You pay for 200 Mbps, yet your phone shows 60. Before blaming your provider, it helps to know that Wi-Fi itself is usually the bottleneck. The radio link between your device and router loses speed with every wall, meter, and neighboring network.
First, establish a baseline
Run a speed test on a computer connected to the router with an Ethernet cable. That number is what your provider actually delivers. If the wired result is close to your plan, everything below applies. If it is far below your plan at several times of day, the issue is on the provider side. Document it and get in touch with them.
The usual suspects
- Distance and walls. Wi-Fi signal weakens sharply through brick, concrete, and metal. Two walls can halve your speed.
- The 2.4 GHz band. Many devices still connect to the slower, more crowded 2.4 GHz band. The 5 GHz (or 6 GHz) band is much faster at short range.
- An aging router. Routers older than five or six years often cannot pass modern plan speeds over Wi-Fi at all.
- Congestion. Evenings are busier both in your home and in your neighborhood airspace.
- The testing device. Old phones and laptops have slow Wi-Fi chips; they cap your result regardless of the network.
Fixes in order of impact
Move the router high and central, away from metal and fish tanks. Connect fixed equipment (TV, console, desktop) by cable. Force important devices onto 5 GHz. If distant rooms stay slow, add a mesh node or wired access point rather than a repeater. Finally, replace routers that predate Wi-Fi 6. The difference in busy homes is substantial.
When it really is the provider
If wired tests are consistently far below the plan, especially outside peak hours, collect three or four dated test results and contact support. Our article on ping and jitter explains the responsiveness numbers worth quoting in that conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Does restarting the router help?
A restart clears memory and forces a fresh connection; it fixes temporary glitches but not structural speed loss.
Are Wi-Fi repeaters worth it?
Cheap repeaters halve bandwidth by design. Mesh systems or a cabled access point give far better results.
