As the internet becomes a more integrated part of daily life and more activities become internet-enhanced, the need to ration out internet access gets stronger. The definition of high speed changes depending on the household, and there are some people who can figure out how to push their internet limits to the maximum no matter the speed. If you live in such a household or--even worse--are in a household where everyone can push your internet's potential to the limit, consider a few things that could be done to make internet usage less painful while sharing.
Load Balancing For Shared Networks
Does everyone in your household actually need the maximum speed? Anyone who uses the internet for file downloads will know and appreciate faster speeds for downloads, but is it really necessary to lock down the entire network to download a 10 gigabyte (GB) file in 10 minutes instead of 20 minutes? Strike a compromise amongst your users with a load balancing plan.
The most basic form of load balancing means setting a specific internet speed capacity or bandwidth limit on specific computers. Each computer will only be able to download up to a certain speed, meaning that their use won't significantly impact other computers. There may still be a few traffic issues if the router isn't professionally configured, but an Internet Service Provider technician at higher support tiers can handle that for you.
A more advanced form of load balancing involves giving a balanced amount of bandwidth usage to keep computers as equal as possible. If someone is the only user on the network, they can utilize as much of the download and upload capacity as possible. When someone else starts using the network, the first person's speed will decrease enough to give the other person what they need to browse efficiently.
Overhead Management
With each technique, overhead is necessary to stop the entire system from falling apart. Overhead is a specific amount of bandwidth that isn't used by network users, but instead used by the network itself to make sure that there's a little bit of Internet left to deliver on demand.
Information about how to properly deliver information must be passed via the Internet as well, which is related to why some Internet connections shut off when the downloads and uploads are too much. If the router is strangled of its bandwidth by a user, the connection may be lost.
A static amount of bandwidth can be set aside for overhead, but this isn't efficient. There will always be a bit of internet capacity that isn't usable by anyone, which is somewhat of a waste of your money. Dynamic overhead can change in size with demand, ensuring that the network can be managed properly while still delivering what the users need.
Contact an Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as Reserve Telecommunications,to discuss shared network planning.
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