There's nothing more frustrating than a YouTube video or Netflix show being interrupted with that pesky 'buffering' symbol.
It's even more annoying if you're forking out dozens of pounds every month to a broadband company who promised you superfast high-speed mega WiFi speeds but simply aren't seeing the benefits.
Well it could be because you're making a common mistake with your WiFi router that stops it from reaching its full potential.
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Lots of people shut down their WiFi router before going to bed, and while this can save a small amount of money on electricity bills, it could also be damaging your internet speeds.
That's because many broadband providers send updates to your router during off-peak times.
These are meant to prevent your router from being targeted by malware, bugs, and other performance issues.
But disrupting them during the night can lead to some major issues.
Aman Bhatti, Director of Propositions at Sky Broadband said: "We know our routers are put through their paces during the day—whether on video calls, streaming the latest show, or online gaming. That's why our routers run firmware updates during the night, to avoid any unnecessary disruption during the day.
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"Switching off your router overnight can affect automatic software updates and optimisations which in turn can impact the overall performance, speed and stability of your broadband."
BT added: "Constantly switching off the hub makes the line look unstable, meaning that your speed may be automatically reduced to improve the reliability of your broadband connection."
So, take it from us: all you need to do to speed things up and make sure your WiFi network remains secure is to just leave the router plugged in and let it run as normal.
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