How To Make Your Broadband Run Faster

While we would all like to buy a super-fast broadband package, it’s not always possible to get something like fibre optic broadband. Whether it’s financial restrictions or your geographical location, sometimes our only choice to try and get better speeds is to go back to basics.

While these tips and tricks may not all work for every user, you may be surprised at how much a little TLC for your current set-up can improve speeds quite dramatically. You can view the results when you take the internet speed test.

However, it is worth calling your broadband provider to see what kind of speed they think you should be getting in your house. It could come as surprising to you, but they can actually regulate the speed you get. Remember that the speed you are getting in your home wifi may not be the same as the speed of wifi for assisted living facilities or for similar business entities. Since businesses generally require high-speed internet to carry out multiple tasks simultaneously, internet carriers tend to provide them with better speed. Sure, what they are paying would also differ significantly from what you are paying.

Nevertheless, you certainly don’t need to tolerate a slower connection, just because you have opted for residential internet. Now do some speed tests: If you’re well short of that, try these things before getting back onto them: there could be a fault on their end, but you don’t want to get an engineer out until you’re sure.

[Also read: Tips to Make Your Computer Run Faster]

From the wall:

First, check that your broadband is plugged into the correct wall socket. If you have more than one telephone point in the building, you’ll need to find what is called the master socket: this is the one installed by the telephone company and is the socket your router needs to be plugged into.

The reason for this is that internal house wiring is often not up to the quality of that installed by your phone company. Also, any extra distance the signal needs to travel is a no-no, as it leads to more packet drops (the more packets of data that drop out due to bad wiring, the more need to be resent – hence slow speeds).

Also, you might want to check your micro-filter (the little box that connects to that master socket that splits your telephone and broadband wires). You’ll often get more than one of these with your router, or your broadband company should be happy to send you another for free. These can often go wrong, which can slow your broadband speeds.

Around the room:

If you still have slowness issues, it may be a Wi-Fi issue. Most people connect to wireless broadband nowadays, but this can cause serious speed problems. The easiest way to check is to set up a wired connection through the router, then redo those speed tests. If there is a big variation, you’ve found your issue.

You have several options here. First, you should try to run your Wi-Fi on a different frequency, as the slowness may be caused by interference (this is relatively simple – check your modem manual for details).

If this doesn’t work, you may want to try a different wireless router – perhaps borrow one, if possible – it may be an issue with your surroundings, not the modem, so you don’t want to waste money if it’s atmospherics or thick walls causing the problem. If you’re running a business and the Wi-Fi constantly keeps shutting out or slowing down, then you might need to call in professional help. Having a Wireless site survey conducted, for example, might reveal the problem, and then it could accordingly be fixed.

Similarly, if it is an issue with the building and and using a wired connection isn’t really an option, it is well worth investigating ‘power line’ or ‘homeplug’ technology. This allows you to run your broadband from your modem to anywhere in the building that has a spare plug socket, then into a machine in that room via a short wire.