My neighbor, a system engineer, recently made an excellent point about internet speeds: Paying your internet service provider (or “ISP”; think Comcast, Verizon, etc.) for a faster speed will not reduce your buffering delays on Netflix or make webpages load faster. (These are just two examples.)
Why?
Because the speed advertised by your ISP pertains only to wired devices, not wireless ones that connect via “wi-fi.” The latter includes everything from your phone and tablet to your TV and laptop (many of which no longer include an ethernet port), and everything in-between, like Amazon Echos, Google Nests, and Philips Hues.
Indeed, if you ever call your ISP with a wireless issue, they’ll quickly hand you unpleasant news: They’re responsible only for the signal coming into your house. Whatever happens after that — for example, that the connection drops or get sluggish in your bedroom — is your problem, not theirs.
This distinction is critical because the overwhelming majority of our devices today are wireless. And the speed of wireless devices depends more on your device, router, modem, and home than it does on your wi-fi speed.
In other words: Think carefully the next time your ISP promises you faster speeds.
