Troubleshooting Pulse8 internet performance problems

Before you begin troubleshooting the speed of your Pulse8 broadband connection, we recommend that you run a Pulse8 Broadband Speed Test to confirm your current internet speed.

It is also a good idea confirm the minimum download speed you have subscribed to from Pulse8.

You can find this information by checking your Pulse8 broadband bill, your Pulse8 contract or by contacting Pulse8.

Possible causes of Pulse8’s slow internet performance

Is it your Pulse8 broadband that is running slow or could it be your device (laptop/smartphone/PC)?

You need to consider how many applications are running on your device.

The performance issue could be due to the over-utilisation of your system resources i.e RAM/memory/CPU and as opposed to a problem with Pulse8’s broadband connection.

If you are on a laptop then you may use the task manager to check your Processor and RAM usage.

On any other device, you could try rebooting the device which should hopefully shutdown all applications that may have been hogging your device resources.

Re-run the Pulse8 Speedtest on your computer and your phone to check how the speed test results compare between the two devices.

Hopefully this should provide you with some info to work with in terms of whether the problem lies with your device or the Pulse8 internet connection.

• What does the Pulse8 download and upload speed mean?
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• DNS tip to improve internet browsing speed on Pulse8

Is the wireless the problem?

The root cause of the performance issue could be your internal Wifi network and not the Pulse8 broadband connection.

You can rule out the wireless network by simply connecting your computer directly into the Pulse8 broadband router using a network cable and then run the Pulse8 Speed checker again.

If the speed test result is better when you’re connected using a network cable, this suggests that the issue may be with your Wifi.

A number of things to investigate:

• Are the WiFi channels that you are using for your Wi-Fi network network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbors?
• Is the wireless signal from the internet router obstructed?
• Does your speed improve when you’re standing directly infront of the Pulse8 wireless router?

Who’s connected to my wireless network?

Have you checked that your Wi-Fi network password has not been shared? Do you have an un-secured Wifi network? How complex is your wireless network password? It may be time to update it.

Others could be using your Wi-Fi network and eating up all the Pulse8 bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or video over your Pulse8 broadband connection! Worse than that, they may be conducting illegal activities over your Pulse8 broadband connection.

There are 3 apps to utlise to analyze your wireless network to see who is connected:

• Windows users can use Wireless network watcher
• Apple users can use whoFi (who is on my Wifi)
• WiFi troubleshooting tool WiFi Analyzer

The above applications will scan your Wifi network and show you a list of the devices connected.

• How to see who is on your Pulse8 wireless network

Do I need a Wi-Fi network booster for my Pulse8 broadband?

You may find that there are Wi-Fi black spots in your house, a wireless extender also known as a Wi-Fi Booster may be the best fix to boost your wireless signal to cover any coverage holes.

• Cheapest Wifi Signal Extenders

The wireless extender picks up your existing wireless network signal just as it is becoming weaker and re-transmits the Wifi signal to extend it’s coverage.

Position the Wifi booster near where your wireless network signal from the Pulse8 internet router is becoming weaker.

Position it approximately where your wireless network signal is dropping down to less than 2 bars. Walk around your home with a mobile phone to determine where this is.

When did you last upgrade the Pulse8 broadband router?

The Pulse8 and broadband infrastructure, in general, are constantly updated to provide new features and improve reliability as technology evolves.  Ensure that your Pulse8 broadband internet router is running the most up-to-date software.

The majority of Pulse8 broadband routers allow you to carry out the software update by simply logging into the Pulse8 broadband router and simply clicking a button to perform the update.

If you can’t do this, contact Pulse8 and they will do this for you or guide you through the process.

As well as upgrading the software, if you have had the same hardware for a long period, it may be worth talking to Pulse8 to ask for a hardware upgrade.

Is the problem external to your home (at the exchange)?

This is probably the most common reason for Pulse8 broadband performance problems in your home and it’s more common for broadband connections that are delivered via copper phone lines.

If you are not sure if this is applicable to you, contact Pulse8 who will be able to run the relevant connection tests to check if there is a problem on the Pulse8 internet line.

Is the performance issue due to Pulse8 broadband congestion?

If you are finding that the Pulse8 broadband connection speed in your area is slows down during certain periods i.e. over weekends and evenings, it may be because of congestion during peak times.

• What is Broadband Contention Ratio and does Pulse8 have contention?

You should speak to Pulse8 to check your minimum speed.

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Re-testing your Pulse8 broadband connection

After the problem has been resolved either by yourself or Pulse8, re-test the internet connection using  at least 2 separate Speedtests to ensure the fault is fixed:

• • How to the ookla internet broadband speed test to test your Pulse8 broadband
  • Check your Pulse8 internet speed using Ookla Offical Speed Test
  • Test your Pulse8 broadbandspeed using fast.com speed test
  • Check My Broadband Speed Checker Pulse8 internet speed checker
  • • 0845UK Internet Speed test and troubleshooting