Have you ever had the experience of your laptop slowing down for no reason at all? Do you find it annoying that the software you’ve installed makes it harder to load Youtube videos? And are you mad that your laptop suffers fps as you’re playing online games?
Well, all of the questions above are caused by multiple factors that are slowing your laptop’s downloading speed and its internet speed as well. Knowing these factors will help you choose better laptops in the future as well as preventing them from slowing down in the first place.
Factors that affect your laptop’s download speed
So, let’s see what are those factors affecting your laptop speed and how to speed up the download and upload of your pc or laptop.
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- The OS of your laptop
One of the biggest contributing factors to a laptop’s download speed and loading speed is the OS that it has. If you’re using old and outdated OS, then expect it to lag behind since it can’t keep up with modern-day programs and software.
Of course, the type or brand of OS matters as well. One good example of this is the Chrome OS. Although relatively new, Chrome OS was able to run faster and better than most Windows laptops who tend to hog resources. This makes Chromebooks very appealing to people who want the job done. Lastly, Chromebooks can also be optimized so they can even go faster!
- The processor
As the name implies, your laptop’s processors determine how fast it can process and handle basic operations as well as running complex software like games and internet browsers as well as hardware like your network equipment. So the more powerful your processor is, the faster your laptops’ internet speed and loading times will be.
3. Network card
Your laptop’s wireless card determines the upper limit of your laptop’s transfer rate. Thankfully most modern-day network cards can reach up to 100 Mbps and the advanced ones can reach up to 1000 Mbps!
Needless to say, if your laptop has an old network card expect its transfer rate to be very slow. Some old laptops have antiquated network cards with a transfer rate of only up to 50 Mbps or even 10 Mbps.
- The software you use
Ever had your antivirus software run in the background and slow down your computer? Well, that’s what they normally do since most antivirus programs take up a lot of resources.
However, this isn’t limited to antivirus software. Every program you download and run will take up some of your computer’s resources. If you run a lot of resource-intensive programs at once like video games, antivirus programs, etc. Then expect your computer to lag. Sometimes your laptop might even hang or crash if you run too many programs at once.
- The age of your router
The router you are using could determine how fast your internet connection is. We’ve noticed that older routers don’t deliver its promised speed after two or more years. So our advice is that if you have two-year-olds or older routers, you might want to consider replacing them.
If you don’t want to replace your routers just yet, you might want to shorten the cables and optimize them. You can find out how to do that right here along with other internet optimizations.
6.Viruses
Your laptop slowing down may not necessarily be a hardware problem. It is possible that it’s infected with a virus. If your system gets infected, then the virus will run in the background performing malicious tasks. Some viruses use up a lot of your laptop’s resources so you might want to check your task manager for any suspicious programs eating up your RAM.
- RAM
Your laptop’s RAM determines its memory speed and memory capacity. A general rule of thumb for RAM is, the more RAM you have, the faster your computer will be able to run programs. Generally speaking, most laptops below 4GB will often have a hard time running most modern-day programs. So if your RAM is low, then that’s the reason for your laptop being slow.
- The frequency of your router
The frequency of your router will determine how fast and how far it can reach. The standard 2.4 GHz can cover wide areas but tends to have slower speeds. The 5 GHz router will have faster refresh rates at the cost of coverage. If you live in a small house, then you might want to set your router to use 5 GHz frequency.
9.Cache Memory
Cache memory is very similar to RAM. It’s a built-in memory found on your CPU that allows you to access files you frequently access. This dramatically speeds up the loading times of your computer. Of course, not all cache memory is the same: the L1 cache is usually fast and is present in high-end processors. L2 and L3 cache memory tend to be slower and are present in older processor models.
- The Hard Drive
Last but not least, we have a hard drive. Your laptop’s hard drive speed will determine how fast it can read and write data. Most modern-day hard drives can spin at about 7,200 RPMs, which is relatively fast. However, as your laptops accumulate more and more memory, your hard drive memory becomes fragmented which slows down its performance and negatively affects the speed of the laptop.
Luckily there are tons of disk defragmenters out there that will fix your hard drive and allow it to perform at 100%. Lastly, you can switch to an SSD flash storage if you don’t want to defragment your laptop occasionally.
Conclusion: We have tried to cover all the important factors which may affect the speed of your laptop. Yet, if you feel that we have missed something to specify, please do not hesitate to write to us.
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