Troubleshooting Fasthosts internet speed issues

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

It is also a good idea find out the minimum download speed you are paying for from Fasthosts.

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

Possible causes of Fasthosts’s slow internet speed

Is it your Fasthosts internet connection that is slow or could it be your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

You need to check the number of apps are currently running on your device.

The speed problem could be due to the over-utilization of your system resources e.g RAM/memory/CPU and not an issue with Fasthosts’s broadband connection.

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

On other device, you could try rebooting the device which should hopefully shutdown all apps that may be hogging your device resources.

Re-run the Fasthosts Speedtest on your PC and your mobile to check how the speedtest results compare between the two devices.

This should hopefully give you more info to help determine if the problem lies with your PC/Smartphone or the Fasthosts broadband connection.

• What does the Fasthosts download and upload speed mean?
• Who is the best Internet Service Provider in the UK?
• Five methods to speed up your Fasthosts broadband performance
• Simple DNS hack to improve internet browsing speed on Fasthosts

Is your Wifi the cause of the slowness?

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

You could rule out the Wifi by connecting your PC directly into the Fasthosts broadband router with a network cable and then run the Fasthosts Speedtest again.

If the result is better when you’re connected by a network cable, this indicates that the problem may be with the wireless network.

A few other things to investigate:

• Are the WiFi channels that you are using for your wireless network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbors?
• Is the Wifi signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does your speed get better when your are stood directly infront of the Fasthosts broadband router?

Who is connected to my Wifi network?

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

Neighbours could be using your Wi-Fi network and using up all the Fasthosts bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or video over your Fasthosts broadband connection! Worse still, they could be conducting illegal activities over your Fasthosts broadband connection.

There are three apps that you can utlise to analyze your Wifi network to see who’s connected:

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

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

• How to see who’s on your Fasthosts wireless network

Do I need a Wifi booster for my Fasthosts broadband?

If you find that you have Wifi black holes at your property, a wireless network extender aka a Wifi Booster may be the best fix to strengthen your Wifi signal to cover any coverage gaps.

• Best Wifi Signal Boosters

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

Position the wireless network booster near where your Wi-Fi network signal from your Fasthosts internet router is becoming weaker.

Place it near where your Wifi network signal drops down to less than 2 signal bars. Walk around your house with a mobile phone to try and establish where this is.

When did you last upgrade the Fasthosts internet router?

The Fasthosts and broadband infrastructure, in general, are frequently upgraded to support new features and improve performance as technology evolves.  Always ensure that the Fasthosts internet router is running the latest software.

The majority of Fasthosts internet routers allow you to carry out the software upgrade by simply logging into the Fasthosts broadband router and simply clicking a button to start the upgrade.

If you cannot do this, contact Fasthosts and they will be able to do this for you or alternatively, guide you through performing the upgrade yourself.

In addition to updating the software, if you have had router for a long period, it is worth speaking to Fasthosts to ask for a hardware upgrade.

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

This is probably the most common reason for Fasthosts broadband performance issues in your home and it’s more common with internet broadband connections that are delivered through phone lines.

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

Is it because of Fasthosts Internet congestion?

If you are finding that the Fasthosts broadband connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods i.e. weekends or during the evening, then it may be because of congestion during peak hours.

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

You should speak to Fasthosts to find out your minimum speed.

Test your Fasthosts internet connection

After the fault has been resolved either by yourself or Fasthosts, re-test the broadband connection using  at least two separate Speedtests to ensure the fault is resolved:

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