Slow Speed Troubleshooting

Title: Tips to Improving Your Wi-Fi and Internet Speeds and Slow Speed Troubleshooting

One of the most important things to look at when making sure you have a great surfing experience is making sure you are on the best internet package for your needs. You want to make sure it provides you with the speeds you need to support every device you own. We offer several options at HuronTel for internet speeds to suit all types of internet usage. If you are unsure if you are on the right package for your usage, you can always call into our Technical Support department and speak with a representative.

Below are a few tips aside from your subscribed speed that can affect your internet connection:

  • Are your devices wired directly to your router or are they running on wireless? If you do not have an ethernet cable going between your device and the router then you are on Wi-Fi. You can experience issues with your Wi-Fi performance depending on what is in the walls of your home, the layout of your home, and other devices that use radio waves around you like cordless phones and baby monitors.

  • Sometimes, you can experience issues with speeds when accessing content because the other end of the connection. You may have a really fast connection but if the other end of the connection doesn’t have a fast connection or is congested you can experience slow speeds.

  • There are two different types of Wi-Fi. There is the standard 2.4Ghz (Gigahertz) wireless that almost all devices use. Some newer routers and devices also support 5Ghz wireless connections. Which one you use will depend on what you have available and what you require from your wireless connection. The 2.4Ghz wireless networks give you a better range and distance from your router but you may not get the full speeds that you are paying for from just one device. 5Ghz allows you to take advantage of your internet speeds to its full potential but you have to be closer to the router to get a good signal. 5Ghz networks are not as frequently used so there is usually less interference.

  • Adding additional wired access points to your network will increase the range and give you better signal throughout your home. We do not recommend using Wi-Fi Extenders or Repeaters as they tend to limit or choke your internet speeds when it repeats your signal. Wired access points are better as they do not cause a bottleneck in your internet speeds. HuronTel offers a managed Wi-Fi service where we install the wired access points in your home to give you the best wireless coverage and speeds that you can take advantage of. Contact us to learn more about this option.

  • The farther you get from your router the weaker the signal will get. This will cause the speed you have available to you to drop the farther away from the router you get. Having your router in a central point in the home is preferable to cover the most area.

  • Keep your router away from things that could cause interference to your wireless signal. This includes things like: cordless phones, baby monitors, Bluetooth devices, microwaves, garage door openers, fish tanks, and mirrors.

  • Try changing the channel of your wireless. There are several different channels (or frequencies) that Wi-Fi uses to broadcast data. Sometimes you can make your wireless connections better by choosing a different channel with less interference or congestion. For more information see our other support documents: Advanced Router Setup and

  • There are times when devices can use up all of your bandwidth (speed) and cause other devices to become slow or not work on the internet. Turning off one device at a time until you find the device that is causing your speed issue can help you pinpoint which device is using up your internet connection.

  • When doing an internet speed test, you need to keep in mind that just because you pay for a certain speed, it doesn’t mean that’s what you will test at. If another device on your network is using some of the internet connection at the time you do your test, you will not get your full speeds on a test. For example, if you have a 15Mbit connection and you are streaming on another device when you run your speed test, you might only get 9 or 10 on a speed test because the streaming device could be using 5 or 6 of your 15. Remember, a speed test only shows you what you have available not what your total speed is.

  • If your computer is too old it may only support a slower wireless speed. Also, if the processor in your device is not fast enough it can cause you to get a lower result on a speed test then what you would expect because the computer or device cannot handle the speeds you are trying to test at. This is a limitation of your computer or device not your internet connection.

     

    The following steps will help you to troubleshoot your connection:

     

    1) Open up your web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome) and go to the website  http://hurontel.speedtestcustom.com

    2) Once the site fully loads, click the GO button in the circle. Write down the speed results for upload and download values.

    3) If you feel these speeds are too slow, then proceed to step 4.

    4) Hardwire your newest computer directly to your router or modem using an ethernet cable.

    5) Turn off all other computers or internet devices in the house.

    6) Close ALL internet related programs on the computer connected to the router or modem. This includes all chat programs, bit torrents, file downloads and file sharing programs. No other internet programs should be running. If your antivirus or Windows is updating, wait for it to finish.

    7) Open up your web browser and return to the website http://hurontel.speedtestcustom.com

    8) Run the test again by clicking on the GO button and allow the speed test to run. Write down the speed results for upload and download values.

    9) If the speed test results have improved, something on one of your computers, internal network or wireless connections is slowing down your connection.

     

    However, if the results are the same as your first test, proceed to step 10.

     

    10) If you are using a router, bypass the router and hardwire directly to the modem or fiber equipment. If you have a PPPoE or broadband connection already setup on this machine, then connect that connection and run the test again to compare to the previous results. If you do not have a PPPoE or a broadband connection, then setup a broadband connection by following the steps by clicking here. Once setup and connected you can continue with test. If there is an improvement in the speed results, the router may be the culprit.

     

    If there is still no improvement, proceed to step 11.

     

    11) If you have a modem, unplug the power to it. If you are on fiber you can go to step 13. Check that the phone cable that connects the modem to the wall jack is under 10ft in length and is directly wired to the jack. If not shorten the phone cord and wire it directly to the phone jack. Make sure all other phones jacks in the house are filtered (if not unplug the unfiltered device(s)).

     

    12) Power on the modem and wait for the DSL light to go solid. Connect the PPPoE connection and run the speed test again, compare the results. If there was an improvement, it could be the result of a long phone cord between the modem and jack, unfiltered phone devices in the house (pick up new filters) or the modem needed rebooting.

     

    13) If there is no improvement, Please call Support.