“As an online music student, there is one thing you can’t do without…reliable internet. Most of the time the internet works for us all, but it doesn’t always work well.
“I am surprised by how many people think that the nature of the internet is to work well only sometimes and not all the time. It is true that the internet may be slightly slower if everyone in the neighborhood is using it at the same time, but it shouldn’t be much slower. Over all the internet should work as fast as you need it to all of the time. If it doesn’t, then there is something wrong and the internet service provider should fix the problem.
“One way to know if your internet is running properly is to run a speed test. It is extremely easy to do. Just Google search the words ‘speed test’ and press the big blue button that says ‘Run Speed Test.’ If you don’t know how fast your internet should be then contact your ISP (internet service provider). It is common to have a speed of 100 mbps. Whatever speed you are paying your ISP for is what speed you should be getting. If it is slower than you are paying for then contact your ISP and have them fix the problem.
“Contacting your ISP can sometimes be difficult depending on the company. Many times they are reluctant to fix the problem and either try to blame it on something out of their control or charge more money to send out a technician to investigate the problem. If a technician needs to come out then make sure you aren’t charged for the visit. You are paying a hefty price for internet and shouldn’t have to pay more to get it to work properly.
“Before you contact your ISP there are things you can try. First restart your device. If this doesn’t fix the problem then unplug your modem and router and then plug them back in. If the internet is still slow then you probably need a new modem and / or router. If you are renting the equipment from the ISP (as most people do) then they should replace the equipment free of charge.”
~Jason Theiste
