Troubleshooting AOL internet speed problems

Before you start troubleshooting the performance of your AOL internet connection, we suggest that you run a AOL Broadband Speedtest to confirm your current connection speed.

Also find out the minimum download speed that you are paying for from AOL.

You can get this info by checking your AOL broadband bill, your AOL contract or by contacting AOL.

Probable causes of AOL’s slow internet speed

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

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

The performance problem could be due to the over-utilisation of your device’s resources e.g RAM/memory/CPU Processor and as opposed to an issue with AOL’s internet connection.

If you’re on a PC then you may use the task manager to check your Processor and Memory utilisation.

On other device, you could try restarting the device which hopefully will shut down all apps that may be using up your systems resources.

Run the AOL Speedtest on your computer and your phone to see how the results differ between the two devices.

This should hopefully provide you with more info to help determine if the problem is with your PC/Smartphone or the AOL broadband connection.

• What does the AOL download and upload speed mean?
• Who is the best Internet Service Provider in the UK?
• Five tips to improve your AOL Internet speed
• DNS tip to improve internet browsing speed on AOL

Is your Wifi network the cause of the slowness?

The cause of the performance problem may be your Wifi network and not the AOL broadband internet connection.

You could rule out the Wifi by connecting your computer directly to the AOL broadband router using an ethernet cable and run the AOL Speed test again.

If the result is better when you’re connected using a network cable, this proves that the problem could be with your wireless.

A number of things to investigate:

• Are the Wireless channels that you are using for your Wifi network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbours?
• Is the Wifi signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does the performance get better when you’re standing directly in-front of the AOL broadband router?

Who is connected to my Wi-Fi network?

Have you checked that your Wifi network password has not been hacked? Do you have an un-secured Wifi network? How secure is your Wifi network password? It could be time to change it.

Neighbors could be using your wireless network and using up all the AOL speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos over your AOL broadband connection! Worse still, they may be conducting illegal activities on your AOL broadband connection.

Here are three apps that you can potentially utlise to analyze your Wi-Fi network to check who is connected:

• Microsoft Windows users can use Wireless network watcher
• IOS users can use whoFi (who is on my Wifi)
• WiFi scanning tool WiFi Analyzer

The above applications analyse your Wi-Fi network and show you a list of the devices connected.

• How to see who’s on your AOL Wifi network

Do I need a wireless network booster for my AOL broadband?

If you find that there are wireless black holes in your property, a wireless network extender aka a Wi-Fi Booster is the best fix to boost your Wi-Fi signal to cover any black spots.

• Cheapest Wi-Fi Signal Extenders

The Wi-Fi network extender picks up the existing Wi-Fi network signal just as it is starting to become weaker and re-transmits the wireless signal to extend it’s coverage.

Place the Wi-Fi network booster/extender near the position where your Wifi signal from your AOL internet router is becoming weaker.

Position it approximately where your Wi-Fi network signal is dropping down to two signal bars. Walk around your home with a mobile phone to try and establish where this location is.

When did you last upgrade the AOL internet router?

The AOL and broadband infrastructure, in general, are constantly upgraded to support new features and improve reliability as technology evolves.  Ensure that the AOL broadband internet router is running on the latest software.

The majority of AOL internet routers will allow you to perform the software upgrade by logging on the AOL broadband router and simply clicking a button to start the update.

If you can’t do this, get in touch with AOL and they will be able to perform the upgrade for you or alternatively, guide you through performing the upgrade yourself.

As well as updating the software, if you have had hardware for a long period, it’s worth talking to AOL to request for a hardware upgrade.

Is the root cause of the issue outside your property (at the exchange)?

This is probably the most likely cause for AOL broadband performance problems in your home and it’s more common with internet broadband connections that are delivered using phone lines.

If you are unsure if this is applicable to you, contact AOL who should be able to carry out the relevant line tests to check if there is a fault on the AOL broadband connection.

Is the issue due to AOL broadband congestion?

If you’re finding that the AOL broadband connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods e.g over weekends or evenings, then it may be because of congestion during peak times.

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

You should speak to AOL to check your minimum speed.

Re-testing your AOL internet connection

After the issue has been fixed either by yourself or AOL, re-test the broadband connection using  at least two independent Speedtests to ensure the issue is resolved:

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