Several factors can cause slow internet, including viruses, trojans, spyware, adware, ISP overload, local telephone connection, and overwhelmed servers. Antivirus software and removing programs can help speed up the internet.
Regardless of the type of service you use to connect to the Internet, there are several factors that can cause even the most robust connection to crawl. Some of the more common ones include malware such as viruses, trojans, spyware and adware, and technical glitches.
Perhaps the most common situations that can cause slow Internet service is the presence of a virus on the hard drive. Computer viruses can be transmitted in a variety of ways, most commonly through an email attachment. The virus will integrate itself into key programs on your hard drive and silently use up a large amount of resources. By diverting some of the resources to running the virus, slowdown of Internet service is inevitable. Fortunately, installing virus protection and virus removal software will help remove these programs from your hard drive, as well as prevent new ones from infecting your system. Antivirus software needs to be updated regularly.
Along with viruses, there are a wide variety of programs designed to take control of the software on the hard drive and use it without the system owner’s knowledge. Programs of this type are often referred to as Trojans, as they can sneak in before being detected. Along with worm viruses, trojans eat up resources and create an internet slowdown that will be noticeable. They are typically acquired by opening email attachments, allowing the program to take your address book and start sending multiple infected attachments to every email address on your hard drive. Antivirus software updates typically identify new Trojans and viruses and can remove them from the system, provided the malware is not configured to shut down the system if it attempts to remove it.
Spyware and adware are relatively harmless programs that download silently when websites are visited and are used to track a user’s Internet activity. The collected data is normally used in the development of marketing campaigns and in the creation of email texts. Unfortunately, these programs also use up resources which can significantly slow down your system. Removing programs often helps speed up Internet service.
Not all reasons for slow Internet service are due to clandestine programs and viruses infecting your hard drive. In some cases, the source of the slowdown is the Internet Service Provider (ISP). The routers and servers used to provide the service may be overloaded or experiencing a glitch that temporarily slows down the speeds provided by your Internet Service Provider. This applies to high-speed solutions as well as dialup service providers.
Other times, the slowness can be caused by the local telephone connection. Depending on the number of connections multiplexed by the local telephone company on the wires that make up the system, there may simply not be many resources available to establish the connection. This is often the case in rural areas, where there are limited options when it comes to internet connectivity.
Another reason for a slow loading website has nothing to do with the speed of your connection or the programs running on your hard drive. If the current level of traffic volume to your site is very high and the server hosting your site cannot handle the traffic, it may seem that the Internet as a whole is running slowly. However, this is not a slow internet connection, but an overwhelmed server. Typically, if the user just comes back and visits the site later, the site will load much faster on the follow-up attempt.
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