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Nothing is more frustrating than slow internet on your phone when you just want to stream a quick video or look something up. Here, you’ll learn why your phone internet is so slow, how to fix slow data, and how to make your mobile data faster. If you’re on Android, we’ve even got a special software tool for you to install to help boost your mobile internet speed.
A slow data connection on your phone is usually caused by a poor connection in your location, network congestion, or too many background apps running. But slow iOS or Android internet is a familiar problem for smartphone owners, and there are many possible reasons why your phone internet is slow:
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If the mobile data is slow on your phone due to a poor connection, try moving to a location with better signal strength to boost data speeds, or try to find a Wi-Fi connection.
Below, we’ll show you how to check your network strength on an Android or iPhone. Use this table to determine what range your signal strength falls in (measured in dBm, decibel-milliwatts):
These ranges are a guide only and different carriers have varying benchmarks.
To check your network strength on Android:
Go to Settings > About phone.
Tap Status > Network > SIM.
Some Android models have a network diagnostics tool in the Mobile networks section of Settings.
On iPhones, you can see your signal strength by entering Field Test mode:
Open your Phone app.
Type *3001#12345#* into the keypad, and tap the call button.
Select LTE or Serving Cell Measurements (or Serving Cell Info).
If your home Wi-Fi network is slow, it could be that the bandwidth is being shared across too many devices. To fix this, log in to your router by entering the router's IP address in your browser’s address bar. Once logged in, enable QoS (Quality of Service) in the settings to prioritize important traffic or devices, ensuring that bandwidth is allocated to crucial connections like video calls, instead of being equally distributed.
Too many demands on your data connection in the form of open browser tabs or active apps can slow data to a crawl. Close open mobile apps and tabs to reduce the pressure on your connection and speed up data.
Your browser cache stores browsing data to load frequently visited websites faster. Corrupted or outdated cache files, or cache files that conflict with browser extensions, have the opposite effect. Keep your browser and extensions up to date, or use private browsing modes to bypass caching. Clear the cache on your mobile browser to start from scratch.
Some signs of problems with your browser cache are:
Pages only partially loading
Pages with formatting issues
Images in the wrong places
Activation or log-in issues
Slow data speeds on a mobile hotspot might be because others are taking up all your hotspot bandwidth. You may be sharing your hotspot unintentionally, so secure your mobile hotspot to make it private. If you have an Android, you can see if your hotspot is on at the top of your home screen (look for the hotspot icon). If multiple devices are connected to it, you’ll see a number next to the icon.
Mobile network settings change how your device behaves on a network. If these settings are mixed up, outdated, or in conflict with other settings, you get slow mobile internet. You may need to update your network settings to get your phone’s internet back up and running.
Sluggish internet could be a sign of malware. A common hacking ploy is hiding spyware inside fake apps, which consume bandwidth as they upload stolen data from your device. Active malware also drains device memory, which can also hinder browsing speeds.
Run a scan with a dedicated mobile cybersecurity tool to detect and remove any malware that’s making your phone internet slow. Then, make sure you have Avast Mobile Security for Android or iOS installed for ongoing protection against malicious apps and other threats.
5G can be slow because high-frequency radio waves (24GHz to 100GHz) have short wavelengths (10mm to 1mm) that struggle to penetrate thick materials like walls or floors. Additionally, 5G has a short range of about 1,000 feet, which weakens the signal over longer distances. To fix slow 5G, try to keep the path between your device and the signal source clear and short, or consider using a signal booster.
Also, while 5G rollout is progressing steadily, it still doesn’t offer as much coverage as 4G or LTE networks, leading to slow connections in some areas due to less dedicated bandwidth.
There are a few tricks to help make data faster on mobile, such as switching to and from airplane mode, restarting your phone, clearing your mobile cache, or closing all your apps. But if your phone internet is slow all the time it could be your network settings, background app settings, mobile hotspot settings — or even dreaded malware.
Now that we know why your internet might be so slow on your phone, let’s look at how to boost your internet speed.
Here’s how to fix slow data and boost data speeds on both Android and iOS devices:
A quick restart can solve more problems than you think, including boosting your data speeds.
To restart your Android phone, hold down the power button, then tap power off or restart.
On iOS, hold down the power button, then slide the power icon at the top of the screen to the right.
After your phone powers off, wait a few seconds, then hold down the power button again to turn it back on.
If your phone's internet is slow, switching Airplane mode on and off can help reset the connection.
Swipe down from the top of the screen to access Quick Settings.
Tap the airplane icon to activate airplane mode, then tap the airplane icon again to deactivate it.
Swipe down from the top-right of your screen to open the Control Center.
Tap the airplane icon to activate airplane mode, then tap the airplane icon again to deactivate it.
Hopefully, your slow Wi-Fi connection and mobile data are now reset. If not, move on to network settings.
You can update your network settings by resetting them. Resetting your network settings returns your phone’s internet configurations to their default states, which can speed up data. You may need to re-enter your Wi-Fi passwords and other saved information afterwards. Mobile carrier functionality or account information is not deleted.
The way to reset your network settings on Android may vary depending on which phone you have. Here are instructions for resetting network settings on a Google Pixel.
Open Settings and tap System (General Management on some Android devices), then Advanced.
Select Reset options (it may be called Reset network settings) > Reset Wi-Fi mobile & Bluetooth. Finally, tap Reset settings to confirm.
Open Settings and tap General. Scroll down and choose Reset.
Tap Reset Network Settings. When prompted, enter your passcode, then select Reset Network Settings to confirm.
Your mobile data provider may not be able to communicate correctly with your SIM. Inserting your SIM into another phone updates the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) associated with your SIM. When you put the SIM back into your original phone it can sometimes resolve connectivity issues.
Apps can drain data and other resources much more heavily than you might think. You can see which apps are draining data, and possibly making your phone internet slow, by viewing their usage statistics, and then closing the app or stopping it from using mobile data altogether.
The steps for stopping data-draining apps on Android differ by device. Generally, you can open Settings and search for App data usage. On Samsung phones, app data usage stats are in individual app settings. Here’s how to find data-draining apps on a Xiaomi Redmi Note 10:
Open Settings > Connections & sharing > Data usage.
Scroll down to see your top data-draining apps, and select an app to limit its data usage.
To close an app on an iPhone or iPad:
Open Settings and tap Cellular (or Mobile Data).
Scroll down to the Cellular Data (or Mobile Data) section to see how much mobile data each app has used in the current period. Stop an app from using mobile data by toggling off the switch next to it.
This will stop data-hogging apps from draining LTE speed, or making 5G or 4G slow. But many apps run in the background, even when you aren’t actively using them.
Many apps consume background data along with system resources, storage space, and bandwidth. You can prevent them from running in the background — and consuming your phone’s data, battery life, and internet speed.
Here’s how to rein in a problematic app and disable its background data use on a Samsung Galaxy S21:
Open Settings > Apps and select the problematic app.
You can Force stop the app, but it will likely reopen the next time you restart your phone. To permanently stop the app from running in the background, tap Mobile data and make sure Allow background data usage is toggled off.
Repeat this process for any apps you want to prevent running in the background.
You can also use the Data Saver feature to reduce how much data all apps send and receive while you’re using mobile data:
Navigate to Settings > Connections (Network & internet on some devices) and tap Data usage.
Tap Data Saver and toggle on the Turn on now switch.
Tip: If you have an older Android that isn’t optimized to prevent background processes, navigate to Settings > Device Care > Memory and look for a button that says Clean Now (Free up memory by stopping background apps).
To disable background apps on an iPhone or iPad:
Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
To configure an individual app, toggle its corresponding switch. A green switch means that Background App Refresh is enabled, and a gray switch means that it’s disabled.
To disable the Background App Refresh function for all apps, tap Background App Refresh. Then, select whether you want to allow apps to refresh on Wi-Fi only or not at all.
Instead of closing resource-draining apps individually, you can automate the process with a dedicated cleaning tool. Here’s how to stop apps from draining your phone’s data with Avast Cleanup for Android.
Download and install Avast Cleanup.
Tap Apps, look under Drainers to see the apps draining most of your data, storage, and battery, and tap Data.
Select data-draining apps you don’t want running in the background and tap Force stop. You can do the same for apps that hog storage resources or drain your battery.
Now go back to the main screen on Avast Cleanup and hit Quick Clean to identify all the hidden clutter on your phone, such as invisible cache files, temporary files, unnecessary files like downloaded songs or videos you no longer need, browser caches, bloatware, and other junk files.
With Avast Cleanup, you can easily and automatically clean up your Android phone and get more space with just a few taps. This will reduce drains on your data, CPU, and battery, which should help boost your phone’s internet speed.
If you’re on iOS, check out our guide to cleaning up your iPhone.
Anyone can connect to an unsecured mobile hotspot, and hog your data. Set a strong password to keep your hotspot private. Also, change your SSID (Service Set Identifier — the name that shows up) to something instead of your device name, and turn your mobile hotspot off when you aren’t using it.
For more advanced security, change your Wi-Fi encryption protocol between WEP, WPA, WPA2, or WPA3 if you have the option. The higher, the stronger. Then, install a VPN to hide your IP, and get a free antivirus to help prevent malware from clogging up your connection.
Setting a password for Android hotspots involves navigating to your mobile network or mobile hotspot preferences.
Swipe down from the top of the screen to access Quick Settings.
Press down the portable hotspot icon to open its settings (on some Androids you’ll then need to choose Set up portable hotspot).
In the password field, change your password. Then, tap the checkmark to confirm or tap OK.
You can also change your SSID, encryption protocol, and AP band on this screen.
Here’s how to change your hotspot password and turn off your hotspot on iOS:
Open Settings and tap Personal Hotspot.
Tap Wi-Fi password, then follow the onscreen instructions to change the password.
Turn off Allow Others to Join to make your hotspot private, and disconnect anyone using it.
Closing your open mobile apps and tabs frees up RAM, cache, and processing power, which if overloaded can lead to a slow phone or a slow browser. Open tabs with videos may also preload, taking up internet bandwidth.
Avast Cleanup can help by automatically putting apps you’re not using into hibernation until you need them, or you can close them manually.
Tap the Recent Apps button at the bottom of the screen (it looks like a square or a line, depending on your device). You’ll see your open apps.
Swipe up or down on the app you want to close. On some Android devices, you must swipe left or right. You can also tap the X to close all your apps at once.
Open Chrome and tap the square icon in the top-right corner to view your open tabs.
Tap the X icon on each tab you want to close or the three dots then Close all tabs to close them all.
Swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
Swipe up on each app to close it. Or, to close multiple, swipe up with several fingers.
You can’t close all apps at once on iPhone but iOS is designed to manage apps effectively and pause many of them in the background so they don’t take up resources.
Open the Safari app and tap the tabs icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
Swipe left on any tab you want to close and tap Close to confirm.
You can also close all tabs at once by long-pressing the tab switch icon (two overlapping squares) in the bottom-right corner. Tap Close All (number) Tabs to close all tabs, or tap Close This Tab to close only the current tab.
Ad blockers stop annoying ads and make websites faster because they have less content to load. Ad blockers are different from private browsing in incognito mode, which hides your browsing history on your device but still lets ads through. Another way to block ads is to switch to a web browser that blocks them automatically.
Avast Secure Browser has a built-in feature called Privacy Guard that blocks ads and trackers so the sites you visit load faster. Plus, Avast Secure Browser has a range of other features that strengthen your privacy and security. Install it for free today.
A full browser cache affects your device’s performance and makes everything, including your data speeds, slower. Clearing out your browser cache can give your phone a fresh start.
How to clear your browser cache depends on which browser you’re using. Here, we’ll show how to clear your cache in Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS. You can check out our complete guides to cleaning up your Android cache and your iPhone cache.
Open Chrome, tap the three dots in the top right, and tap History > Clear browsing data.
In the time range menu, choose All time. Check the box for Cached images and files and hit Clear data.
Here’s how to clear your browser history and delete cookies in Safari on iOS:
Open Safari, select Clear Website History and Data, and select Clear Website History and Data.
Tap Clear History and Data to confirm.
If you want to clear your cache while leaving your browsing history intact, here’s how:
From your Safari settings, scroll down and select Advanced > Website Data.
Scroll and tap Remove All Website Data. Tap Remove Now to confirm.
Many browsers offer a text-based mode designed to make websites easier to read. Reader Mode can improve websites’ loading speeds, since you won’t be loading many of their graphical and other resource-heavy elements.
Open Chrome, tap the three dots in the top-right corner and hit Settings. Then tap Accessibility and check the box for Simplified view for web pages.
When opening an article that supports Reader Mode, tap Show simplified view on the bar at the bottom of the screen.
To configure Safari to load websites in Reader Mode by default:
Open device Settings > Safari, scroll down and select Reader.
Toggle on the switch for All Websites to load every website in Reader Mode.
You can also choose a faster browser to further improve your web experience.
Try switching to Wi-Fi to solve your weak mobile data signal, if only temporarily. You may find Wi-Fi slow on your phone as well, but that’s usually a problem with the internet connection itself, rather than your device.
Beware that when using public Wi-Fi, your internet traffic is often not encrypted, making it vulnerable to interception. cybercriminals on the same network can easily eavesdrop on your online activities and steal sensitive information like credit card numbers and login credentials.
First, turn off mobile data so your phone doesn’t try connecting to your weak signal. Then, connect to an accessible Wi-Fi with the most bars.
Swipe down to open the control panel, tap the mobile data iconto turn it off, then tap Wi-Fi.
Select the Wi-Fi network you want to join.
Open Settings and tap Cellular.
Swipe Cellular Data to the left to turn off cellular data.
Navigate back to Settings and tap Wi-Fi.
Turn on Wi-Fi to automatically search for available Wi-Fi networks.
Tap the Wi-Fi network that you want to join.
Malware on your phone can hijack data, interfere with cell reception, and eat your phone’s memory so everything — including the internet — is sluggish. If you think your phone may be infected, perform a scan with a malware removal tool to find and remove any lurking threats.
Then, follow these additional steps as necessary to secure your device:
Restart your phone. This allows your phone to boot up fresh and operate normally without being impacted by malware
Update to the latest version of the OS. Some malware uses exploits in outdated OS versions to get in. Updating can close the exploit.
Clear browsing data. Malware sometimes hides in cache data or other parts of browsing data. Clearing browsing data can clear the malware.
Delete sketchy apps. Apps can come loaded with malware to spy on you or siphon your data. Delete any apps you don’t recognize and that aren’t from the App Store or Google Play.
Restore your phone from a backup. If you have a backup available, restoring it can bring back a version of your phone from before the malware entered.
Perform a factory reset. This should be your last option. It’s irreversible but should clear any malware that you haven’t been able to remove.
For more help, see how to remove a virus on Android or iPhone step by step.
If none of the above tips has worked and you’re still wondering how to raise your internet speed, here are a few more tricks to try:
Switch browsers. Experiment with different browsers and see if one of them is faster.
Update your phone’s software. The most current version of an operating system offers the fastest speeds.
Check for network outages. Network outages at your mobile carrier will interrupt your mobile data, while a network outage at your ISP or local network will interrupt your Wi-Fi.
Check if your data limit has been reached. Being out of data means you won’t be able to access the internet. Check your data plan to see if you’ve reached the limit, or have set a daily data cap unintentionally.
Change your location. Frequencies can be blocked by dense objects, and excessive traffic on public Wi-Fi can bog down network resources.
Disable data saver or low data mode. Android and iPhone both have modes to conserve data when it’s low. If enabled by accident, they can make your phone internet slow since it’s trying to save data.
Back up and restore your phone. Consider this a last resort if nothing else in this article has worked. Back up your phone — Android and iOS both offer cloud-based backup platforms — then reset your device to its factory settings. Afterward, restore all your data from your backup.
4G speeds (up to 1,000 Mbps) are significantly faster than original LTE speeds (100 Mbps) on mobile. If your phone is 4G-capable (or even 5G), but seems like it’s stuck on a LTE, 3G, or even 2G connection, this may be the cause of your slow internet.
Try resetting your network settings on iOS to speed up LTE or 4G, and increase download speeds. It may also help to make 4G or LTE speed faster on Android.
If you’re on a 4G network in a crowded area, network congestion can cause your data speeds to slow to a crawl. In this case, switching to a less-busy 3G network may actually speed up your internet.
4G speeds range from 5 to 200 Mbps, while 5G typically ranges from 100 to 2000 Mbps. 4G operates on lower frequency bands, allowing it to travel farther and penetrate obstacles more effectively, with a range of over 10 miles.
In contrast, 5G operates on higher frequency bands, giving it a shorter range of up to 2,000 feet and poorer penetration through materials like brick, metal, or dense foliage. While both can be slowed by obstacles, 4G performs better in challenging environments. 5G availability depends on your location and whether you have a compatible device.
We’ve got one final internet fix for Android users — our very own Avast Cleanup. It’s your all-in-one performance booster that’ll help make sure you get the most out of your Android device.
Avast Cleanup can deliver up to 12 GB more storage space, 60% more battery life, and 20% more speed. When your phone is performing just as well as the day you bought it, your internet experience will feel a whole lot faster too. Install Avast Cleanup for free today and get a smoother, speedier mobile experience.