Do you ever get up in the morning, feeling sluggish and just not up to the tasks that await you? For most of us, the answer is yes, at least once in a while.
And does it ever seem that your Internet connection is having a bad hair day? Specifically, does it feel like it takes forever for Web pages to download, reminding you of the days of 32k and 56k dial-up modems?
If so, do you just sit there passively and hope and pray that the connection will improve? Well, there might be something you can do to give your Internet connection that coffee jolt that it needs to step up its game.
Case in point: There I was, trying to open Web pages so that I could accomplish work tasks remotely from my home computer last week. I kid you not, everything online was taking forever!
I had recently upgraded my cable package such that my Internet speed was supposed to be twice as fast as it was previously. But yet, my connection had slowed to a glacial pace.
I called my cable provider, and I was told to test my Internet speed by going to www.speedtest.net. I ran the test provided, and it turns out my download speed was only 21.8 Mbps, when it was supposed to be over 100 Mbps based on my subscribed package.
Happily, the cable provider simply tested various channels for my modem and selected the best one. Now, my Internet download speed is 102.46 Mbps, screaming as I go from one website to another for work purposes. Plus, my daughters are much happier, as once again they can watch their favorite shows on Netflix from their laptops at home without any problems.
The moral of the story is that at times we can take matters into our own hands, while not sitting passively by, to ensure that we have the best and most user-friendly experience possible on the Internet.
Eric Sinrod (@EricSinrod on Twitter) is of counsel in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris LLP, where he focuses on litigation matters of various types, including information technology and intellectual property disputes. You can read his professional biography here. To receive a weekly email link to Mr. Sinrod’s columns, please email him at ejsinrod@duanemorris.com with Subscribe in the Subject line. This column is prepared and published for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s law firm or its individual partners.