How to troubleshoot Firenet broadband performance issues

Before starting to troubleshoot the performance of your Firenet broadband connection, we recommend that you run a Firenet Internet Speed Test to measure your current internet speed.

Also confirm the minimum download speed you are paying for from Firenet.

You can get this information by checking your Firenet broadband bill, your Firenet contract or by contacting Firenet.

Possible causes of Firenet’s slow internet performance

Is it your Firenet broadband that is running slow or is it your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

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

The performance issue may be due to over-utilization of your system resources i.e RAM/CPU Processor and not a problem with Firenet’s broadband connection.

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

On any other device, you could try restarting the device which hopefully should shutdown all applications that may have been hogging your systems resources.

Re-run the Firenet Speed checker on your personal computer and your mobile to see how the results differ between the two devices.

Hopefully this should give you some information to help determine if the problem lies with your PC/Smartphone or the Firenet broadband connection.

• What exactly does the Firenet download and upload speed mean?
• Who’s the best Broadband Service Provider in the UK?
• 5 tips to speed up your Firenet Internet speed
• DNS hack to improve internet browsing speed on Firenet

Is your wireless the cause of the performance issue?

The cause of the performance problem may be your Wi-Fi network as opposed to the Firenet broadband connection.

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

If the speed checker result is better when you’re connected using a network cable, this indicates that the problem may be with the Wifi.

Possible things to look further into:

• Are the WiFi channels that you’re using for your Wi-Fi network network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbors?
• Is your wireless signal from the internet router obstructed?
• Does your speed improve when you’re standing directly infront of the Firenet wireless router?

Exactly who’s connected to my wireless network?

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

Neighbors could be using your Wifi network and eating up all your Firenet bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or video over your Firenet broadband connection! Worse than that, they may be conducting illegal activities using your Firenet internet connection.

Here are three apps that you can use to analyze your Wi-Fi network to see who is connected:

• Windows users can use Wireless network watcher
• Apple users can use whoFi (who is on my Wifi)
• WiFi troubleshooting application WiFi Analyzer

The above software analyse your wireless network and produce a list of the everything on your wifi.

• How to check who is on your Firenet Wi-Fi network

Should I get a Wifi network booster for my Firenet broadband?

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

• Best Wi-Fi Signal Extenders

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

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

Position it near where your Wifi signal drops down to two signal bars. Walk around your house with a tablet to find where this is.

When did you last upgrade the Firenet broadband router?

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

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

If you can’t do this, get in touch with Firenet and they will do this for you or talk you through performing the upgrade yourself.

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

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

This is probably the most common reason for Firenet broadband performance problems in your area and it’s more common with broadband connections that are delivered through copper phone lines.

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

Is the performance issue because of Firenet Internet congestion?

If you’re finding that the Firenet broadband connection speed in your area is slows down during certain times e.g weekends and during the evening, then it may be due to congestion during peak hours.

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

You should contact Firenet to check your minimum speed.

Re-testing your Firenet broadband connection

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

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