A sluggish wireless network is frustrating. It's no fun when an exciting movie suddenly starts buffering or an important Internet video call breaks up.

A few years ago, families didn't put much demand on routers. All they did was browse the Web and read email. The average home had one or two PCs.

Today, a family might have several computers, a wireless printer, a game console, a streaming video gadget and a variety of smartphones and tablets. A router can really bog down when everyone wants to surf, download files, play online games and stream music and movies at the same time.

Fortunately, there are a few simple ways to tune up your router and get it running like a sports car again.

Before you dive into that, however, double-check your Internet connection to make sure you're getting the advertised speed that you are paying for. Even a blazing fast router seems slow with a poor Internet connection. This great service will give your Internet connection a quick speed test. 

Once you're sure the slowdown is the router, take an inventory of all the computers and gadgets that use your home network. If you bought your gadgets within the past few years, they probably support the now-common wireless-N standard. You'll also see this written as 802.11n. Check your manuals to be sure, or use this site to look up manuals online if you've lost them.