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It’s not wrong to think that in 2023, you should be able to access high internet speeds and have highly responsive devices at your disposal. If you have fiber internet at home, or maybe even the best that coax has to offer, but internet access on your devices are crawling along, there’s clearly something going on.
Even lacking Wi-Fi, 4G and 5G cellular networks are robust and offer enough speed to do practically anything you want on your smartphone, well away from Wi-Fi access. It probably feels strange, knowing about all the raw power under the hood of your router while waiting forever for pages to load.
The good news is, It’s likely not your router or the 5G network that’s causing the problem. In fact, there are so many potential reasons behind the slow-down on your computer or other devices we couldn’t possibly list them all here. However, we’ll cover the most important and frequent ones.
Table of Contents
Internet Speed Is High But Slow Loading Websites: 8 Fixes
1. Try a Different Browser
Some browsers place a high demand on your computer, gobbling up resources far more than what they advertise. Some browsers are just slicker and faster than others. It also depends on how well the browser is supported and how often the developers update it.
So, before you jump over to a brand-new browser and start setting yourself up, ensure your current browser is up-to-date. Most browsers will let you know when to update them, but not always directly.
Some will have a little icon pop-up up in the corner that’s so tiny it tends to blend in with everything else. Some will send you notifications. Others won’t really do anything at all unless you actively check within the browser’s settings.
Google Chrome is often listed as the fastest browser available, with Firefox and Safari not lagging too far behind. Opera is pretty fast as well, while offering a unique look and putting unused tabs to sleep to avoid gobbling up too much in terms of resources.
The point is, try one of them and see if that doesn’t help you pick up the speed a little.
2. VPNs
Virtual Private Networks are a dime a dozen and highly popular for those that value privacy when browsing the web, making transactions, and gaming. However, since VPNs offer another layer of protection, that layer comes with drawbacks.
You don’t necessarily have to get rid of your VPN or turn it off permanently. However, you should turn it off just to see if your internet speed increases overall. If you notice a big difference right away, you’ll know it was the VPN causing the issue.
Also, it might be worth it to try another VPN. Some are better than others, after all. Of course, you could always just use your VPN when you need, and it drop it when you don’t Access the websites you want to, use privacy features on your current browser, and turn on your VPN whenever you have to deal with more sensitive information.
3. Check Over Your Router
Wi-Fi is a finicky beast, and it doesn’t always act right when we need it to. If you are working on something or just loading pages, it can often be a pain when you know your internet speed is robust, but you just don’t seem to be getting what you’re paying for.
For one, Wi-Fi has difficulty passing through physical objects. Though your PC or smartphone may reflect a full signal, you might be getting the very low end of that full signal, or it may not be 100% accurate. These things aren’t exactly foolproof, after all.
Your router may also be getting hot, and you need to reorganize. Lastly, you may need to plug directly into the router via Ethernet or purchase an extender/repeater to access the most of what your router is capable of.
Masonry of any type, such as brick and concrete, thick glass, walls, wood, metal, and other devices in the house that communicate using radio waves can often interrupt your Wi-Fi signal and reduce your internet speed.
If you can rearrange your router to have line of sight with the devices you use the most, it will certainly help. If not, there are many options on the market for purchasing a repeater or extender. Both of these operate much better when they have line of sight with your router.
You can even do a temporary fix, such as placing an aluminum wall behind your router, reducing the wasted signals and directing them where you want to go. If your router is hot and cluttered, clear up space for it and elevate it some. Like a computer or video game console, you must keep your router cool.
4. Server Issues
This one is completely out of your control unless you own the server in question. If the server you normally connect with is having issues, everyone that connects to that server will have issues.
When you sign up for internet, your ISP supplies you with some name servers that may or may not be any good. The ISP doesn’t really care, so long as your money rolls in each month to pay the bill.
You can download certain utilities to locate faster and better maintained servers. Whatever utilities you choose is up to you, but once you run them, you’ll have a list of better servers to choose from down the road.
Make sure you write down the IP numbers, so you can configure your system whenever you want.
5. You’re Dealing with Heavy Traffic
This kind of plays off of the server issue mentioned above. Usually, when everyone gets home from work and settles down for the evening, web servers start getting loaded with traffic.
If you’re experiencing slow-downs on your internet connection, see if it’s happening at certain times throughout the day, such as in the evening timeframe or around noon each day, when people are taking their lunch breaks.
If you happen to get off work at around 5 pm, you’re in the same boat as everyone else, jumping on the internet at the same time. In a funny sort of way, you’re contributing to the problem of heavy traffic.
6. Eliminate your Cache
All browsers store data as you jump from website to website. It’s how the browser starts figuring out your most-viewed websites and what you like to do the most. It will start presenting some of these sights on the home page for quicker access, or even suggest you bookmark it.
The point is, this cache builds up over time, and it can reach a level where it’s so saturated that it effects web browsing performance. This can happen on a PC, smartphone, tablet, Mac, or anything else you browse the web from.
7. Malware or Spyware
Malware, viruses, spyware, you name it, there’s always something lurking out there that is ready and willing to infect your computer and play havoc on it. Ensure you have the proper software to monitor for spyware and malware at all times.
Also, make sure you keep your antivirus software updated. There are always new vectors of attack, and you can never be prepared enough. Viruses, malware, and spyware are common issues regarding slow web browsing speeds, and they only get worse the longer you go without purging them from your system.
8. Speed Test
You can run this up front or wait until you’ve tried some other, above options first. However, at some point, you should try running a speed test to see your network’s robustness. It’s probably better to run it sooner rather than later.
However, speed tests aren’t always the most accurate measure of your internet speed. Think of it as providing you with a ballpark guess as to what speeds you’re really dealing with. If the numbers are close to what you should be getting, the problem is most likely your computer.
Final Thoughts
It’s not always your own system’s faults when web browsing and just opening sites in general becomes very slow. However, it’s a good idea to go through the above list, so you can at least determine if it’s your Wi-Fi or something else entirely.
