How to troubleshoot AVC Broadband internet performance problems

Before starting to troubleshoot the performance of your AVC Broadband internet connection, we suggest that you run a AVC Broadband Broadband Speedtest to confirm your current internet speed.

Also confirm the minimum download speed that you are paying for from AVC Broadband.

You can find this information by checking a AVC Broadband broadband bill, your AVC Broadband contract or by contacting AVC Broadband.

Potential causes of AVC Broadband’s slow internet speed

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

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

The performance issue may be due to the over-utilisation of your system resources i.e Memory/CPU Processor and not an issue with AVC Broadband’s internet connection.

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

On any other device, you could try rebooting the device which hopefully should shut down all programs that may have been using up your device resources.

Re-run the AVC Broadband Speed test on your personal computer and your phone to see how the results differ between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully give you some information to help determine whether the issue is with your PC/Smartphone or the AVC Broadband broadband connection.

• What does the AVC Broadband download and upload speed mean?
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• Five tips to improve your AVC Broadband broadband speed
• Simple DNS hack to speed up internet browsing speed on AVC Broadband

Is the Wifi the problem?

The root cause of the performance issue could be your wireless network and not the AVC Broadband internet connection.

You can rule out the Wifi network by simply connecting your PC directly into the AVC Broadband broadband router with an ethernet cable and run the AVC Broadband Speed test again.

If the speed checker result is better when you are connected by a network cable, this proves that the issue may be with the Wi-Fi network.

Possible things to investigate:

• Are the Wireless channels that you’re using for your Wi-Fi network network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbours?
• Is the wireless network signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does the performance get better when your are stood right in-front of the AVC Broadband broadband router?

Exactly who’s connected to my wireless network?

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

Neighbours could be using your Wifi network and using up all your AVC Broadband bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos on your AVC Broadband internet connection! Worse than that, they may be conducting illegal activities on your AVC Broadband broadband connection.

There are three applications that you can potentially use to scan your wireless network to see who’s connected:

• Microsoft users can use Wireless network watcher
• MAC users can use whoFi (who is on my Wifi)
• wireless network scanning application WiFi Analyzer

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

• How to see who’s on your AVC Broadband Wi-Fi network

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

If you discover that you have Wifi black holes in your house, a wireless network extender also known as a Wi-Fi Booster may be the best solution to strengthen your Wifi signal to cover any black spots.

• Cheapest Wifi Signal Boosters

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

Position the Wi-Fi network booster where your Wifi signal from the AVC Broadband internet router is starting to become weaker.

Position it near where your Wi-Fi network signal is dropping down to less than two signal bars. Walk around your house with a tablet to try and establish where this location is.

When did you last upgrade the AVC Broadband internet router?

The AVC Broadband and broadband infrastructure, in general, are constantly updated to provide new features and improve reliability as technology evolves.  Ensure that the AVC Broadband internet router is running the latest software.

Most AVC Broadband broadband routers will allow you to carry out the software update by logging into the AVC Broadband broadband router and simply clicking a button to do the update.

If you can’t do this, contact AVC Broadband and they will be able to perform the upgrade for you or alternatively, talk you through the process.

In addition to updating the software, if you have had router for a long time, it’s probably worth talking to AVC Broadband to ask for a router upgrade.

Is the problem outside your property (at the exchange)?

This is probably the most common cause for AVC Broadband broadband performance issues in your home and it’s more common with broadband connections that are delivered using phone lines.

If you are unsure if this is relevant in your case, you should contact AVC Broadband who should be able to carry out the relevant line tests to see if there is a problem on the AVC Broadband broadband connection.

Is the performance issue because of AVC Broadband broadband congestion?

If you are finding that the AVC Broadband internet connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods e.g over weekends or evenings, it may be because of congestion during peak hours.

• What’s Broadband Contention Ratio and does AVC Broadband have contention?

You should speak to AVC Broadband to find out your minimum speed.

Re-testing your AVC Broadband broadband connection

After the fault has been resolved either by yourself or AVC Broadband, retest your broadband connection using  at least 2 separate Speedtests to ensure the issue is resolved:

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