Is your internet slow on your Windows laptop, but not on your phone? Here’s how to fix it

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Is your internet connection blazing fast on your phone but acting like a lazy turtle on your laptop? Stream HD videos smoothly on your mobile device without buffering but struggle to even open a website on your laptop browser? What is the reason for this abusive treatment of different devices through your Internet?


In this article, we will discuss why the internet is faster on your mobile device but not on your laptop. In addition, we will discuss ways to speed up your Internet connection.


Why is the Internet slower on your laptop than on your mobile device?

The main reason for the slow internet on a laptop may be bandwidth consuming by the same mobile phone with which you are comparing the speed. Other causes include network resources consumed by apps and processes on your device, hardware issues, outdated network drivers, or restrictions imposed by your Internet Service Provider.

How to fix slow internet on your laptop

In order for your laptop to match the internet speed you receive on your mobile phone, provide it with maximum bandwidth, update network drivers, close network resource-hungry processes, change your DNS, check for hardware problems, or stop network updates. Windows. If all else fails, you should choose a fast internet package or replace your network card.

Now let’s take a look at how you can apply the above fixes to speed up your internet connection.

1. Make sure your internet is really slow

Screenshot of Speedtest by Ookla using a fiber connection

Do you assume your laptop has a slower internet speed than your phone? If so, you should test your hypothesis by measuring your internet speed. To do this, disconnect all devices except the one you are testing. For example, when testing the Internet on your mobile device, every device, including the laptop that you want to test later, should not share the same connection.

Go to the same speed test site, eg Speedtest by Ookla, and run the test from both devices. Also, test your internet connection on a different laptop to eliminate an issue with your ISP.

  • If the internet speed is almost the same on any device but still seems slow on the laptop, then it is an OS level problem.
  • If the internet is also slow on the other laptop, this is most likely a limitation from your ISP.
  • If the internet speed in your laptop is significantly different from the internet speed in your mobile device, then it may be a hardware problem.

Select the scenario that best fits your issue and apply only relevant fixes:

2. Rule out hardware problems

To rule out hardware issues, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Are you using both devices at the same distance from your router? If not, take your laptop to where your mobile phone will give you the best speed. Speed ​​testing in different locations may also be useful.
  • Are there any physical objects or gadgets that emit radio waves near where the laptop is being used? If so, remove their interference.
  • Have you restarted your router since encountering this problem? Do this if you haven’t already.

3. Rule out ISP issues

Is your internet speed slow on every laptop you have at home? If so, your ISP may be to blame. to counter this, Change the DNS settings on your Windows device. If it improves speed, keep the DNS unchanged, but if it has no effect, report the problem to your ISP. If you can switch to a different ISP, you should.

4. Unplug other devices

Lots of wires connected to the device

Every device you connect to your network consumes bandwidth. As the number of devices increases, the bandwidth available to the devices already connected decreases. Another reason for slow Internet on laptops may be the load on network resources imposed by other devices, including the phone you are comparing with.

You should disconnect other devices connected to the internet and see if that helps in improving the speed of your laptop. Continue with the next fix if this does not help.

5. Close unnecessary background services and processes

Your Windows machine runs two types of processes or services; Operating system processes that Windows needs to work and third-party processes or services that, while useful, strain network resources. So, you have to close them for better speed. Here are the steps you should take:

  1. Right-click Windows Start button and select Task Manager.
  2. First, go to Processes tab.
  3. Click the top of network A column to sort processes according to network consumption.
    Clicking the Network column on the Processes tab in Windows Task Manager

  4. Right click on the useless processes that are consuming your resources and click Finish the job.
    End the process by clicking the End Task button in Windows Task Manager

  5. Next, click on File startup applications tab.
  6. If you see that any tasks are unnecessary, right-click on them and click on them Champions.
    Disable the unnecessary task in the Startup tab of Windows Task Manager

  7. Once this is done, tap on Win + R. to open a file He runs Request.
  8. Then write “msconfig” and click yes.
  9. go to the services tab in System settings Window.
  10. Check the box for Hide all Microsoft services.
    Check the box to hide all Microsoft services in the Services tab of the System Configuration application

  11. Click Stop all work To disable all services or selectively disable the ones you no longer need.

6. Disable Windows and Application Updates

To keep our system free of viruses and to have access to all the new features, it is necessary to update the operating system regularly. However, if updates overwhelm your resources, they don’t do you any good. Therefore, you should disable them temporarily and see if that helps. Our guide on How to stop Windows updates I’ll show you how to do that.

Additionally, while disabling services, as described above, will likely stop updates for third-party apps, you may still need to disable individual app updates if they’re adding stress to your network. How do you check that? Periodically monitor resource-hungry processes in the Task Manager and turn off any application update-related processes that you find running.

Moreover, you should disable automatic updates for the Microsoft Store since we omitted to disable Microsoft services earlier. To do this, open the Microsoft Store, click your profile icon in the upper right corner, and select Application settings. Click on the toggle button next to Application updates to turn it off.

7. Update network drivers

Have you ever wondered how your device interprets the signal from your router or modem? It is the network drivers that make interaction between devices possible. If your drivers are out of date, you likely won’t get the best connection, which means you lose out on some potential speed.

To update network drivers, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click Windows Start button and click device manager.
  2. Expand the category for Network adapters.
    Expand the Network Adapters option category in the Windows Device Manager application

  3. Right-click on the driver you wish to update and click Driver update.
    Update the relevant network driver by right-clicking on it in the Windows Device Manager application

If you don’t know which one to update, you can simply update all of them.

8. When all else fails…

If you’re only having this problem on one laptop, and you’ve removed the hardware and your ISP from the culprits, and none of the above solutions work, do the following:

  1. Use an ethernet connection for faster speeds.
  2. Get a faster internet package.
  3. Install a new wireless network card on your laptop.
  4. Change the Wi-Fi channel of your router.

Speed ​​up your laptop’s internet

If your phone has high-speed internet, but your laptop struggles to download a small file, you may be feeling frustrated. After reading our article, you should now have a better understanding of why you get different internet speeds across devices. Moreover, you will now have an easier time fixing slow internet and eliminating this distinction.

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