Before you switch

Rule out the fixable stuff first 🔍

🔌 Test wired vs. wireless. Plug into the router with a cable and run a speed test. Fast wired, slow wireless means it is your Wi-Fi, not your provider.

📅 Check your equipment age. A Wi-Fi router over five years old will bottleneck a modern plan no matter what you pay for.

📶 Check your plan fits. Five people on a 100 Mbps plan is a plan problem. Upgrading is cheaper and faster than switching.

☎️ Ask for a better price. Call the retention department with a competitor’s price in hand. It works more often than people expect.

Still stuck after all four? Then it is the provider, and the eight signs below will tell you which one you are hitting.

Switching internet providers is a hassle, which is why it is worth being sure. A lot of what people blame on their provider turns out to be their Wi-Fi, their router, or a plan that is too small for the household. Those are cheaper and faster to fix than switching is.

So this post has two halves. First, four things to rule out. Then eight signs that mean the problem is the provider and not your setup.

1. Find out whether it is your Wi-Fi or your connection

Plug a laptop directly into your router with an ethernet cable. Turn off Wi-Fi on that laptop. Run a speed test. Then unplug it, reconnect to Wi-Fi, and run the same test from where you normally sit.

If the wired result is close to what you pay for and the wireless result is much lower, your internet is fine. Your Wi-Fi coverage is the problem, and changing providers will not fix it.

Wi-Fi fixes worth trying, in order of how much they help:

Move the router. Central in the home, up off the floor, out in the open. Not in a cabinet, not behind the TV, not in a closet or the garage.
Get it away from other electronics. Microwaves, cordless phone bases and large metal appliances all interfere.
Add a mesh point if the house is large or has thick walls. One router cannot cover 3,000 square feet through plaster and it is not supposed to.
Use the 5 GHz or 6 GHz band for devices near the router. It is faster over short distances. Keep 2.4 GHz for things far away or outdoors.

2. Check how old your equipment is

A Wi-Fi router more than five years old will bottleneck a modern plan. It does not matter how fast the connection into your home is if the device distributing it cannot keep up.

The same goes for the device you are testing on. An older laptop, tablet or phone has an older Wi-Fi chip, and it will not reach gigabit speeds regardless of what you pay for. If one device is slow and everything else is fine, the device is the problem.

3. Check whether your plan is actually big enough

Five people streaming, gaming and taking video calls on a 100 Mbps plan is not a provider failure. It is a plan that no longer fits the household.

Call and ask what upgrading costs. It is usually cheaper than switching, it takes one phone call, and it happens the same day. If your provider does not offer anything faster, that is useful information, and it becomes sign number one below.

4. Ask for a better price before you leave over one

If the bill is the problem, call and say you are comparing providers. Ask for the retention or loyalty department by name. Have a competitor’s actual price in front of you.

This works more often than people expect, because keeping you costs a provider less than acquiring someone new. It is one phone call and the worst outcome is that they say no, which tells you something too.

Now, the signs it is time to switch

1. The technology itself is the limit

Some connections cannot be made faster, no matter what you pay.

DSL runs over copper phone lines. Speeds drop the further you are from the equipment, and there is no upgrade path.
Satellite has high latency because the signal travels a very long way. That makes video calls and gaming difficult regardless of the advertised speed.
Cable is faster, but the connection is shared with your neighborhood, which is why evenings feel slower than mornings.
Fiber optic lines carry data as light. Speeds are symmetrical, the connection is not shared with neighbors in the same way, and the same line supports far higher speeds later without new construction.

If your provider has no plan to bring anything better to your street, you have hit their ceiling. That is a real reason to look.

2. Your uploads are a fraction of your downloads

Check your last speed test and compare the two numbers. If download is 200 Mbps and upload is 10 Mbps, that gap is by design. DSL and cable prioritize download.

It matters more than people realize. Upload speed is what carries your side of a video call, your cloud backups, the files you send, and your inputs in an online game. It is why you can be watching a smooth stream of someone else while they see you freeze.

Fiber internet is symmetrical, meaning upload matches download. If your work depends on sending things rather than receiving them, this alone is worth switching for.

3. There is a data cap on how much you can use

Data caps limit how much you can use each month. Go over and you pay extra or get slowed down until the billing cycle resets.

Most fiber internet providers have dropped them, because the constraint they were built around does not apply the same way. If you are still rationing usage at the end of the month, or paying overage charges, your provider is charging you for a limitation you can leave behind.

4. Your speeds drop at predictable times

If your connection slows every evening, or specifically when you stream or download large files, that could be neighborhood congestion or it could be throttling, which is when a provider deliberately slows certain traffic.

🐻 If you live in California

You have protections most Americans do not. There are currently no binding federal net neutrality rules. The FCC’s 2024 order was struck down in January 2025.

California’s SB 822 is still in force. It bans providers from blocking or throttling lawful traffic, from charging for priority treatment, and from exempting their own content from data caps. A customer in Los Angeles has enforceable rights that a customer in Dallas does not.

To check, run speed tests at a few different times of day and write down the results. Then run one with a VPN active. If speeds are normal with the VPN and slow without it, that points at traffic being treated differently based on what it is, which is worth raising with your provider.

5. Outages are routine and nothing ever changes

Every network goes down sometimes. Storms, construction crews cutting lines, scheduled maintenance. That is normal and it is not a reason to leave.

What is a reason to leave is a pattern. Outages every few weeks, no notice before them, no explanation after, and the same answer every time you call. That is aging infrastructure or a network nobody is investing in, and no amount of new equipment in your house will fix it.

Before you conclude it is the network, restart your router once and see whether the problem follows. If your provider has a status page or an outage checker, look for whether other people in your area are reporting the same thing. If they are, it is not you.

6. Your price went up and no one will negotiate

Promotional pricing ends. That part is normal and it is usually in the paperwork.

The problem is a provider who raises your bill without telling you why, will not put you on a comparable rate when you ask, and reserves their best pricing for people who are not customers yet. If you have already made the call in step 4 and been told no, you have your answer.

7. Leaving costs money

Early termination fees exist to make leaving expensive enough that you stay. If you are locked in and paying to get out, that is worth knowing before you sign the next one.

Ask any provider you are considering two things: is there a contract, and is there a fee for cancelling. Some providers advertise themselves as contract-free but still charge a penalty for leaving during a promotional pricing period, which is a contract wearing a different hat.

8. Support cannot actually help you

This is the one people underrate until they need it.

Good support means reaching a person, that person having the authority to do something, and the problem being tracked until it is resolved. Bad support means long holds, a script, a chatbot loop, and being told to restart your router by someone who cannot see your line.

Where support is based matters less than whether the person can act. But local teams tend to know the local network, including which streets had work done last week and what the weather is doing to the lines.

If you dread calling your provider, that is data. You will be a customer for years. It should not feel like this.

How to compare providers without getting spun

Advertised prices are built to be compared favorably. Here is what to look at instead.

What they advertise	What to look at instead
A monthly price	The total after equipment fees, surcharges and taxes, and what that total becomes after twelve months
A download speed	The upload speed, which carries your video calls, backups and anything you send
“No contract”	Whether there is a fee for cancelling during a promotional period, which works like a contract
“Unlimited”	Whether there is a soft cap that slows you down rather than charging you
“Free installation”	What happens if your install needs extra work, like running a new line to the house

A few specifics worth asking every provider directly:

What is the total monthly cost, including equipment fees, surcharges and taxes, not the headline number?
What does the price become after twelve months?
What is the upload speed, not just the download?
Is there a contract, and is there a fee for cancelling?
Is installation free, and what happens if the install needs extra work?

How to switch without losing service

The order matters here. Do it wrong and you spend three days offline.

Check availability at your new provider before you cancel anything. Coverage can differ street by street, and being on a serviced street does not guarantee your specific address is connected.
Book the new installation first. Get a confirmed date in writing.
Then cancel the old service, for a date a few days after the new install. A short overlap costs a few dollars and it protects you if the install runs into something unexpected.
Ask what installation actually involves. How long it takes, whether anyone needs to be home, whether a line needs to be run to the house, and what any of it costs.
Return the old equipment and keep the receipt. Unreturned equipment fees are one of the most common surprise charges on a final bill.
Check the final bill. Prorated charges and a last month of service are normal. Anything else is worth a phone call.

Final thoughts

Before you switch: test wired versus wireless, check your equipment age, make sure your plan fits the household, and call about the price.

If those come back clean and you are still hitting a wall, the problem is structural. Symmetrical speeds, no data caps, no contracts and support that can act are all available, and you do not have to accept less.

Looking for a new internet provider?

Race is 100% fiber internet built and supported in California. Symmetrical speeds up to 10 Gbps in select communities, unlimited data, no contracts, no early termination fees, and free installation. Support is based here, not offshore.

Check availability at your address

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if the problem is my internet provider or my Wi-Fi?

Plug a laptop directly into your router with an ethernet cable, turn off its Wi-Fi, and run a speed test. Then run the same test over Wi-Fi from where you normally sit. If the wired result is close to the speed you pay for and the wireless result is much lower, your connection is fine and your Wi-Fi coverage is the problem. Switching providers will not fix that.

Will I lose internet service while switching providers?

Not if you do it in the right order. Confirm the new provider serves your specific address, book the installation and get a confirmed date, then cancel your old service for a date a few days after that install. A short overlap costs a few dollars and protects you if the installation runs into something unexpected. Cancelling first is what leaves people offline.

Can my internet provider legally slow down my connection?

It depends where you live. There are currently no binding federal net neutrality rules, after the FCC’s 2024 order was struck down in January 2025. California’s SB 822 remains in force and bans providers from blocking or throttling lawful traffic, charging for priority treatment, or exempting their own content from data caps. Washington has a similar law. In most other states there is no enforceable rule against it.

Why is my upload speed so much slower than my download speed?

Because DSL and cable are built that way. Both allocate most of the available capacity to download, on the assumption that you receive more than you send. Upload speed is what carries your side of a video call, your cloud backups and the files you send, which is why you can watch a smooth stream of someone else while they see you freeze. Fiber internet is symmetrical, meaning upload and download speeds match.

Can I negotiate a lower price with my current internet provider?

Often, yes. Call and ask for the retention or loyalty department by name, say you are comparing providers, and have a competitor’s actual price ready. Keeping an existing customer costs a provider less than acquiring a new one, so there is usually room. It takes one phone call, and if they say no, that tells you something too.

What should I ask before signing up with a new internet provider?

Ask for the total monthly cost including equipment fees, surcharges and taxes rather than the advertised price. Ask what that total becomes after twelve months. Ask for the upload speed, not just the download. Ask whether there is a contract and whether there is a fee for cancelling, including during a promotional period. And ask what installation involves and what happens if it needs extra work.