Some of these are easy and some are cheap, others, less so. All valid things to check when you have complaints about computers or internet being slow. My perspective for businesses is that holding onto a cheap slow PC isn't saving you money, it's costing you thousands is lost productivity! Before you run out and buy the latest PC there are a number of things it's worth checking as like so many other things one slow component can hold back the whole.
- Check the Spec's of your computer, for general office work for a reasonably busy person we recommend a computer with an i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM & a SSD. If you computer is less than 3 years old and you are running a regular hard disk drive then consider a releatively cheap solid state harddrive upgrade, it will make your PC fly again! However if your machine is older then it's probably time to replace it with a modern unit which will be more cost effective.
- Reboot regularly - pending updates are a common cause of odd behaviour or general slowness, with operating systems being quite stable these days it's easy to forget to shutdown fully and reboot it once in a while especially if you set your laptop to hibernate when closing the lid.
- Set power settings to high performance - If you have a laptop then chances are that the default power settings are in balanced mode and some things can be shutdown to save power. Go into the power settings of control panel and switch to high performance mode.
- Duplicate AV software - Please please please don't click yes to free security software, some free software apps offer additional free programs during the install process, read what you are clicking yes to and uncheck those boxes. Having two Antivirus programs scanning everything your computer does is just overkill. One fully licensed comprehensive endpoint security product is enough, two is just wasting CPU cycles & consuming RAM slowing you down.
- New PC's often come with a bunch of preinstalled applications, do yourself a favour and clear them out. Uninstall unwanted apps and keep it tidy. Having a look in the system startup list also gives you an idea of what programs are being loaded every time you power on, You can uncheck them and free up even more resources.
- Browser and application plugins - if like me you like trying out new tools and widgets then you can accumulate tool bars and modules which may not necessarily be fully developed or maintained and often these can cludge up your browser or Outlook. Cull them out from time to time and see if you miss those tools and whilst enjoying a boost.
- Why not reset to factory default? - These days if you largely use cloud services and have your data synched up this isn't the pain it used to be to get everything back to normal, plus its good for security too!
- Slow on WIFI? There is a lot of complexity to the design of well performing wireless internet services due to the limited number of frequencies available, the distance you are from the access point, the number of people sharing. If your WIFI is running poor try moving the access point somewhere more central, and check the frequencies for interference. There has been a lot of changes in WLAN tech so check that your WAP can handle the new protocols & frequencies like 802.11ac
- Try a cabled connection it will always perform better because WIFI is half duplex connection which means only one person can be talking at a time and everyone else must stop to listen. With a LAN cable everyone can send and receive at the same time. The more devices talking on a wireless access point the slower it gets.
- If you are already on a cabled link then how old is your switch? Old network switches can be the limiting factor - you may need to dump the old 10/100 switch and get a Gigabit capable one in there.
- Check your ISP plan speed & contention - ISP's are usually a bit slack to letting customers know there is a better plan available. Give your ISP a ring and ask if you are on the best plan, you save money and get a better speed line! Early UFB plans were 30/10 but now you can get 100/100, 200/200 or even 1000/500Mb/s links!
- If your switch, WAP and ISP link are ok then perhaps you have an old router which can't handle the maximum throughpout now available. Free ISP routers from 5+ years ago weren't necessarily designed with bandwidth now available and they struggle to push the data packets through the door fast enough. Time for a refresh.
- Lastly change your ISP - not all are equal! I've recently helped out a client who had a lot of pain with international bandwidth and after doing some network path analysis we were able to prove the issue to be with the ISP's access into the USA. We simply switches ISP's and the problem was resolved. With UFB it's now actually quite easy to do without disrupting the business.
If have tried a few of these things but are still struggling, then reach out to a trusted consultant and get their assistance. I am happy to discuss any of these and give 2 free hours help on how you can improve the systems of your business if you have 5 or more computers.
Reach me here to take up this offer freehelp@vertech.co.nz or message me on LinkedIn.
Daniel Watson