


Not all ISPs impose data limits on their customers.
THROTTLED DATA UPGRADE
If you are constantly exceeding your monthly data allowance, it may be time to upgrade to an unlimited plan to avoid any slowdowns. Upgrade your internet plan to include a higher bandwidth.Of all the solutions, we recommend trying this first. A VPN will be able to safely hide your IP address and encrypt your online data, so your provider can’t monitor or limit your online traffic. If your provider is throttling your internet, know that there are plenty of ways to avoid it. In the next section, we outline the best ways to avoid this altogether. If you’ve determined that your ISP is throttling your service, don’t worry. These look for speed throttling for more common activities like streaming movies and using torrenting sites. Other tests you can run include The Internet Health Test or various M-Lab tests. If your connection is noticeably faster when connected to a VPN, there’s a good chance your ISP is throttling your bandwidth. The best way to go about this is to run an internet speed test with and without a virtual private network (VPN) connected.

If you experience poor internet out of nowhere or certain sites are loading slower than others, it’s a good idea to check your speeds. Either in the name of curbing data overages or enforcing copyright laws, providers have the ability to limit or outright censor what content you access online via speed throttling. This includes gaming sites, streaming services, and even torrenting sites. Limit specific internet activityĪ bit contentious, ISPs have the ability to pick and choose which websites, activities, or services they limit data to. While it’s not ideal, this is definitely better than having your internet access cut off completely. When a user exceeds their data allowance for the month, their speeds are significantly slowed to help prioritize other customers’ service. Some providers place internet data caps on their plans. This helps conserve network storage in order to support more customers at once and usually happens during “high traffic” time at night between 7 PM and 10 PM when most people get online after work or school. Typically, internet service providers throttle data to reduce network congestion. This will help you notice if it’s happening to you. In order to avoid ISP throttling, you should know why internet providers do this in the first place. Chances are there may be another reason for your slow internet. Luckily, the average internet user is not likely to experience network throttling. Not to mention, with Net Neutrality tied up in the courts, some worry that ISPs will start picking and choosing what content gets throttled (if they aren’t already). When this happens, you may experience noticeably slower internet that you can’t explain away with bad weather or equipment issues.īroadband rules are in place to ensure users are aware when this happens, yet you’re likely to notice a lag in your connection well before getting any courtesy call from your provider.
THROTTLED DATA DOWNLOAD
Internet throttling is when your ISP intentionally limits your upload and download speeds.
