Oxford is one of the world’s fastest internet cities…so why is your internet slow?
Here at Computer Assistance, we’re no strangers to complaints about poor internet speed. Who hasn’t had to wait for a buffering YouTube video or tapped their fingers impatiently as they waited for their Facebook pictures to load?
A report from cloud services provider Akamai however has stated that Oxford is one of the top five cities in the world for fast broadband, faster than every single one of the world’s capital cities.
Why in particular is Oxford so fast? Competition between BT and Virgin Media has led to blistering speeds, and the fact that BT has placed the Oxford exchange on its 21st Century Network rather than its old legacy networks means that Oxford residents enjoy higher speeds than cities like Southampton, Bristol and Cambridge.
So, what does this mean if you’re one of many in Oxford still struggling with a sluggish Internet?
It could mean you have a faulty line, so it’s worth calling your internet provider and calling them out to double check it.
Another possibility is a problem with your wireless router. Many people are still using old routers from years ago, not realising that newer routers have vast improvements in their potential MBPS (megabits per second). Here at Computer Assistance, we sell routers that are capable of providing higher performance, up to 750mbps. If you take a look at your wireless router and it’s only capable of 150mbps or lower, it may be worth upgrading.
An important detail is how exactly your internet is being provided. If you’re struggling with slow speeds, perhaps due to having a big house or simply thick walls in your house, it’s well worth looking at the possibility of powerline networking. Powerline networking is bridging technology, sending your data streams across your electrical wiring from adapter to adapter. These adapters are simply plugged into your electrical wall outlets, meaning you can do without ugly wires stretching across walls and up the stairs.
And they aren’t slow, either. The Powerline adapters on sale at Computer Assistance today provide performance of up to 500mbps.
You don’t need to think big in order to improve your internet network either. A good way to make sure the full capabilities of your wireless network reaches you wherever you are in the house is to buy a WiFi Range Extender. This extender is on sale in our shop today for just £20.
If you’d like to improve your internet speeds but aren’t sure how to go about it, feel free to come into the shop for a quick chat, or better yet, have us come out to you so we can check things out for ourselves. We can check your PC for viruses and your router for faults, for just £68 pounds an hour.
Alternatively, if you think your internet speed is fine but your PC just needs a tune up, why not bring it in for a tune-up by our technicians? We’ll defrag your hard-drive, remove any malware, and check to make sure all of its parts are still working perfectly. We can even identify where the potential bottleneck is coming from and upgrade it on the spot.
Come into Computer Assistance today and mention the code “CA2015” for a 5% discount on tune-ups (not including the diagnosis fee or any parts that may be needed) and routers, running until the end of April 2015.