{"id":378242,"date":"2026-04-14T01:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T01:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/378242\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T01:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T01:54:13","slug":"my-android-phone-was-slowing-down-my-internet-until-i-changed-these-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/378242\/","title":{"rendered":"My Android phone was slowing down my internet until I changed these settings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your Android phone may feel faster than ever, but if the internet doesn\u2019t keep up, it can still feel frustrating. And the problem may not always be your ISP or carrier. Most of the time, it\u2019s Android\u2019s default settings that are designed to prioritize battery life<\/a> and stable connections over raw speed.<\/p>\n

This means slower internet speeds over both Wi-Fi and mobile data. The good part is that these settings are easy to change, and doing so can dramatically improve your browsing experience. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tHow to Determine if Your Cellular Data Is Being Throttled
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

If your speeds seem slower than what you\u2019re paying for, throttling could be the culprit!<\/p>\n

Disable Wi-Fi throttling for consistent speeds<\/p>\n

A little more freedom for your Wi-Fi <\/p>\n

\"DeveloperScreenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required\"SettingsScreenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required\"Wi-FiScreenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required<\/p>\n

Wi-Fi scan throttling is a feature that reduces network activity on your phone to save battery. This essentially prevents Android from scanning for Wi-Fi networks aggressively. While that’s great for battery life, it also means your phone takes longer than usual to switch networks. And this can be a problem if you\u2019re walking around, moving from one Wi-Fi zone to another. Instead of your phone switching network instantly, it waits for a bit.<\/p>\n

The tricky part is, most users have no idea this is happening by default. But if you care more about consistent speed than squeezing out a little extra battery life, disabling Wi-Fi scan throttling is an easy win. <\/p>\n

To do the same, you\u2019ll first need to unlock the developer options menu<\/a> on your phone. Go to Settings > About phone and tap the Build number 7 times. Once done, head to Settings > Developer options and turn off Wi-Fi scan throttling.<\/p>\n

Auto-switch networks for a stable connection<\/p>\n

No more clinging to weak signals<\/p>\n

By default, your Android phone tries to stay connected to a Wi-Fi network as long as there\u2019s even a faint signal. But a weak Wi-Fi connection often means slower speeds. It\u2019s like being connected, but not really. <\/p>\n

The good news is that Android has a feature that can help in such times. It can intelligently switch to mobile data or better Wi-Fi whenever your current signal becomes unreliable. Instead of waiting for the Wi-Fi to drop completely, your phone makes a quick decision and jumps to a stronger network. <\/p>\n

This way, you get more consistent internet speeds while moving around your home, leaving a building, or dealing with spotty networks. To enable it, head to Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi. Tap the three-dot icon at the top and choose Intelligent Wi-Fi. Now, turn on Switch to mobile data and Switch to better Wi-Fi networks. <\/p>\n

Switch to Private DNS to improve loading times<\/p>\n

Speed up the internet\u2019s \u201clookup time\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ConnectionsScreenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required\"MoreScreenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required\"DNSScreenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required<\/p>\n

Slow browsing isn\u2019t always because of the internet speed. Sometimes, it\u2019s the time your phone takes to figure out where to go. Every time you open a website, your phone uses something called DNS to translate names like \u201cmakeuseof.com\u201d into actual server addresses. By default, Android relies on your ISP\u2019s DNS, which isn\u2019t always the fastest or the most reliable. And that small delay in resolving addresses can make your internet appear sluggish.<\/p>\n

To avoid this, you need to use Android\u2019s Private DNS feature<\/a>. Switching to a more reliable DNS provider, one that\u2019s optimized to deliver results as quickly as possible, can make all the difference. Google DNS and Cloudflare are two great options for speed and reliability, though there are plenty of other options out there.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve picked your preferred DNS server, head to Settings > Connections > More connection settings > Private DNS. Choose Private DNS provider hostname, enter your DNS address, and hit Save. <\/p>\n

Stop background apps from eating up your bandwidth<\/p>\n

Take back your bandwidth<\/p>\n

\"AppsScreenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required\"AppsScreenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required\"AppsScreenshot by Pankil Shah — No attribution required<\/p>\n

Your apps don\u2019t just use data when you open them. Many of them continue to sync data and download updates, even when you’re not using them. This means apps you\u2019re actually using have to compare for bandwidth.<\/p>\n

Sure, background data access is necessary for apps like Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, and Spotify. But not every app needs that kind of constant access. Android allows background data usage to every app you install, but it\u2019s easy to change that. Head to Settings > Apps, then select the app for which you want to manage data usage. Go to Mobile data and turn off Allow background data usage. <\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to do this for every single app on your phone. Head to the Data usage menu on your phone to identify apps using the most data and turn off background access for the ones that don\u2019t need it. Doing this will also have a positive impact on your phone\u2019s battery life.<\/p>\n

Of course, much of it still comes down to how fast your Wi-Fi really is, but these changes do help you get the most out of whatever connection you have. With better network switching, less background interference, and faster response time, Android will no longer hold your internet back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your Android phone may feel faster than ever, but if the internet doesn\u2019t keep up, it can still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-378242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-mobile","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}