How to troubleshoot FreeZone broadband speed issues

Before you begin troubleshooting the performance of your FreeZone broadband connection, we recommend that you run a FreeZone Broadband Speed Test to confirm your current broadband speed.

You may also want to confirm the minimum download speed you are paying for from FreeZone.

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

Likely causes of FreeZone’s slow internet speed

Is it the FreeZone broadband that is slow or could it be your device (laptop/smartphone/PC)?

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

The speed issue may be due to over-utilisation of your system resources e.g RAM/memory/CPU Processor and as opposed to an issue with FreeZone’s internet connection.

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

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

Re-run the FreeZone Speed checker on your computer and your mobile phone to check how the speed test results differ between the two devices.

Hopefully this should provide you with more information to work with in terms of whether the problem lies with your device or the FreeZone broadband connection.

• What does the FreeZone download and upload speed mean?
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• 5 ways to speed up your FreeZone broadband speed
• Simple DNS hack to speed up internet browsing speed on FreeZone

Is your Wi-Fi network the issue?

The cause of the performance issue may be your wireless network as opposed to the FreeZone broadband internet connection.

You can rule out the Wifi by connecting your computer directly to the FreeZone broadband router using an ethernet cable and run the FreeZone Speed checker again.

If the speed is better when you are connected by a network cable, this shows that the problem may be with your internal wireless network.

A number of things to look further into:

• Are the Wireless channels that you are using for your Wi-Fi network network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbours?
• Is the Wifi signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does the performance improve when your are standing directly in-front of the FreeZone wireless router?

Exactly who’s connected to my wireless network?

Have you checked that your Wifi network password has not been shared? 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 wireless network and using up all the FreeZone speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos on your FreeZone internet connection! Worse than that, they may be conducting illegal activities on your FreeZone internet connection.

There are 3 applications to use to scan your wireless network to check who’s connected:

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

The above software analyse your Wifi network and display a list of the everything on your wifi.

• How to check who’s on your FreeZone Wi-Fi network

Do I need a Wifi network booster for my FreeZone broadband?

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

• Cheapest Wi-Fi Signal Boosters

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

Place the Wi-Fi network booster near the position where your wireless signal from your FreeZone broadband router is becoming weaker.

Place it near where your wireless network signal is dropping down to less than two bars. Walk around your home with a smartphone to determine where this location is.

When did you last upgrade the FreeZone broadband router?

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

The majority of FreeZone broadband routers will allow you to carry out the software upgrade by logging on the FreeZone broadband router and simply clicking on a button to start the upgrade.

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

In addition to updating the software, if you have had the same hardware for a long time, it is worth speaking to FreeZone to request for a router upgrade.

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

This is probably the most likely reason for FreeZone broadband performance issues in your home and is more common with broadband connections that are delivered via phone lines.

If you’re not sure if this is applicable to you, you should contact FreeZone who should be able to run the appropriate line tests to see if there is a fault on the FreeZone broadband connection.

Is it because of FreeZone Internet congestion?

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

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

You should speak to FreeZone to check your minimum speed.

Test your FreeZone broadband connection

After the problem has been fixed either by yourself or FreeZone, re-test the broadband connection using  at least two independent Speedtests to ensure the problem is fixed:

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