1 in 4 Americans Say Slow Internet Is Their Biggest Daily Annoyance

Few things test your patience like slow, unreliable internet. You might be in the middle of a big Zoom meeting, making the pitch of your career, when you suddenly see: “Your connection is unstable.” Or maybe you’re kicked back, streaming your favorite show, only to get hit with the buffering wheel. Modern technological advances and conveniences feel like they disappear the second your internet connection grinds to a halt.

If that sounds all too familiar, you’re not alone. It might be time to run a quick speed test to see if your connection’s the culprit. If so, it may be worth switching internet providers to help ease your frustrations.

But is slow internet the most frustrating thing we deal with daily? We asked people to rank their biggest everyday headaches. Here’s what we found.

How slow internet stacks up against life’s biggest annoyances

From work headaches and digital clutter to family chaos and the occasional barking dog next door, daily annoyances are everywhere. We broke them down into four categories—work frustrations, technology troubles, everyday inconveniences, and home (family/social/financial) stress—to see how slow the internet compares.

Unsurprisingly, slow internet connections hold their own against even the most classic irritations.

Work frustrations: Bad coworkers barely outrank bad Wi-Fi

In the workplace, frustrations come in all forms—interruptions, distractions, and the occasional colleague who seems to exist solely to test your patience. But slow internet still manages to steal the spotlight:

• 25% of people say slow internet is more frustrating than any other work-related annoyance. That includes everything from constant interruptions to the dreaded “update your password” prompts.
• Obnoxious coworkers barely outrank sluggish Wi-Fi, with 27% calling them their top annoyance. Forgetting important passwords (26.6%) isn’t far behind, proving that digital issues are right up there with human ones.
• Working all the doggone day? Only 8% of respondents said a barking dog is their biggest annoyance during work hours compared to the 26.7% of people who say workplace distractions—like slow internet—are far worse.

Tech troubles: Leave our phones alone, please

One of the only things more frustrating than slow internet is the constant barrage of robocalls, spam, and scams. Still, slow internet doesn’t lag far behind daily tech frustrations:

• Spam and robocalls top the list of tech frustrations, with 45% of people saying they’re the most annoying digital distraction. That means nearly half of respondents would rather deal with laggy internet than answer another extended-warranty call.
• Slow internet ranks second, beating out most other tech troubles—including those dreaded “storage almost full” pop-ups, which 22.5% of people flagged as a major annoyance.
• While an overflowing inbox is an annoyance to some (13.3%), slow internet is a much bigger disruption to work and daily life for most.
• Dropping an impossible-to-cancel subscription seems like a breeze compared to dealing with slow internet. Nearly twice as many people find a laggy connection more aggravating than the endless battle of ending a shady subscription service.

Everyday inconveniences: Traffic, losing things, and long lines will always bug us

Slow internet faces stiff competition from the real world. Yet, in many cases, the digital delay still manages to hold its own:

• Traffic and bad drivers are the top offenders—more annoying than a slow connection for over a third of people (36.1%). Apparently, some things will never change.
• Misplacing essentials like your wallet, keys, or phone ranks as the second most aggravating frustration for 34% of people—because when those go missing, your entire day can go awry.
• Long lines aren’t far behind, according to a third of respondents (33.5%). It seems waiting around in line is almost as aggravating as waiting for a web page to load. In fact, slow internet is more than three times as frustrating as dealing with long lines for the women’s bathroom (“Wait, do men’s websites go faster than women’s too?”). Only 9.2% of respondents found bathroom wait times worse than slow Wi-Fi.
• Running late for an important event comes in behind slow internet, indicating that delays in the digital world feel as disruptive as real-world tardiness, if not more so.
• People are nearly 300% more likely to find slow internet frustrating than running late and realizing they need gas. Just 10.5% of respondents said last-minute gas stops were worse, while slow internet ranked much higher among daily frustrations.
• Uncomfortable seating? Slow internet is nearly 350% more frustrating than cramped airplane or waiting room chairs, with only 10.1% of respondents finding bad seating worse.
• Even texting and driving—a clear safety hazard—frustrates many of us less than dealing with sluggish Wi-Fi. In fact, over 150% more people are annoyed by slow internet than by seeing someone on their phone behind the wheel.

Home stress: Family, social, and financial

Love makes things a little easier, apparently. When it comes to the real heart of life’s stressors—family chaos, social drama, and financial worries—slow internet often still comes out on top:

• Slow internet sucks, but most big issues related to our relationships, jobs, and global events) do outweigh slow internet annoyances for most people. However, 1 in 10 Americans say slow internet is more stressful even than family relationships, child rearing, or financial struggles. While we all know life isn’t always smooth sailing, fewer people find the daily grind of parenting or managing money as aggravating as having slow internet service.
• Managing children (11.2%) was ranked the lowest in terms of home stressors. While parenting is undoubtedly tough, it doesn’t seem to cause as much frustration as dealing with either Wi-Fi problems or financial pressure.

It’s clear that slow internet is one of the most universally aggravating aspects of modern life, even compared to seemingly worse or more difficult things to deal with. But with the right speed and a better service provider, you could put those frustrations behind you for good.

So how much internet speed do you actually need?

The internet speeds you need depend on what you use the internet for, but faster is always better. Basic tasks like browsing or checking email require much less bandwidth than streaming HD videos or gaming.

In general, you can use these guidelines:

• Light browsing or social media: 10 to 25Mbps
• Streaming or video conferencing: 25 to 50Mbps
• Gaming, downloading large files, or streaming on multiple devices: 100Mbps or higher

If you have multiple devices on your network, you’ll need faster speeds. The average family of four should be happy with 100 to 300Mbps. If you’re still not sure if your speeds are cutting it, check out our full guide on internet speeds to find out exactly what your household needs for different online activities.

Simple solutions to fix slow internet

If you’re tired of lag, buffering, and slow connections, start with the basics: restart your modem and router. If that doesn’t do the trick, update your devices, dive deeper into your network usage to see what’s taking up bandwidth, and consider upgrading your plan or equipment.

Check out our guide on why your internet is so slow to find what to look for. Common issues like weak Wi-Fi signals, damaged cables, or loose connections might be a quick fix for your slow speeds.

Still, you may just live in one of the states with slower speeds than the rest of the nation. If that’s the case, you’ll likely need to find a better provider in your area.

Slow internet isn’t the absolute worst, but it’s worth fixing

Slow internet is undeniably frustrating, and our survey reveals that only a handful of everyday annoyances rank higher, like financial struggles, traffic, spam calls, and losing important items like wallets or keys.

In fact, slow internet is more frustrating than many common workplace, digital, and everyday life inconveniences, including barking dogs, subscription cancellations, and even seeing people text while they drive.

While life’s biggest stressors take priority, carving out some time to get faster internet speeds can help relieve needless stress from everyday life.

Methodology

This survey was conducted using Pollfish, collecting responses from 1,000 U.S. adults representing the general population. The data was post-stratified to ensure a balanced and representative sample across key demographics.