. Windows Defender itself is a good option, but there are plenty of free and paid options out there.
open download program
Do you have any download programs running ? Of course this can be the cause of your WiFi being slow. These types of applications are going to consume a lot of bandwidth and can slow down a connection, especially when you get a weak signal or you don’t have a very wide contracted rate.
Think, for example, of a P2P program . You’ve downloaded something, such as a Linux distribution, but you’re still keeping it open. Even if you don’t realize it, that running program will continue to share files with other users who are downloading it. Therefore, your Internet connection could be hampered.
The cloud syncing
The use of the cloud has grown a lot in recent years. Programs like Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive are very useful. You can set folders to automatically sync and create backups so you can access them from anywhere over the Internet.
But of course, this process needs to consume resources from an Internet connection. If you are connected to WiFi and any of these programs are syncing, you will notice a slowdown in speed. It will also depend on the number and size of the files that you are synchronizing, but if they are folders of several gigabytes, such as videos, you can notice it quite a lot.
Apps updating
Something similar happens with automatic updates . This happens with the system updates themselves, such as Windows, but also with other programs that you have installed. Although you may not realize it, this process is downloading a lot of files from the Internet.
Therefore, automatic updates can also affect your WiFi and you may notice that it is slower and even have problems opening certain applications, watching streaming videos in high quality or downloading files.
In short, these programs can affect your WiFi even if you don’t realize that they are actually started or that they can be the cause of the problem. If you are having problems with Internet speed, you can consider the possibility that it is some application that is running.
