If you pick up that your connection has been substantially slow downed on your internet browsing session or downloads, please follow the below steps to eliminate and isolate where the slow activity could be originating from:
Extension cables will weaken your broadband signal and this can reduce the potential connection speed you will obtain.
If your computer is not near the phone socket it is preferable to use the short ADSL cable supplied and a longer Ethernet cable to connect between the router and the computer as these equipment do not lose signal.
Replacements can be purchased from any computer store.
Using an Ethernet connection will almost certainly increase the speed of the service as a wireless frequency runs through certain channels which can cause slow connectivity on a network.
Your wireless network is secured to prevent others accessing it.
Always make sure that you have security enabled to avoid other uses from hacking into your wireless network which will cause your connection to be slow and hanging.
The "cache" keeps a record of web pages that you visit on your computer. This means that these pages then take less time to display when you visit them again as your computer only needs to download new content. The downside is that the cache gets bigger and bigger as time goes on and may actually start to slow your connection. You should therefore clear your cache regularly.
Computers infected with viruses or spyware can really slow down your ADSL connection. If you don’t have security software installed, you can purchase one either online or at retailer specialising in computers and/or software.
P2P is file sharing software where files are broken up into lots of small pieces of data and distributed out to lots of different computers. These computers then share the pieces they have with other computers who don’t have them, and vice versa, to complete the full file. Your computer is continuously available for others to download your piece of the shared file and this can slow your connection. Disabling this software should increase your speeds.
Note: If you want to accurately measure your broadband connection speed it is essential that you disable P2P software before testing it.
Remember that the speed of your connection is shared across all the devices you have connected to it. If one computer is downloading using P2P software for example, it will significantly affect the connection speed on the other devices.
The MTU, or Maximum Transmission Unit, is a setting on your router which specifies how big a block of data can be sent or received by it, the default MTU settings on a standard ADSL router will be 1492.
A faulty router or a computer not working properly can affect your broadband speeds.
To rule out a computer related issue connect a single alternative computer to your network and perform a speed test please only test with a computer that you know is working well.
If all of the above has been checked and the slow connectivity still persists, run a speed test on www.speedtest.net, copy the result and log a support ticket to us either via http://ticket.firewater.net/ or alternatively email us on [email protected].
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