Wi-Fi is connected, but web pages are slow

Where the slowness can be

Being connected to Wi-Fi only means your device has a link to the router. Loading a page takes more, and any of these parts can be the slow one:

• The Wi-Fi link between your device and the router, affected by distance, walls, interference and other busy devices.
• The internet connection behind the router: the modem, the line and your provider’s network.
• DNS, the lookup of the site’s name before connecting. A slow or failing resolver delays every new site.
• The website itself, or the path to its server.

The steps below test each part in turn, from the closest to the farthest. Run them where pages are slow and, if you can, once more next to the router. Linkalyst does not rate results as good or bad, so the useful readings are comparisons: gateway against internet, one resolver against another, now against later.

Compare the gateway with a public target

The gateway is usually your router. Measuring it and a server on the internet in the same run shows whether delays start on the Wi-Fi link or further out.

1. Open Latency Test and tap “Edit” to open the test setup.
2. Check that “Router / Gateway” has an address; Linkalyst fills in the gateway the system reports. Discover also shows it, with “Fill into Latency Test” in its menu.
3. Turn on “Public DNS” (1.1.1.1), or add a public host name you use often, so that both targets run together.
4. Tap “Done”, then “Start Test”. The default setup sends a request every 0.5 seconds, 240 times.

Each target gets a row with its typical latency and timeouts. Tap a row to see “Slower requests” (P95) as well; a P95 far above the typical latency means intermittent stalls.

If the gateway row already shows high or unstable latency, or timeouts, the delay starts on the Wi-Fi link or in the router. If the gateway looks steady but the public target is much slower, jumps around or times out, the problem lies beyond the router. As a general rule, not a judgment by the app, a router on a healthy Wi-Fi link answers within a few milliseconds.

Check the connection beyond the router

The Internet Speed Test measures download and upload speed, up to 10 seconds each, against Linkalyst’s own test server nearest to you. Run it where pages are slow and again next to the router. If the speed is much lower far from the router but fine close to it, the Wi-Fi link is the limit. If it is low in both places, look at the internet connection.

Popular Services times connections to a group of well-known services at once, such as Local Favorites or Video. If most of the group is slow or shows “Can’t connect”, the problem is broad. If one service stands out while the rest are quick, that service or the path to it is the likelier cause. Many services showing “DNS lookup failed” points at DNS.

Check whether name lookups are slow

Every new site starts with a DNS lookup, and slow lookups make a page hang before anything appears. In DNS Lookup, choose “Compare”, enter the name of a site that loads slowly and keep “System DNS” checked: that is the resolver your device uses on this network. Add one or two public resolvers and start. Every resolver gets the same query at the same time.

If System DNS is clearly slower than the others over several runs, or times out or fails while they answer, name lookups on this network are a likely cause. System DNS may answer from a cache, so also try a name you have not visited recently. Compare DNS server results explains the results in more detail.

Time one website’s request

If only some sites are slow, Website Check shows where a single HTTPS request spends its time. Enter the site’s https address and start the check. It sends five requests one second apart and shows the typical total time and the slowest request. Tap a request to see its “Phases”:

• “DNS Resolution”: looking up the name.
• “Establish Connection (incl. TLS)”: the TCP connection and the secure connection on top of it. A long time here points at the network path to the server.
• “Request to first byte”: from sending the request to the first byte of the response. A long time here after quick earlier phases usually means the server is slow to answer, not your Wi-Fi.

A dash means the system did not report that phase. Later requests can reuse cached DNS and TLS sessions, so their early phases may be short or missing; compare the first request with the others.

What the results do not tell you

These measurements narrow the search. On their own, they do not prove a cause.

• Each run is one moment on one network. Wi-Fi changes as you move, as neighboring networks get busy and as other devices start downloads.
• Latency to a public target describes the path to that one server. Other sites use other servers and other paths.
• A timeout means no reply arrived in time, not that a device is down. Some routers and servers do not answer Ping at all. See why a test shows “timed out”.
• Website Check times one request to one address. A page in a browser loads many resources, often from many servers.
• Linkalyst does not show Wi-Fi signal strength or channel, and it cannot see what other devices on your network are doing.

What to try next

Once you know roughly where the delay is, these are sensible next steps:

• Slow or unstable to the gateway: move closer to the router or away from obstacles, and test again. Restarting the router can help.
• Fine to the gateway but slow beyond it: restart the modem and router, and test again at another time of day. Trying another network, such as cellular, shows whether the problem follows your device.
• System DNS slow or failing: restart the router, which often supplies the DNS server, or ask your provider. Using another resolver is a setting in iOS or on your router; Linkalyst never changes your DNS settings.
• Only one site slow: the site or the path to it may be having trouble. Try again later.

If you contact your provider, saved results help. Each Latency Test run, Website Check and Internet Speed Test is saved as a report in Records, and a report can be shared as JSON. Exported reports are not redacted and can contain the addresses you tested and other details, so look through them before sending.