Investigating Persistently Slow Internet Speeds: A Family’s Frustrating Journey

For the past six months, my family has been grappling with an exasperating issue: our internet speeds are capped at a mere 1.8 Mbps. This issue arose after I returned home from a lengthy absence to support a family member through surgery. Upon my return, I was shocked to find that our internet connectivity had plummeted to a level reminiscent of the dial-up era. What followed has been an increasingly frustrating series of interactions with our Internet Service Provider (ISP).

After a brief investigation, I surmised that our internet troubles might stem from either the ISP or the router. Here’s a rundown of our troubleshooting efforts:

• New Modem Installation: Upon reporting the issue, our ISP promptly replaced our modem. Regrettably, there was no noticeable improvement in our internet speed.

• Direct Connection Testing: In a bid to isolate the problem, I connected various laptops directly to the modem, yet the download speeds remained stagnant at 1.8 Mbps.

• Family Feedback: When relatives visited, they too experienced the frustratingly slow video download speeds while attempting to work remotely.

• Technician Visits: We welcomed five different technicians into our home over this period. Most recently, one technician attributed the issue to a newly installed port at the neighborhood cable box and confirmed that the external wiring had been thoroughly checked. Despite his reassurances and an extensive review of our network, he was unable to uncover the root of the problem, stating that it didn’t appear our speeds were being throttled by the ISP.

• Verification at Public Facilities: To further investigate, I took my laptop to a local library where I experienced significantly higher speeds. This confirmed that the problem was indeed localized to our home network.

Despite our family paying for much higher speeds, we feel stuck in this frustrating situation. One family member is hesitant to switch providers, claiming the slow speeds do not personally impact him. This leaves me searching for answers or resorting to frequent library visits for any necessary downloads.

Our home network is straightforward: there are no miners, hackers, or unauthorized users. The devices typically consist of one computer (mine), a rarely-used laptop, and a couple of phones. An ISP technician even disconnected a T-Mobile booster we had connected to the modem—again, there was no improvement.

At one point, a senior technician characterized our situation as having fallen