News & Articles

These Bandwidth Hogs Slow Your Internet (Unless You Have Fiber)

Many internet users experience a sluggish connection even with “high-speed internet.” They’ve invested in a good Wi-Fi router, perhaps a range extender, and may have even upgraded to a faster internet plan.

So why do they find themselves frequently frustrated by slowdowns and freeze-ups? What about their devices—or internet plan—causes this underwhelming performance? And what, if anything, can people do to reduce or even eliminate these issues?

The most likely culprits behind poor internet performance are bandwidth hogs—devices and online activities that gobble up too much bandwidth and slow down everyone’s internet access.

The good news is Northcentral Connect’s advanced fiber network provides exceptionally high download speeds and the much-overlooked bandwidth capacity that only fiber internet can offer. Combined, fiber’s high speeds and excellent bandwidth can end internet sluggishness.

We discuss bandwidth in greater detail below and explain why every internet customer needs to understand it.

Then, we turn to the most common bandwidth hogs in most people’s homes—devices and online activities—and then explain how Connect’s best speed tiers can help resolve any bandwidth issues.

What Is Bandwidth—and Why Is Higher Bandwidth So Important?

Bandwidth can be confusing. Put simply, bandwidth is the amount of information an internet connection can manage per second.

Bandwidth doesn’t measure a particular internet connection’s rate (or speed). Instead, it’s about the volume of online data a connection can “carry” and transfer at any given time.

High bandwidth levels let internet users accomplish activities like streaming TV shows, participating in video calls, playing online games, and posting to social media simultaneously without any slowdowns.

More bandwidth is indispensable for keeping an active online household productive—and happy!

What Exactly Is a Bandwidth Hog?

A bandwidth hog is a colloquial term for a device or online activity that eats up more than its fair share of bandwidth. It hogs too much bandwidth and greedily takes it from other devices or activities. Keep in mind that everyday web browsing typically has little impact on overall bandwidth use.

Some devices are famous bandwidth hogs. So, just by turning on and connecting to a bandwidth hog, a huge amount of available bandwidth on your internet connection will be used.

And certain activities require excess bandwidth to carry out your needs.  So when even one (or more) bandwidth hogs are activated, the dreaded slowdowns and freeze-ups can occur, leading to frustration and anger in your home!

 Common Household Bandwidth Hogs

Smart TVs

Today’s smart TVs feature enhanced technology that displays amazing picture quality.

High-definition, 4K, and 4K Ultra-HD TVs produce stunning imagery and hog lots of bandwidth in the process. Using your smart TV will devour an enormous slice of your home internet’s bandwidth. If you have limited bandwidth capacity, your smart TV could impact other devices and online activities or even slow down a show you want to watch.

Video Streaming

By far the activity with the most excessive use of bandwidth is streaming video.

Netflix tends to be the top offender, in part due to its popularity and vast library of content. Many people stream shows and movies on other devices like their tablets rather than just their smart TVs. And if you have more than one person in your household—and multiple tablets and phones in use—your bandwidth can easily be hogged just by streaming shows and movies.

And Netflix isn’t the only problem.

Streaming services like TikTok and YouTube also use lots of bandwidth. Posting TikTok videos also compounds the bandwidth problem because it involves sending information from the device to a server, consuming even more bandwidth in the process.

Video Calling

During the Covid-19 pandemic, video conference calling became a daily part of life for many people. Zoom, FaceTime, Skype and other services allowed people to stay connected face-to-face, even across long distances. But video calls are notorious bandwidth hogs.

Voice, text, and video all combine to devour bandwidth—and that’s why you’ve experienced those ridiculous freeze-frame faces during the call!

And remember, with video calling, you are not just receiving data—you are also continuously sending it back to the server (and then to your loved ones’ devices). That accounts for video calling’s massive appetite for bandwidth and why so many video calls end up frustrating people (unless you have fiber internet!).

Online Gaming

Another big-time bandwidth hog is online gaming.

Online gaming is incredibly problematic from a bandwidth perspective because, like video calling, information is shared—from the player back to the server and the server back to the player. It often jams the internet connection for gamers and others in the house.

Higher bandwidth allows this excessive volume of data to transfer with far less latency or other delays. So gamers experiencing lag or freezes will benefit from internet plans and tiers that provide more bandwidth.

What’s the Best Way to Get More Bandwidth?

Well, apart from eliminating bandwidth hogs—the devices and activities you already have and love—your best solution is to upgrade to fiber internet.

DSL, cable, and satellite internet don’t have fiber’s high speeds or bandwidth capacity because fiber’s innovative design and cutting-edge materials allow for data to transfer faster and in much higher volumes.

 If you already have fiber internet and would like to improve your internet service, you should increase your plan’s maximum speeds. With fiber internet, you can select a service tier with 1 gigabyte per second (and possibly more, depending on your provider).

A 1 gigabyte per second tier provides plenty of bandwidth to allow a steady flow of online activity like streaming TV and movies, video calling, online gaming, and social media posting. Just by using fiber internet and upgrading your internet speed, you should easily get all the bandwidth your household needs.

To sum it all up, the more bandwidth an internet connection has, the more information it can send out and get back at any particular moment.

And with fiber’s advanced technology and higher speeds, you’ll have additional bandwidth to disburse throughout your home and among your devices. With fiber’s higher bandwidth capacity, your household can avoid the freeze-ups and slowdowns that still plague so many internet users today.

If you have more questions about how fiber internet and its maximum speeds and higher bandwidth can make a difference in your internet connection, feel free to reach out to the helpful experts at Northcentral Connect. And be sure to check out Northcentral Connect’s social pages to learn more about our fiber network!

You’re probably bombarded by lots of advertising trying to persuade you to switch internet providers. And these ads all promise the same thing—fast, reliable internet at a great price.

However, quality internet service has nothing to do with the spiffy corporate logos and glossy images of smiling faces in marketing materials. At its most fundamental level, the speed and reliability of your internet is based on the kind of technology and quality of materials used to deliver internet into your home.

The most common internet services available today are DSL, coax cable, wireless, satellite, and fiber optic. Though some of these technologies have been around for a long time, they are not created equal.

Given the number of choices, deciding which service is right for you can get confusing. At Northcentral Connect, we take pride in helping our community grow with our powerful fiber network. And we’d like to explain in more detail why fiber internet is the best choice for your home or business.

 Fiber Internet: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It’s the Best Internet Option Out There

Before we compare and contrast fiber to its competitors, we’d like to describe what it is and its advantages in more detail. There are three primary reasons why fiber stands heads and shoulders above the rest: outstanding download speeds, upload speeds, and bandwidth.

 Fiber’s Superior Download Speeds

Fiber is shorthand for “fiber optic” internet. Utilizing fiber optic cable, which consists of hundreds of tightly compacted thin glass strands or “hairs,” fiber internet technology has an enormous capacity to transfer online data. Fiber internet converts internet data—your emails, photos, videos, messages, and everything else you send and receive online—into data packets.

These tiny packets of data are transmitted to your devices through light pulses along fiber’s glass strands. Fiber internet literally transfers online data at the speed of light! This means that fiber’s maximum download speeds can easily hit and exceed 1 gigabyte per second. And fiber’s top download speeds continue to increase as its technology improves.

Fiber’s Exceptional Upload Capabilities

While most people look at download speeds when assessing internet quality, savvy internet customers know to consider upload speeds as well.

Upload speeds refer to the rate at which your devices send data back to other people and servers. High upload speeds are crucial for stable video conferencing and calls (like Zoom or FaceTime), posting on social media (especially for online videos like on TikTok), and online gaming.

Because of its cutting-edge material composition and sophisticated system design, fiber internet has a great capacity to download and upload data in equivalent measures.

Techy folks call this “symmetrical internet,”—and no other technology currently has fiber’s ability to deliver it so well. Fiber’s technology provides equally fast download and upload speeds through its outstanding symmetrical internet capability.

Fiber’s Massive Bandwidth Capacity

Last but certainly not least, fiber internet has far greater bandwidth capacity than other forms of internet.

Bandwidth is often confused with speed, so let us clarify: bandwidth is the quantity of data and information an internet connection can handle over a specific time (usually per second). Higher bandwidth is critical in households with multiple devices—and for families that like to stream movies, regularly post and view online videos, and enjoy online gaming.

Because of more bandwidth, fiber internet providers typically have no data caps, so you won’t have to worry about end-of-month slowdowns.

ISPs employing older technology (like the kinds discussed below) are far more likely to have plans that sneak data caps into their services. With fiber and its vast bandwidth capacity, you seldom have to worry about data caps hindering your internet!

 Fiber’s Rivals Just Can’t Keep Up

Fiber transmits data faster and more reliably than other internet options that rely on older infrastructure and materials designed for other purposes like telephone or television. That makes fiber a faster and more dependable internet service for your home.

While the other options on this list may have fast download speeds—or even claim to match some of fiber’s speeds—no other current technology has either the upload speed or bandwidth capacity of fiber. 

Below are the four main alternatives to fiber internet available today. We briefly describe them—and explain why they fall short of fiber’s outstanding capabilities.

DSL

DSL, short for “Digital Subscriber Line,” is one of the earliest forms of “high-speed” internet.

Built on the copper wiring used for landline telephone service for decades, it can achieve maximum download speeds of around 100 megabytes per second—or about 10% of fiber’s typical 1 gigabyte per second rate.

DSL is still found in many small towns and rural areas that don’t have access to fiber. But since DSL’s maximum speeds are just a tenth of fiber’s, DSL doesn’t even come close to matching fiber.

Coax (Cable)

Next, we turn to the most common alternative to fiber available today: cable.

Short for coaxial cable, “coax” uses copper-based wires to transmit internet signals. While cable is an improvement over DSL, it uses a technology created to send television signals, not internet data. Consequently, cable’s copper wiring doesn’t have the “capacity” to transmit data nearly as well as fiber, especially regarding uploading and upload speeds.

And fiber’s speeds are just astounding, up to 10-to-20 times faster than cable. Cable’s copper wiring just can’t keep up with fiber. So when you add in cable’s relatively poor bandwidth capabilities, it’s clear that fiber internet leaves cable in the dust!

Wireless Broadband (or Fixed Wireless Internet)

Another internet option is wireless broadband. The name can be confusing, as WiFi provides your own home with “wireless” internet, but in this case, wireless internet offers service to customers through cell phone towers with 4G and 5G signals.

Because cell phone towers are increasingly common in areas without other telecommunication or cable infrastructure, they may be a good option for people living in remote areas.

 However, wireless internet cannot compete with the high speeds delivered by fiber and here’s why.

Your home or business’s distance from the wireless cell phone tower will impact the speed and stability of your internet—and probably leave you frustrated. In addition, wireless broadband’s signal is easily obstructed by other buildings and structures or affected by the weather and other environmental impacts.

Due to fiber’s “hard-wiring,” those obstructions simply don’t apply, letting fiber’s light-speed data transmission deliver outstanding service. 

Starlink

 Starlink, a relatively new company, owned by SpaceX, provides satellite internet to remote areas, including many rural areas in the United States.

Starlink’s low-orbit space satellites provide faster speed capabilities than other satellite internet technology. But Starlink is still hampered by the same quality and consistency problems that plague all satellite internet options, including weather interference and other atmospheric factors.

While Starlink may improve previous kinds of satellite internet, it just can’t provide as reliable a signal as fiber’s advanced “hard-wired” infrastructure and technology regularly does.

Other Factors to Consider

So what, if any, are the downsides of fiber internet? Well, the biggest downside to fiber is that it’s not available everywhere. The good news is that more and more communities are accessing fiber, including rural and smaller communities.

Another consideration is that fiber’s highest download speeds per second—usually a gigabyte per second—can be pricey, meaning some people may not as easily afford to max out on fiber’s outstanding benefits. But even fiber’s more modest speeds are still faster and more reliable than the other forms of service currently available, making any fiber internet plan an excellent value.

As you can see from the above comparisons, fiber clearly delivers superior internet at greater speeds and with more consistent reliability than any other option. It’s the best choice for high-speed internet on the market today.

If you have other questions about fiber internet and how it can help make you more productive, the friendly support team at Northcentral Connect is available to help. And be sure to follow Northcentral Connect’s social pages to learn more about our fiber network!

Your top priority is keeping your family and home protected and safe from harm. 

Thankfully, today’s technology can help you feel safe by making you more aware of what’s happening outside your home, no matter where you are. And smart home technology can help deter crime, as well.

Your neighbors at Northcentral Connect understand your concerns and desire to keep your family safe. We are also a part of our community and are proud to help serve and keep people informed, connected, healthy and secure. That’s why we’ve put together this brief guide to smart home security that anyone connected to our high-speed fiber network can learn from and put to good use.

This concise overview highlights some of the most well-regarded smart home security measures and technology recommended by home safety experts. 

Smart Doorbells

Smart doorbells help you see who is at your door before you answer. They also monitor any activity on your doorstep, front porch, driveway and even on the street in some cases. These devices can help prevent deliveries and packages from being stolen and deter suspicious activity at your home.

Smart Security Cameras

A smart security camera setup is a must for those looking for more robust security. 

You can install a smart security camera system anywhere in or outside your home, from the driveway to the backyard. Many smart security cameras are designed with motion sensors, so any time a person—or even larger wildlife—is detected, you will know it. 

You can also use smart security cameras with motion-sensing outdoor lighting, which will also help deter unwanted visitors. Best of all, smart security cameras connect to your home’s WiFi and all your devices, keeping you notified of activity outside your home.

Smart Lighting and Glass-Break Detectors

Other state-of-the-art smart home tools can improve safety and security. 

For example, glass-break detectors can alert you to intruders. Because they connect to your home’s fiber network, your family will be notified of a break-in. 

And smart lights detect motion and send notifications to your phone or tablet, alerting you to be on your guard.

Personal Medical Alert and Emergency Devices

Seniors and others with mobility limitations or chronic health problems need quick communication with first responders.  

When there’s an acute health emergency or other safety concern, personal medical alert and emergency devices can connect people to first responders at the touch of a button. During an emergency, there’s no need for seniors to locate and use a phone, as making contact with emergency personnel is simple and fast with these outstanding devices.

Don’t Forget About Network and Online Security

At Northcentral Connect, we take the security and stability of our network very seriously. Our engineers and technicians constantly work to keep the network safe from attacks.  But there are also some steps you can take to protect your data and online privacy.

Keep your home network safe from hackers and phishing attacks by using strong anti-virus software and apps on all your devices, as well as password managers to safeguard your accounts. 

And be sure to use a complex password that is difficult to guess—and not the same as all of your other passwords! Ad blockers can also save both aggravation and the unseemly tendency of advertisers to track your online activity.

These are just some innovative devices and services available to put Smart Home technology to good use for home safety and security. But as always, practice common sense in and around your home and online.

Keep front and back doors locked (and car doors, too). And avoid clicking on suspicious emails or untrustworthy links, so you don’t become a victim of a security breach. 

Don’t forget that smart technology and intelligent decision-making keep our neighborhoods and communities safer.

Follow Northcentral Connect’s social pages to learn more about how smart home technology can help make your home more efficient and safer.

We’ve all experienced occasional slower internet speeds from time to time.

And too often, this happens at the worst times, like when you’ve finally gotten a moment to binge that show everyone is always harping on about! For some of us, though, slower internet speeds and poor streaming are regular occurrences.

We get the frustration. And just because you have the fast and reliable fiber internet provided by Northcentral Connect there can be many reasons why you still get slower speeds and poorer performance.

Below we discuss some of the sneaky suspects that slow down your speed and recommend ways to improve it. 

We discuss the problem of continuing to use outdated technology. We then go through the next most common issue: WiFi router placement and two kinds of interference that can cause slowdowns, physical interference and signal interference. 

With a few simple changes, you’ll experience consistently faster internet speeds.

Older Routers Don’t Handle Higher Internet Speed Capabilities

Let’s start with the most common culprit for Wi-Fi problems and slower internet speeds: an out dated router.

Everyone knows technology changes quickly. But most of us don’t upgrade that technology yearly, including our WiFi routers. So while many people get a new smartphone or tablet every couple of years, too many of us have not upgraded our WiFi routers to keep up.

Newer WiFi routers, especially those made after 2019, can handle and disperse much higher internet speeds than older models. Specifically, be sure to look for routers that utilize at least 802.11ac technology, more commonly called Wireless AC or WiFi 5.

Better yet, the latest Wi-Fi technology is called 802.11ax, or WiFi 6. This upgraded equipment can greatly increase internet performance and capacity, allowing WiFi speeds to exceed one gigabit or more per second. However, as you will see below, newer equipment is not the only thing that matters!

WiFi Router Placement Problems Due to Physical Interference

Poor WiFi router placement is one of the most common problems that plague homes with slow internet.

To begin with, it’s important to remember that WiFi disperses its signal both horizontally and vertically (straight ahead and up and down).

Objects that are physically “in the way” of that signal can interfere with the quality and strength of the Wi-Fi signal before it reaches your devices. Below are the most common physical interferences in many homes that lead to slow internet speeds. 

Glass and Windows

One of the biggest slow internet speed culprits is glass and windows.

Glass and windows can cause significant interference. Avoid WiFi router placement too close to windows or other glass, as that can “deplete” too much signal and waste precious internet speed your smart TV needs to stream your favorite content.

Walls and Similar Obstructions

Fireplaces, wall units, cabinets and similar obstructions will interfere with the WiFi signal. Reinforced concrete, which some walls in your home may consist of, is a particularly obstructing material. With this in mind, choose your WiFi router’s location, and try to minimize interference with these sneaky speed-stealing objects. 

Televisions and Other Electronic Equipment

A TV is another typical problem for Wi-Fi.

 In many homes the WiFi router is located near the television; and perhaps behind it so it’s hidden from view.  This is a big no-no, as your television is loaded with electronic equipment that blocks Wi-Fi signal and its ability to spread throughout your home.

Do your best to give your router as wide a berth as possible from your television and other electronics-heavy equipment like receivers and DVD players. 

Signal Interference

Beyond the physical objects that interfere with Wi-Fi, other items in your home put off signals that can cause slower internet speeds, too. Three of the most common are highlighted below, and you should take care when placing your WiFi router too closely to any of them.

 Microwave Ovens

In many homes, the WiFi router is in the kitchen. And it’s likely your microwave oven is slowing down your Wi-Fi.

Microwaves operate at the same frequency as many Wi-Fi routers—2.4GHz. That means that microwaves can interfere with WiFi signal. Provide your router with as much distance from your microwave as possible, and consider relocating it out from the kitchen if the interference continues.

Bluetooth Devices

You should also know that Bluetooth devices can obstruct WiFi signals and slow down internet speeds as they “hop” around different frequencies.

There may be many more Bluetooth devices active in your home than the common ones you’re probably thinking of, such as your smartphone and tablet. A Bluetooth mouse, ear buds, speakers and even toothbrushes are typical in nearly every home. So be mindful of using too many Bluetooth devices simultaneously if your internet speeds are slow.

Baby Monitors and Walkie-Talkies

This one surprises many people, but baby monitors and similar devices that transmit sound waves over a distance can interfere with WiFi! 

Like microwave ovens, baby monitors and walkie-talkies operate on the same frequency as WiFi. Try to be careful where you place baby monitors in the house, or consider moving your router if the interference persists.

When you upgrade your Wi-Fi router to the latest, higher-speed capacity technology and wisely locate it, you can significantly improve your internet speeds.

But don’t forget that appliances, devices and equipment cause slowdowns, too! Doing so will make your streaming and browsing experience much more satisfying.

To learn more ways to improve your home’s internet speed and performance, follow Northcentral Connect’s social pages!

Online gaming is no longer just a leisure activity for teenagers and young adults. It is big business, with a market value worth tens of billions of dollars a year, employing thousands of digital programmers, engineers, designers, and artists, and an increasingly growing online competition sector called “esports.”

While online gaming continues to be as fun as it’s always been, and new processing power and intensifying graphic technology make video games more life-like and spectacular than ever before, advanced streaming platforms, esports and gaming tournaments are taking online gaming to a new level.

And thanks to improved fiber internet technology, such as the fiber network provided by Northcentral Connect, more players in literally every corner of America—and the entire world—can get in on the online gaming action.

Read on to learn more about the streaming gaming phenomenon and why it’s worth checking out!

Online Gaming in the Cloud Elevates Video Games to New Heights

Cloud-based gaming technology enables players to test their skill against competitors worldwide.

Whether “massively multiplayer online games” consisting of hundreds or even thousands of simultaneous players or simple one-on-one duels, gamers simply need to access their accounts, select their game, find their opponents or teammates and start playing. 

And the variety of games available to play is astounding. From simulated sports like football and soccer, to idyllic fantasy worlds to explore and survive, to designing and engineering buildings and even entire cities or civilizations, to war games and battlefield tactics, there is a game to satisfy just about anyone’s tastes.

But online gaming also provides a social component that had been conspicuously absent in previous video game eras.

Today’s streaming gaming platforms allow players to communicate, strategize, and even form friendships in a way that was impossible before. Apps like Twitch and Discord even let players record and broadcast their games widely, and allow fans to watch their every intricate move and tactic.

And the more competitive aspects of gaming help build teams and collaboration beyond individual skills. Thus, today’s online gaming is more than just about “owns” or putting up “W’s” or even economic gains—it’s about interaction and problem-solving among like-minded individuals working toward a common goal.

In this way, online gaming is not dissimilar to playing in little league or youth soccer or on the office’s softball team!

Popular Streaming Gaming Services

Online gaming among multiple players takes place on streaming platforms that enable players from different zip codes and time zones—even continents—to play against each other on the same gaming server in real-time. Some of the most common streaming services include those developed and maintained by the largest video game companies in the world.

Sony, which makes the PlayStation 5, has its own streaming platform, PlayStation Plus (which now includes the previously called PlayStation Now). Xbox and its Games Pass allow players to test their prowess on Xbox’s extensive library of acclaimed games. A membership with Nintendo Switch Online is required to play Nintendo games online, but it also offers up classic Nintendo 64 games to play.

Fostering Community–and Improving the Local Economy

Because online gaming isn’t just about the individual gamer but about forging connections and building community, online gaming also provides an opportunity for broader economic development to help towns and cities grow.

According to industry estimates, the economic “spillover effect” of sponsoring and hosting esports tournaments and other online gaming events is considerable.

In 2022, the economic impact of hosting an esports competition in Atlanta, Georgia and Raleigh, North Carolina, was $1.78 million and $1.45 million, respectively.

In addition, thousands of gamers attended each event, helping small businesses like restaurants and shops thrive. Even state governments recognize the value of esports and online gaming tournaments to the broader economy, as legislation is being considered in North Carolina to incentivize and encourage more esports events.

More gamers and gaming groups and clubs are needed in our towns and cities to continue the industry’s growth.

These gamers need reliable, high-speed fiber internet to participate in online gaming events, locally-hosted and remotely played. And communities need high-speed fiber internet to serve and attract gamers and gaming tournaments.

At Northcentral Connect, we are proud of our efforts to provide the most reliable fiber network available and benefit both the growing online gaming phenomenon and our community’s broader economy.

It’s easy to see both the local and the global reach—and importance—of online gaming. And as technology develops and internet speeds and connectivity improve, online gaming will become an even more significant part of the world’s economy and broader culture.

Be sure to follow Northcentral Connect’s social pages to learn more about our high-speed fiber network and how it can help keep you connected to online gaming and the broader global economy, too!

That’s Not Normal: Five Signs You Need Better Internet

Slow, interrupted, or choppy internet can be a frustrating experience. And if you and your family experience it when everyone is at home and streaming shows or movies, you know how it can ruin your evening.  Subpar internet can also make everyday communications with friends and co-workers difficult and negatively impact your productivity, as well.

Having fast, reliable, and consistent internet throughout your day (and night) throughout your home is essential—almost as necessary as all the other utilities. It can help keep the peace at home, too!

But you may have experienced enough consistent problems to wonder if something is “wrong” with your internet. While slowdowns and unstable signal are often due to your Wi-Fi hardware being older or not updated, your internet may be slow because your internet service is not as reliable and fast as current technology can provide.

The good news is that you can upgrade to fiber internet—the fastest, most reliable internet you can find! And Northcentral Connect and its team of expert technicians can help get you on the road to high-speed fiber internet starting with one phone call.

Before we explain how fiber can turn around your frustrating internet experience, we discuss five warning signs that indicate it’s time for an upgrade. From “dead zones” in your house to not being able to stream on multiple devices simultaneously, we will help you troubleshoot so you can make the right adjustments and improvements.

1) Slow Speed Tests

The fastest way to determine if you’re not getting enough internet signal is to run a speed test.

Speed tests can be checked on a cell phone in any room in your house. Start your internet troubleshooting by running a speed test anywhere and anytime you experience choppy or slow internet. Take note of the times of the day these slowdowns most frequently occur. It’s a great first step to turning your internet around.

2) Needing to Regularly Restart Your Router

If you frequently restart your router, it could indicate your internet needs an upgrade. While it’s recommended to reboot your router every few months to improve connections, doing so routinely (weekly or more often) is likely a sign your internet service is just not fast enough, rather than the router not working properly.

3) “Dead Zones”—Or Not Getting Adequate Wi-Fi Signal in Particular Rooms

Many homes have the dreaded “dead zone,” where your internet only has a weak or lifeless signal, rendering it useless to stream music, TV, and movies or even check your email.

With today’s Wi-Fi technology (properly set up and situated), dead zones should be rare, if not extinct. So, if you find dead zones in particular areas of your home, it may be time to improve your internet service to get a stronger signal everywhere in the house.

4) Struggling to Stream on Multiple Devices Simultaneously

If your family is struggling to stream TV and movies simultaneously on different devices, your family is likely to…well…struggle.

We understand that keeping the peace at home is a top priority, and quality internet should be a non-contentious issue!  But difficulty streaming on multiple devices simultaneously is a sure sign of insufficient bandwidth which means you have outdated, poor internet service. So, if this issue keeps popping up, it’s time to consider an internet service upgrade!

5) Videos Buffering Too Long and Slow Streaming

Our final sign that you need an internet upgrade is probably the most obvious and exceedingly frustrating: your movies and TV buffering for way too long.

If you find this happening n, or if the picture quality is frequently pixelating, indicate your internet does not have sufficient speed or bandwidth to handle streaming.

Upgrading to Fiber Internet Can Make All the Difference

Any of these issues could indicate a problem with your internet service. Unfortunately, many customers experience more than one—or even all—of these problems and others we don’t list here.

This is where fiber internet technology, such as the service provided by Northcentral Connect comes in.

Fiber internet technology transfers its data (i.e., emails, music, movies, TV, voice and video calls, photos, files, etc.) through light, sometimes reaching around 70% of light speed! Traditional copper-based coaxial cable just cannot compete with fiber’s speed capabilities.

But it’s not just speed that makes the difference. Fiber also carries higher bandwidth capacities than cable or satellite internet. Taken together—increased speed and higher bandwidth—and fiber internet is the clear winner. With fiber internet from Northcentral Connect, you can get your family on the path to high-speed, high-picture-quality, and reliable internet throughout your home.

So, if you’re experiencing any of the frustrating warning signs outlined above, reach out to Northcentral Connect and its friendly and resourceful representatives. They’re happy to help you determine if upgrading to fiber is the right move for you, and to help you select a package of services that will greatly enhance your internet connection!

And check out Northcentral Connect’s social pages for more tips and advice on improving internet service in your home!