Troubleshooting Fast4 broadband performance issues

Before you start troubleshooting the speed of your Fast4 broadband connection, we recommend that you run a Fast4 Broadband Speedtest to benchmark your current broadband speed.

It is a good idea to also find out the guaranteed minimum download speed that you on your broadband package from Fast4.

You can find this information by checking a Fast4 broadband bill, your Fast4 contract or by contacting Fast4.

Potential causes of Fast4’s slow internet speed

Is it your Fast4 broadband that is slow or is it your device (laptop/smartphone/PC)?

You may need to check how many applications are currently running on your device.

The performance issue may be due to the over-utilization of your system resources i.e Memory/CPU and not an issue with Fast4’s internet connection.

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

On any other device, you should try restarting the device which should hopefully kill all programs that may be using up your device resources.

Re-run the Fast4 Speedtest on your PC and your mobile to see how the results differ between the 2 devices.

Hopefully this should give you more information to help determine if the issue is with your PC/Smartphone or the Fast4 broadband connection.

• What does the Fast4 download and upload speed mean?
• Who’s the best Internet Service Provider in the UK?
• 5 ways to improve your Fast4 broadband speed
• DNS tip to speed up internet browsing speed on Fast4

Is your wireless network the cause of the issue?

The root cause of the performance issue may be your wireless network and not the Fast4 internet connection.

You could rule out the wireless network by connecting your computer directly to the Fast4 broadband router with a network cable and then run the Fast4 Speed test again.

If the speed checker result improves when you are connected using a network cable, this indicates that the problem may be with the wireless.

A number of things to look further into:

• Are the Wireless channels that you are using for your Wifi network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbors?
• Is your wireless signal from the internet router obstructed?
• Does your speed get better when your are standing directly in-front of the Fast4 wireless router?

Who is connected to my Wifi network?

Have you checked that your Wifi network password has not been hacked? Do you have an open Wifi network? How complex is your wireless network password? It may be time to change it.

Others could be using your Wifi network and eating up all your Fast4 bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos over your Fast4 broadband connection! Worse still, they could be conducting illegal activities using your Fast4 broadband connection.

There are three apps that you can potentially utlise to analyze your Wi-Fi network to check who’s connected:

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

The above apps scan your Wi-Fi network and produce a list of the everything on your wifi.

• How to see who is on your Fast4 Wi-Fi network

Do I need a wireless network booster for my Fast4 broadband?

If you discover that there are Wifi black holes in your house, a wireless network extender aka a wireless Booster is the best solution to strengthen your Wi-Fi signal to cover any black spots.

• Cheapest Wi-Fi Signal Boosters

The Wifi booster simply picks up the existing wireless network signal as it is starting to become weaker and re-transmits the wireless network signal to increase it’s reach.

Place the Wifi extender near the position where your Wifi signal from the Fast4 internet router is becoming weaker.

Place it approximately where your wireless signal drops down to two signal bars. Walk around your property with a tablet to find where this is.

When did you last upgrade the Fast4 broadband router?

The Fast4 and broadband infrastructure, in general, are constantly upgraded to support new features and improve performance as technology evolves.  Always ensure that the Fast4 broadband internet router is running the most up to date software.

Most Fast4 internet routers will allow you to carry out the software upgrade by logging on the Fast4 broadband router and simply clicking a button to perform the upgrade.

If you can’t do this, contact Fast4 and they will be able to perform the upgrade for you or alternatively, talk you through performing the upgrade yourself.

As well as updating the software, if you have had hardware for a long period, it may be worth talking to Fast4 to ask for a router upgrade.

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

This is probably the most likely cause for Fast4 broadband performance problems in your home and is more common for broadband connections that are delivered through phone lines.

If you are unsure if this is applicable to you, you should contact Fast4 who will be able to conduct the relevant connection checks to check if there is a fault on the Fast4 internet connection.

Is the issue because of Fast4 broadband congestion?

If you’re finding that the Fast4 internet connection speed in your area is slows down during certain periods e.g over weekends or during the evening, then it may be due to congestion during peak times.

• What’s Broadband Contention Ratio and does Fast4 have contention?

You should contact Fast4 to check your minimum speed.

Re-testing your Fast4 internet connection

After the fault has been fixed either by yourself or Fast4, re-test the internet connection using  at least 2 separate Speedtests to ensure the fault is fixed:

• • How to the ookla internet broadband speed checker to test your Fast4 connection
  • Test your Fast4 internet speed using Ookla Offical Speed Test
  • Test your Fast4 broadbandspeed using fast.com speed test
  • Check My Broadband Speed Checker Fast4 internet speed checker
  • • 0845UK Broadband Speed Checker and troubleshooting