What determines the speed of your internet?

There is really no one specific thing that you can say determines the speed of your internet connection because there are several players and components responsible to deliver internet to your PC or laptop. Internet speed is not just determined by the speed of your computer’s processor as many people think.

Addressing internet connectivity issues, therefore, calls for a closer look at the functionality of the different components that we shall look at later in this article.

It is important to know different components that determine your internet speed so that next time you want to increase the speed of your internet connection you'll know what to do in order for graphic-filled pages to load fast and display on your screen.

But before we look at the factors that determine the speed of internet, why don’t we start from the basics by understanding what is meant by the term "internet speed"?

What is it and how is it measured?

The speed of internet basically means the speed at which data moves from the World Wide Web all the way to your device or PC. The standard measure of your internet speed is Megabits per second abbreviated as Mbps. 1024 kilobits are equivalent to 1 Megabit.

One of the fastest connections of the internet is provided by broadband and this internet connection is normally issued by different players which may include Internet service providers, telephone or cable companies.

Considered as one of the fastest connections any user can connect to, broadband manages this by using multiple packet channels to convey large data and information over from and to users of the internet.

Good internet connection speed: What is it?

Every user of the internet has his or her personal needs and preferences when it comes to internet usage. So you should know what you need fast internet speed for before subscribing to a plan. If you are going to use your internet to download heavy videos or stream online then you’ll definitely need a fast internet.

Another important thing to know some of the devices you use may need your internet connection speed to be super-fast in order to perform. These are the most important factors to consider when selecting your internet plan.

What determines the speed of your internet?

As we said earlier there are a number of factors that could be affecting your internet speed. Let’s take a quick look at factors that could be affecting the speed of your internet.

1. Your preferred Internet package

This is one of the most important factors that determine the speed of your internet connection. Depending on the technology used in your ISP your internet connection may be fast are slow. Internet connection packages can be modem, 4G wireless, 3G wireless, DSL, hotspots, mobile satellite, cable and many more.

For instance, Cable or DSL connection is much faster than a Dial-Up internet connection.

2. Internet Traffic

Internet traffic may sometimes have a direct impact on the speed of your internet. It may take longer to load web pages that have a high traffic and this may be worse if your internet connection is slow.

If you visit a website that takes all your time to load, the problem could be traffic on that websites and not the speed of your computer processor or your internet connection. When everyone wants access to a certain page, there are those who will manage to access it but other will be locked out because of the traffic.

3. Router

If you thought that your router does not affect the speed of your internet connection then you have to stop and think again. When using a router, the signal could be split in order to spread it to all the devices that are using the internet.

4. Your computer processor or networking cards

In some cases the processor if your computer or device could be having a direct impact on the speed of your internet. Your internet connection speed can sometimes be as fast as whet the processor supports.

If your computer has older cards that support slow connections it can be very difficult for them to support fast wireless internet connections.

In general, the speed of your internet connection depends on your type of package or plan and you have the control to decide what you want depending on your specific needs when using the internet. Know your internet needs or whether you want to connect to a fast internet speed or slow internet speed before going ahead to subscribe.