If you live in a multi-person household, chances are you have regularly encountered a battle for your Internet’s bandwidth. Someone is trying to have a Zoom meeting for work, another is gaming in their room while someone else is streaming Netflix in the living room.
Then all at once, your once-fast Internet slows to a snail crawl. And you are left staring at your frozen screen, quietly cursing the person who is responsible.
It sounds all too familiar. But the good news is that with the right setup, you can use the Internet minus the constant buffering.
Why Does The Bandwidth Battle Happen?
When it comes down to it, it’s all about supply and demand. A broadband connection has a specific amount of bandwidth so when more people are using it, its capacity is divided up between the users.
Some online activities are more bandwidth-intensive than others. Things like streaming and gaming require much more bandwidth than checking your emails or casually browsing through social media.
And if multiple people are trying to do these tasks at the same time, your network almost gets clogged and that causes it to slow down.
How To Share Broadband In A Busy Household
Before you panic or cause conflict with a family member, there are ways to manage broadband usage your home. With just a few adjustments and good browsing habits, everyone can benefit from using the Internet.
Make Sure You Have The Right Broadband Package
The journey to happy Wi-Fi sharing begins with checking that your plan actually meets the Internet needs of your household. You can use an online speed test tool to see what your current speeds are.
If your household has more than four members or there is a lot of bandwidth-intensive activities happening, you’ll need 100 Mbps or higher. And if fibre is available in your area, it’s much faster than copper-based connections so if you haven’t made the switch, it’s something to consider.
Use Wired Connections
Not every device needs to use the Wi-Fi. Those that don’t move around too much, like smart TVs and desktop computers, can use Ethernet cables instead. This will significantly free up the bandwidth for other devices such as mobile phones and laptops.
Ethernets are also incredibly fast and stable so you wouldn’t encounter any buffering or lagging.
Check Your Router Is In The Right Location
Wi-Fi routers shouldn’t be placed under a desk or behind a TV because these are obstacles that the signal has to fight.
If you can, put the router in a central spot in the house and preferably on a shelf because elevation does help. To avoid interference, keep it away from microwaves or heavy walls.
Schedule Any Large Downloads
If you need to download a game or do a system upgrade, these require a significant amount of bandwidth. Try to schedule these to happen when other household members aren’t active on their devices, such as during the night.
If you are doing a cloud backup, you can stagger them instead of doing them simultaneously across devices.
Enable Quality of Service (Qos) Controls
A lot of households overlook this but setting up QoS controls can make a big difference when it comes to Internet bandwidth. It’s designed to prioritise certain types of traffic based on its importance.
For example, it can give priority to video calls to make sure they don’t drop during work meetings or give gaming enough speed to reduce lagging.
Use Wi-Fi Extenders Or Mesh Networks
If you have a bigger home, there could be some dead spots where your router doesn’t reach even if it’s in a good location.
A Wi-Fi extender is an inexpensive option to help boost signals while mesh networks are ideal if you live in a multi-story house or have very thick walls.
Secure Your Network
If your network is unsecured, your neighbours or unwanted guests could be using your network without your permission or knowledge. This will also use up quite a bit of your bandwidth and is a common culprit for slow Internet.
Choose a strong password with multiple characters and use either WPA3 or WPA2 encryption as this also keeps you safe from cyber threats.
Communicate With Each Other
Aside from the technology aspect, sometimes household members just need to work on their communication with each other.
If you know you’re about to have a work call for a meeting, let everyone else know so they can avoid bandwidth-heavy activities for this duration. Or if you plan on doing an update or large download, schedule a time that works for everyone else in the house.
Sometimes, just having a conversation and scheduling things can go a long way in making sure everyone has fair access.
