how to fix slow internet problems with optimum by altus your internet connection is only as fast as the slowest piece of equipment in your network if you feel like you're not getting the speed you pay for with optimum one of the first things to do is find the weakest link and look for ways to improve it getting the speeds you need is possible whether you need to simply restart some equipment or need to look at upgrades your internet connection needs to make it through quite a few pieces of equipment before it can reach your connected device typically it starts at the modem goes to the router and then to your device's network adapter your connection can only ever be as fast as the slowest link in the chain check your bill to find out how fast your connection should be this will be shown in mbps one gig service will max out at 940 megabits per second try to run the test in an ideal scenario such as in the same room as the router on wi-fi or connected directly via ethernet in an ideal world you will always get your maximum connection speed but in reality you should be within a few mbps if you are getting what you pay for in all areas it may be time to upgrade your package optimum 300 can deliver speeds up to 300 megabits per second and should be more than enough for 4k streaming and browsing if you plan to do a lot of downloading a faster package will be useful internet usage is becoming a bigger part of everyone's life all the time and with many people working and studying from home you may have simply outgrown your previous internet speeds one of the first things to try if your connection isn't working properly is a restart internet service providers will send the required configuration information to your modem automatically and in an ideal world the configuration will be applied without you even noticing anything happened one tried-and-true way to resolve this is by restarting your modem if your router isn't connecting to the internet afterward you may need to restart that as well to restart your modem simply unplug it for a minute or so while you're back there check to make sure your coaxial cable is properly tightened and make sure all cables are in good condition without fraying or exposed wires plug your modem back in and wait a few minutes it can take a while to reconnect so try to be patient when you sign up for service with optimum you'll have the option of receiving an alta's gateway named for optimum's parent company this provided modem and router combination is one of the easiest ways to get online for 10 per month you can get connected with wi-fi and 24 7 tech support from optimum the price can add up but for many the ease of use and access to support will be worth it if you are happy with the gateway but need more coverage you can add smart wi-fi extenders called x10 directly from optimum one x10 can be added for free with one gig service with additional x10s costing you three dollars per month it's a decent solution but likely won't hold up the kinds of speeds an enthusiast demands for gaming or heavy usage but to get a few devices online in the far reaches of your home it's a solid option if you prefer to own your own equipment and are comfortable with the extra setup that comes with it there are a lot of options to get online you can use your own docs's cable modem to get connected to your service you will need to go through some extra setup with optimum to get it connected but as long as you get one that supports docsis 3.1 you should be able to access optimums full speed if you are one of optimum's fiber optic customers this modem will not work for you you will need to contact optimum for modem options once you have your modem sorted you'll need a router the type of router you need depends on how you plan to use your internet if you just want to browse the web use social media and watch streaming videos a mesh system is going to be a great way to get connected without needing a big router most mesh solutions will use smaller units that form a web of coverage with one wi-fi name if you want more speed and capacity out of your mesh wi-fi 6 options are available at a premium of course a traditional single router is a great option for people with a small to medium-sized home these routers are often cheaper than a comparable mesh system and tend to have more options for wired connections a wired connection will nearly always be faster and more reliable than wi-fi so running a gaming pc or console on an ethernet connection can help quite a lot especially if you have a lot of other wi-fi users in your area finally wi-fi 6 is the newest generation of wi-fi and offers many improvements over the previous generation of 802.11 ac systems including more consistent coverage improved latency and faster speeds only the newest high-end gadgets support wi-fi 6a it's likely that your older devices will still utilize 802.11 ac but a wi-fi 6 router still gives you room to grow if you want to get everything out of your fast optimum connection you'll need a modem and a router that can deliver those speeds to your devices the netgear cm-1000 is a great option to get the full 940 megabits per second available with one gig service thanks to 32 downstream channels the archer ax 50 is a great wi-fi 6 value with plenty of 5 gigahertz speed for your gigabit connection and support for future devices if you need a boost in coverage or have a home that blocks wireless signals a mesh solution can help you get covered whether you're looking for just enough to use comfortably or want your full gigabit connection all over your home there's an option available eero is one of the easiest mesh systems to use with a fast setup and plenty of speed for most people in easy expansion ax6100 tri-band wi-fi 6-mesh system keeps your internet fast even when connected to a mesh node with this fast asus router you'll likely want to end up mounting your nest wi-fi at some point in time as it will provide an easy way to hide those pesky cables these are the best mounts that you can get for the nest wifi today the google assistant is the most useful smart voice assistant for getting your questions answered and keeping track of your digital life but it's also great at helping you control your smart home devices and services if you've been having trouble with wi-fi on your streaming stick an ethernet adapter may be a good investment a wired connection avoids any signal interference or competition for bandwidth and gives your cast or stream priority access to data some adapters simply do just that while others take advantage of the direct access to your chromecast or fire tv stick to add other useful when samuel is not writing about networking or 5g at mobile nations he spends most of his time researching computer components and obsessing over what cpu goes into the ultimate windows 98 computer it's the pentium 3 text source androidcentral.com