Investigating Internet Speed Discrepancies in a Shared Living Space

Living with multiple roommates can offer both camaraderie and challenges, especially when it comes to shared amenities like internet access. One of the most pressing issues we face at home is the significant disparity in internet speeds among roommates, despite everyone paying for gigabit service.

In our household of five, three of us have been experiencing frustratingly slow speeds of around 80 Mbps, even when connected directly to the router. This is puzzling, especially since we enjoy casual internet activities like gaming and streaming on our laptops. On the other hand, our fourth roommate, an avid PC gamer who has invested a considerable amount of money in high-end gaming equipment, consistently enjoys lightning-fast speeds of about 800 Mbps on both his PC and iPhone.

This discrepancy raises a troubling question: Is it possible that he has configured the router in a way that prioritizes his devices over the rest of us? He recently purchased a Netgear Nighthawk router and took the initiative to set it up himself, which adds another layer of complexity to our situation.

Update on the Situation

After encountering ongoing connectivity issues, our roommate performed a hard reset on the router. Following this reset, he tested his iPhone 6s, which initially delivered only about 15 Mbps. To our surprise, the speed surged to 130 Mbps post-reset, indicating a substantial improvement. However, this leads us to wonder what this means for the rest of us. Could it be that he had been inadvertently throttling internet access for the rest of us?

A Positive Trend

In another encouraging development, after the router reset, we noticed that the speeds for our hardwired PlayStation 4 jumped impressively from 60 Mbps to 230 Mbps. This improvement raises hopes that the initial configuration may have been the root cause of our speed issues.

With this experience, we are left pondering the implications of device prioritization in our shared network. Is it time to have a discussion as a household about equitable internet usage and settings? The clearer our understanding, the better we can navigate shared resources in our home.

As we move forward, your insights or similar experiences could shed light on our situation. Let’s work towards a solution that benefits everyone under one roof!