How to Spot (and Fix) a Network Bottleneck

Sometimes your network will get bogged down for apparently no reason. Well, we hate to break it to you, but there is almost sure to be a reason, one of which could be a network bottleneck. A network bottleneck could very well harm your network to the point where productivity and efficiency are impacted. How do you discover a bottleneck and resolve it?

Defining Network Bottlenecks

We’d like to offer you a visual representation of a network bottleneck, something which is quite similar to an actual bottle neck. Let’s say you have a water bottle that is full. At the top is the neck, a narrow part that limits the flow of water out of the bottle. In this case, the water is your data, and the bottleneck is the neck of the bottle, limiting how much data can pass through at any given time.

Here’s another example. Imagine driving down a busy highway with three lanes of traffic. Normally, getting through is no problem; but when construction begins and one of the lanes is closed, things get a little dicey and traffic grinds to a halt.

A network bottleneck is something that obstructs or restricts the flow of data on your network. The network doesn’t have the capabilities to transfer data at the speeds you want it to, and operational problems can occur as a result. Network bottlenecks can emerge when components fail or grow too old to function properly, or they can appear as a result of misconfigurations or poor network design from the start.

How to Resolve Bottlenecks

You’ll first have to determine what the cause behind the network bottleneck is. In order to address it properly, you’ll need to diagnose the issue. You can run some tests to see if particular devices are slowing down, or if they are having issues sending or receiving data. A good general practice is to replace the faulty components or devices with compatible ones, or to adjust settings accordingly.

But all of this is assuming that you can determine the cause of the slowdown. Sometimes the issues are a little harder to identify. We recommend that you work with professionals like those at BNMC to find the cause of your network problems. You might need to proactively monitor the network to determine what the cause is and to know what is normal or usual for your network.

Get In Touch!

If you think you might be suffering from a network bottleneck, the professionals at BNMC can help you resolve it through the use of a network audit. We can help you find the cause and address it accordingly, whether it’s through a hardware update, configuration adjustment, or otherwise. We’ll handle the details so you don’t have to worry about it in the slightest.

Call us today at (978) 482-2020 to learn more about our service offerings.