There are many causes of poor network performance.

Some network problems can arise from fault hardware or from unexpected usage patterns.

Experiencing a network problem is frustrating, and left unattended, it can be disastrous for your business network.

That's why it's important to understand what can go wrong with your network and quickly identify and fix problems as soon as they arise.

Now let's go through some of the network issues that have left many users pulling their hair out in frustration.

1. High CPU Usage
The most common cause of high CPU usage is when your network becomes bogged down by enormous amounts of traffic.

CPU usage can increase drastically when processes require more time to execute or when a larger number of network packets are sent and received throughout your network.

2. High Bandwidth Usage
When something on your network is monopolizing your bandwidth by downloading gigabytes worth of data, it created a congestion in your network.

When there's congestion, it leaves not enough bandwidth for other parts of your network - which can cause problems like slow download speed over the internet.

3. Poor Physical Connectivity
When a cable or connector is defective, the interface of the network equipment to which it is connected will typically generate errors.

A copper cable, or fiber-optic cable can be damaged, which will likely reduce the amount of data that can go through it without packet loss.

4. Malfunctioning Devices
You need to pay attention to all the switches and devices on your network to ensure that they're always working as they should be.

Whenever you install or reconfigure a device, or upgrade equipment firmware on your network, you need to test that device to ensure that it's been configured correctly.

5. DNS Errors
DNS errors happen because you're unable to connect to an IP address, signalling that you may have lost network or internet access.

For example, your site can simultaneously appear online for you, but offline to your visitors.

How can you identify and avoid these issues?

There are a number of network performance monitoring tools out there that will do all the work for you.

Meet Obkio, a simple network performance monitoring solution that allows users to continuously monitor the health of their network and core business applications to improve the end-user experience.

Easily identify the source of a system failure and so you can quickly apply the corrective measures, right at the heart of the problem, before it affects your end users.