In the days of the health emergency, Italy suddenly "discovered" the Internet, to work, chat with friends and even study. Despite many difficulties, the country has managed to organize online lessons and telework thanks to a network infrastructure which, although deficient, is essentially guaranteeing a minimum of continuity in everyday activities.
Telephone companies have been scaling up their infrastructure to meet enormous demand whenever possible. According to Telecom Italia CEO Luigi Gubitosi, the internet traffic on the Tim network in Italy it increased by 70% in the second ten days of March 2020. As early as 10 March Vodafone reported a 50% increase in traffic on the fixed network, with over 60% of traffic represented by video streaming platforms.
To meet users and reduce the demand for traffic, even the streaming giants have equipped themselves, for example Netflix was asked to lower the quality of its videos so that they occupy less bandwidth in transmission.
But if schools and offices are, with many critical issues, able to offer remote lessons or smart working, the problem passes into the hands of families and individuals, who must be able to use these tools only if they have a fast or ultra-fast connection .
However, there are precautions and things you can do, with little expense and fast times, or to improve what you have or to have a new fast connection without asking for a new fixed line.
The home line
Let's start with the fixed connections, those that require a wire at home and which can have differences, and speeds, even considerable ones.
The speed now considered as the minimum acceptable is that of 20 Mega in download, which in times of crisis guarantees, more or less, that everyone in the house is able to connect and use audio/video tools for school and work. Unfortunately many ADSL (connections that still use the traditional copper cable) are still calibrated at 7-8 Mega, which can be fine for a single person but which already show all the limits with two people using streaming or videoconferencing services. jerky, unfluid video, jerky audio. It's fine for browsing websites, but receiving and transmitting audio/video streaming requires higher speed.
In cities and large centres, all operators now offer speeds of 100, 200 Mega and even 1000 Mega (ie 1 Giga). Technically speaking, speeds from 200 Mega up are only possible if you have a "true" fiber connection. For those who want to learn more, just click on ours tutorial made on the subject. It is important to point out that upgrading to a higher speed contract is often free or in any case subject to a minimum cost: it is worth asking your provider immediately what is the maximum speed obtainable. It is easy for you to find yourself in a few hours with an ADSL that goes significantly faster, this is it first thing to do.
How fast am I sailing?
Often in many houses we don't know how fast we sail, because we don't remember what our contract provided for, or maybe because over time there have been changes that we haven't paid attention to.
The first thing to do is therefore determine the speed of your connection: you can of course ask your provider but there are very reliable do-it-yourself methods that avoid waiting on the phone for the call center to answer.
The actual speed of reception and transmission (download and upload) is determined not only by the contract but also by the line quality, how far the house is from the exchange (or rather from the nearest street cabinet), the quality of the modem supplied and how you connect to the modem. Often contracts that nominally provide for high browsing speeds, upon verification of the facts can reveal speeds even halved for the reasons just stated.
The most exact method to understand what the effective speed of your line is, in addition to asking your provider, enter the modem settings and see the so-called "alignment speed”, i.e. with what speed the modem is connected to the provider through its own line: that is the maximum obtainable speed.
This is not a very simple operation to do, and you need the router access codes, often forgotten in a drawer even if they are printed on the back of many modems, but it is the only way to officially know the speed of your line.
Speedtest
The easiest tool and more used to actually determine the browsing speed of the device you are using (be it a mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer) is to connect to the site Speedtest . A large button will appear in the center of the screen, with the word "GO" which, once clicked, will perform the speed test, reporting the download, upload and "ping" data, i.e. the speed of response to your requests to the server.
Unfortunately, the variables that come into play at this point are many and will significantly change the values reported by the test. First of all, even in optimal conditions (which we will see shortly), the Speedtest site will provide a speed that is always slightly lower than the one reported by the router as alignment speed, but it is still the easiest and most reliable test that can be done.
The speed depends on how you connect to the router
The speed will change depending on how you connect to your router and Speedtest can help you a lot by experimenting to figure out the best solution.
The fastest connection obtainable is by connecting the PC to the router using a LAN network cable, with an RJ45 socket present on PCs and most laptops. It is a "physical" connection, ie with a cable, and allows you to make the most of the speed provided by your provider.
Unfortunately it is not always feasible because the router is perhaps in one room and the PC in another, or because the router is in an awkward position, but if you want the best you have to use a LAN cable, which can however be many meters long and maybe left resting on the ground.
Most people connect to their ADSL from a mobile phone or tablet, thus taking advantage of the WiFI and here things change significantly. The speed in this case will depend on the quality of the device used, the connection distance, the quality of the router and how many are using the Wifi.
A latest generation laptop that connects to a good quality Wifi modem can obtain a Wifi transmission speed that is also very close to that of the LAN network. Unfortunately, the providers supply generally low-quality modems/routers, so the advice is to buy a branded router to see the potential of your Wifi increase from the start. Replacing the home router is unfortunately not within everyone's reach, fortunately the operators have to provide assistance in this case and with a minimum of practice on the use of PCs and devices you can do it yourself. In theory, the replacement of the router supplied by the operator is facilitated by a rule which requires all operators to allow the replacement with a device chosen and purchased by the customer, providing the customer with the guides and technical parameters necessary to make it work, interrupting the request of any payment relating to the device, which must be returned if necessary.
For all the rest, the speed using Wifi will vary greatly depending on what you use to navigate: old or low-end tablets and cell phones have slow processors that do not manage Wifi at maximum speed and will surf inexorably slower.
Even the distance has a great influence, already a room away from the router the quality of the signal degrades and you can have lower speeds. Better to try the best positions with Speedtest.
For rooms not reached by the signal, it is possible to use the so-called "signal repeaters", small devices that pick up the signal from the router and repeat it, amplifying it. They cost from 15 euros upwards.
What if I don't have ADSL?
In the absence of an ADSL line, it is perfectly fine to use your mobile phone, both to connect to the internet directly from your mobile phone and to use it as a modem by connecting a tablet or even a PC to it. This mode called "tethering" is essential to be able to stay connected and work or study online during this period of health crisis, the speed is generally very good, again with big differences.
The "tethering" is activated on the properties of your mobile phone, it is called "personal hotspot" on Iphone and "Wifi router" (or similar) on Android phones. You can specify a password to protect your connection, once this mode is activated the mobile phone will transmit the network name (SSID) exactly like any other Wifi network: obviously several people can connect to a single mobile phone in "tethering" mode, with any device you use Wifi.
The speed clearly depends a lot on the area where you are: if your mobile phone is of recent manufacture and you can connect to the 4G network with a good signal, the speed will be very high. Also in this case the advice is to download the Speedtest app (made by the person who takes care of the site above) to understand in which position the phone will have greater range and therefore speed. Unfortunately, the nominal values of 4G are difficult to obtain, either due to limitations of one's contract or the area in which one is located or the number of connected people.
What if I run out of Giga?
Using your mobile phone to connect to the internet and stream, as any kid knows, determines the premature end of the "giga" at your disposal, i.e. the usable data package according to your contract. By now almost all companies offer 50 Giga per month at ridiculously low prices, and it's worth changing the SIM if you want to keep the number with those who offer the most. Even faster, to deal with the emergency in progress, is to immediately buy a SIM in a shop for practically immediate activation.
Very important: during the Coronavirus crisis, many operators offer "unlimited gigs" for at least a month, i.e. unlimited connection for 30 days. Find out with your manager if your SIM can benefit from it, with an immediate profile change, or run immediately to buy a new SIM on which you can ask for unlimited gigs.
Cellular voice and data router
Finally, there is a method that is halfway between the mobile phone and the fixed network, to be used for places where a semi-permanent connection is required without the costs of fixed ADSL: it is the "mobile data voice router", the subject of our visible tutorial clicking here .
