One of the things that are happening to users all over the world is ISP Throttling, where the Internet Service Provider throttles the internet bandwidth or limits the bandwidth which results in the user getting less bandwidth than what he is paying for. The Internet Service Provider intentionally slows down your connection for certain websites or services such as P2P traffic or streaming. In such cases, the users suffer and get very less bandwidth and speed than what they actually signed up for.
To find out if your internet speed is being throttled by your ISP, here are some things that you should try out before jumping to any conclusions.
Perform a Speed Test
The first thing that you should do is to perform a speed test of your internet connection to find out what speeds are you actually getting. To get the best results, perform the speed test on a PC which is connected directly through an Ethernet Cable and make sure that nothing is being downloaded.
If you get speeds in a close range to what you’re paying for then you may proceed to the next step. For instance, if you signed up for 10 MBps and are getting around 8-9 MBps then it is completely fine, but anything below then you should contact your ISP.
You can also try the Netflix speed test tool at Fast.com which is powered by Netflix and it helps you to find out if your ISP is intentionally slowing down your internet connection or not.
Using a VPN
ISPs are very clever and then can catch up when the user is performing a speed test and when you do so, your ISP removes the bandwidth limit and you get the actual speeds on the Speed Test, but a VPN can help you to find out if your Internet Speed is really being throttled or not.
A VPN or Virtual Private Network provides a secret tunnel and encrypts your internet connection so, your ISP cannot find out where you are going and you can then test if you are getting good speeds on a VPN or not. Always prefer using a good VPN service as some VPN can also result in a sloppy internet connection.
Sometimes, bad internet connection may not be due to throttling but other factors such as too many connections in your area or you use the Internet during the rush hours when a lot of users in your area are also using the Internet. Such factors can also lead to having slow internet speeds.