Improve Your Home Network Connection
Improve Your Home Network Connection
If you are suffering from a slow or unreliable network connection one of the first you can check is what kind of speeds you are getting. You can run a speed test at:
Notice below what speed Google recommends for a successful Google Meet. This is also a good rule of thumb for any type of video conferencing you may be doing.
For group meetings they recommend a download and upload speed of 3.2 Mbps
If you run a speed test you will see a screen that looks like this:
If you have a speed on either download or upload that is less than 3.2 Mbps, you are really not in an environment ideal for a Google Meet or video conferencing.
However, it might be possible to improve your connection. This could potentially be done in a variety of ways. Please see the steps below for tips on how to improve your connection.
- It could be as simple as relocating to an area of the house that has a stronger signal.
- You would also want to cut back on any other traffic on your network while using the internet. For example, it would be good not to stream videos or music if it is not required for remote learning at that time.
-Make sure your device is up to date. If it is a Chromebook you are using you can do that by clicking this link and following the steps: https://tinyurl.com/
-Try a reboot of the device and if you are comfortable with it, reboot the router and/or other networking equipment in the house. In fact, rebooting your device is a great first step in resolving many problems!
-Consider video conferencing via audio only. The bandwidth requirements for this are greatly decreased. Even a landline phone can be used to join via audio, in which case no bandwidth is required.
If you have tried all of the above steps and run a speed test again and nothing improves your network speed, you may need to contact your Internet service provider to see if options are available to improve your network.