Is your internet fast enough?

With internet speeds as fast as you are these days, it may be difficult to tell if your getting optimal performance. Connection speed really is a quality of life issue, your virtual life that is. Many of our day to day applications depend on the speed of your connection. Applications like Netflix, Youtube, and Pandora, are all reliant on the speed of your internet. On the flip side you may not need blazing fast speeds. No one needs to drive a Ferrari to the grocery store. If you're watching Netflix in the living room while you have a couple kids in their rooms streaming music, and also watching some business tutorials...and things are getting slow....you have a problem.

The first thing to determine is how fast your speed really is. This is fairly easy to do as there are several on line sites that will test your connectivity. I like to use THIS SITE.  Just hit the go button and it does the rest.
But how do interpreted the results? You don't want less then around 2 megabytes per second if your streaming ANYTHING. This would be considered light usage. Moderate usage would be around three simultaneous users using high definition media. Suggested speeds for this would be 6Mbps to 12Mbps. Heavy usage would be four or more people using HD streaming of movies, videos or large files. For this type of usage you would want around 15Mbps.

There's also different TYPES of connections; Dial-up, DSL, Cable, and Fiber-optic. That list in order of speed with Fiber-optic connection only available in very select areas. Cable internet is available all throughout the Treasure Valley and is recommended if you want to do any streaming.

You want to make sure that you are getting the speeds that you are paying for. Ask your internet service provider for the speeds in your internet package, then perform the speed test that we went over. It is best to connect to your modem with a wire instead of wirelessly when conducting the test as the test will show results of your router's speed and not your actual connection which often times will be slower. Connecting directly to the modem with a wire will give you the best speeds. If you need to rely on a wireless connection make sure that you are keeping the software up-to-date. Also look for the term "802.11.n". 802.11 means  it is a wifi product, and the N is the fastest version of hardware currently available.

Just like you want a current router, you will also need a current modem. If you have been using the same modem with your internet service provider for years then it's probably time to upgrade. If your connection speeds are fast but your hardware is out-of-date, you won't be properly utilizing your internet.

There are other things that can slow your speeds as well. Viruses and Spyware can dramatically slow your browsing speeds. So make sure you have antivirus and malware installed and are using it properly. Installing protection is NOT enough, you have to run scans and make sure it is staying updated.

So to answer the question just ask yourself if you get frustrated with your connection speed? If you do run a speed test, check the age of your hardware, and find out what type of connection you have. There are tons of upgrading options if you know what you need. And remember, you can always ask for us to come and audit your set up and determine if an upgrade would be a good idea for you!