How to troubleshoot Call Flow broadband speed problems

Before starting to troubleshoot the speed of your Call Flow internet connection, we suggest that you run a Call Flow Internet Speedtest to benchmark your current connection speed.

It is a good idea to also find out the minimum download speed you on your broadband package from Call Flow.

You can find this info by checking a Call Flow broadband bill, your Call Flow contract or by contacting Call Flow.

Common causes of Call Flow’s slow internet speed

Is it the Call Flow broadband that is slow or could it be your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

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

The speed issue may be due to over-utilisation of your system resources i.e RAM/CPU and not a problem with Call Flow’s internet connection.

If you are on a PC then you can use the task manager to check your CPU and RAM usage.

On other device, you could try rebooting the device which hopefully should kill all programs that may have been hogging your systems resources.

Re-run the Call Flow Speed test on your personal computer and your mobile phone to see how the speedtest results differ between the two devices.

This should hopefully give you some information to help determine whether the issue is with your PC/Smartphone or the Call Flow internet connection.

• What does the Call Flow download and upload speed mean?
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• 5 methods to improve your Call Flow Internet speed
• Simple DNS hack to improve internet browsing speed on Call Flow

Is your Wifi network the cause of the performance issue?

The cause of the performance problem may be your Wifi network as opposed to the Call Flow broadband connection.

You could rule out the Wi-Fi network by simply connecting your PC directly into the Call Flow broadband router using a network cable and run the Call Flow Speedtest again.

If the speed improves when you’re connected using an ethernet cable, this proves that the issue may be with your internal wireless network.

A number of things to investigate:

• Are the Wireless channels that you are using for your wireless network network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbors?
• Is the wireless network signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does your speed get better when your are standing right in-front of the Call Flow wireless router?

Who is connected to my Wifi network?

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

Others could be on your wireless network and using up all the Call Flow bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos over your Call Flow internet connection! Worse than that, they may be carrying out illegal activities over your Call Flow broadband connection.

Here are three applications that you can use to analyze 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 troubleshooting application WiFi Analyzer

The above software will scan your Wi-Fi network and display a list of the devices connected.

• How to see who is on your Call Flow wireless network

Do I need a Wifi network booster for my Call Flow broadband?

If you discover that there are Wi-Fi black holes at your property, a wireless network extender also known as a wireless Booster is the best solution to increase your Wifi signal to cover any black holes.

• Cheapest Wifi Signal Boosters

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

Place the Wifi booster where your Wifi network signal from your Call Flow internet router is starting to become weaker.

Position it approximately where your Wifi signal drops down to less than two signal bars. Walk around your home with a mobile phone to determine where this is.

When did you last upgrade the Call Flow internet router?

The Call Flow and broadband infrastructure, in general, are constantly upgraded to support new features and improve performance as technology evolves.  Always ensure that the Call Flow internet router is running the most up-to-date software.

Most Call Flow broadband routers will allow you to perform the software upgrade by logging on the Call Flow broadband router and simply clicking on a button to do the update.

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

As well as upgrading the software, if you have had hardware for a long time, it’s worth talking to Call Flow to ask for a router upgrade.

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

This is probably the most likely reason for Call Flow broadband performance issues in your area and it’s more common for internet broadband connections that are delivered using copper phone lines.

If you’re unsure if this is relevant in your case, you should contact Call Flow who should be able to conduct the relevant line tests to see if there is a issue on the Call Flow internet line.

Is the performance issue because of Call Flow broadband congestion?

If you’re finding that the Call Flow internet connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods e.g over weekends and during the evening, it may be due to congestion during peak times.

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

You should speak to Call Flow to find out your minimum speed.

Re-testing your Call Flow internet connection

After the fault has been resolved either by yourself or Call Flow, retest your internet connection using  at least two separate Speedtests to ensure the issue is fixed:

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