You’re zipping along on the Internet and suddenly you’re struck by a slow Internet connection. You have no idea why, and it’s not immediately obvious how to fix it. You know something has to be hogging your bandwidth, but you’re not sure what, and in some cases, who. Check these common bandwidth-stealers that may be affecting your Internet connection.

Video Channels Like YouTube

YouTube is infamous for sucking up bandwidth, as are many other streaming services such as Pandora and other video and music services. If you allow employees to connect to these websites and they use them frequently, you’ll see a decrease in Internet speed throughout your entire office. A research company said that a team of 40 staff all using YouTube at the same time will eat up over half of your bandwidth in a typical office environment.

Online Backup

Though it is very important to back up your files on a daily and sometimes hourly basis, doing so leaves very little room for other things to go on. Instead, save your backups for when the office is closed so you don’t wind up having to deal with Internet that’s as slow as a 56k modem.

Malware/Computer Bug

A malware or bug that infects your network can easily slow down the processes in your office to a snail’s speed. The main way a bug communicates with its host is by sending information to him or her through the Internet, which means it’s eating up your bandwidth. Combine an advanced piece of malware with a network of many computers, and you’ll have lag problems until the problem is fixed.

Contact an expert or your local ISP if you need help diagnosing Internet connectivity problems.

Used with permission from Article Aggregator