It's probably been a while since you signed up for internet service, but you should have an idea of how fast your plan is. If not, give your ISP a call. Write down your plan's maximum download and upload speeds. You can then use these speed-testing websites to see just your wifi's actual performance stacks up to what you're theoretically paying for.

Even if you are building a brand new computer, odds are you have some old gear around the house you'd like to get as much life out of as possible. From phones to old laptops to old TVs, here are some tips to speed up and clean up your older tech.

WiFi is one of the most important developments in the evolution of the internet -- no one wants to be chained to a desktop -- but it's also one of the most frustrating. If you're plagued by slow speeds, bad reception, and other WiFi issues, here are 10 ways you can power up the WiFi in your home.

macOS: It's important to know how to fine-tune your wireless router, because not every router can just auto-adjust your wireless network's settings to give you the highest quality connection. That, and a great wifi-analysis app can help you figure out the areas of your house or apartment that might need a little more wireless support -- either by adding another access point or adjusting your existing configuration.

If you want to beat your best race time, it seems to help to spend time in the gym. Alex Hutchinson at Outside reports on recent studies that confirm that runners who do strength training turn in faster times.

Plyometric exercises aren't just fancy ways of jumping. They can make you a faster runner if you do them regularly, and can build strength and power no matter what your sport. A quick plyo routine is a great way to warm up for a run, or to do as a mini workout any time.

If you're weighing your option between SSDs and you can't quite justify buying the bigger version, this might tip you over the edge: Generally, larger SSDs are also faster.

I have a friend named Nathan Barry who recently finished writing three books in just nine months. How did he do it? By following a simple strategy. He wrote 1000 words per day. (That's about two to three pages.) And he did it every day for 253 straight days. It wasn't a sprint; it was his average speed that was key.

We all know about the motion effects in iOS, but it turns out they're tucked away in OS X as well. OS X Daily points out that the Photos app has it, and you can speed up performance by turning it off.

When you're putting together your Raspberry Pi projects, you likely just grab whatever microSD card is on sale without thinking much about it. However, over on Midwestern Mac, they did speed comparison between cards, and found a big difference in performance.

Your router might look like an impenetrable black box of internet mystery, but tweaking a few settings under the hood is easier than you might think. Here are some of the options you can reconfigure to get a faster wireless connection and keep unwelcome visitors off your network.

Windows: Runaway processes can be a major drag on your system. If you want to keep a resource-hungry app running, without letting it run roughshod over your machine, BES can help you limit how much CPU power an app uses.

After coming to power in the 2013 Federal Election, the Coalition government promised to deliver a national broadband network that would be faster, cheaper and more quickly deployed than Labor's scuttled fibre-to-the-premises plan. Two years on, what have we got? Regardless of where your politics lie, the answer isn't pretty.

Windows isn't huge on the eye candy these days, but it still contains a lot of superfluous animations. Here's how to turn them off.

Once upon a time, upgrading your PC's RAM was a sure-fire way to increase its performance. These days, this is not always the case; especially if you already have 4GB or memory on board. Techquickie host Linus Sebastian explains why you might be better off plumping for a solid-state drive, and how to know whether a RAM upgrade will actually speed up your PC.

Apple is widely rumoured to announce a new iPhone next week, and some of you may be tempted to shell out for the newest model -- especially if your old beater is acting slow, crashing and generally misbehaving. Here are a few ways to speed it up so you can avoid spending money on the upgrade.

Sometimes, slow internet is the universe's way of telling you to go play outside -- and sometimes it feels like a cruel joke to destroy your productivity. Here are 10 ways to troubleshoot, fix or just survive a slow internet connection.

Dear Lifehacker, I'm going home for Christmas, and my parents have a very poor connection. Do you have any tips for getting my work done effectively when everything's moving slower than molasses? Thanks, Cumbersome Connection

Dear Lifehacker, I just paid for a Megaupload premium account and I will be uploading a lot of files to it. Right now, I am on TPG's Unlimited plan which has an upload speed of 1Mbps. Does anyone else in Australia offer a faster upload speed than this? I am willing to go for a new connection alongside TPG if needed. Cheers, Big Uploader