How to troubleshoot HiWiFi broadband speed problems

Before you begin troubleshooting the performance of your HiWiFi broadband connection, we suggest that you perform a HiWiFi Broadband Speed Test to confirm your current internet speed.

Also confirm the guaranteed minimum download speed that you on your broadband package from HiWiFi.

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

Likely causes of HiWiFi’s slow internet speed

Is it your HiWiFi internet connection that is running slow or is it your device (laptop/smartphone/PC)?

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

The performance issue could be due to over-utilisation of your device’s resources e.g Memory/CPU Processor and as opposed to a problem with HiWiFi’s broadband connection.

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

On any other device, you should try rebooting the device which hopefully should terminate all applications that may have been hogging system resources.

Re-run the HiWiFi Speed test on your PC and your mobile phone to see how the speed test results compare between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully give you more info to work with in terms of whether the problem lies with your device or the HiWiFi broadband connection.

• What does the HiWiFi download and upload speed mean?
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Is your wireless the cause of the slowness?

The cause of the performance issue may be your Wifi and not the HiWiFi internet connection.

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

If the speed test result improves when you’re connected using a network cable, this suggests that the problem could be with your Wifi.

A number of things to look further into:

• Are the Wireless channels that you’re using for your Wifi network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbors?
• Is the Wi-Fi network signal from the wireless router obstructed?
• Does your performance improve when you’re standing directly infront of the HiWiFi broadband router?

Exactly who’s connected to my Wifi network?

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

Others could be using your Wi-Fi network and using up all the HiWiFi bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or video on your HiWiFi broadband connection! Worse than that, they may be carrying out illegal activities using your HiWiFi internet connection.

Here are three apps to use to analyse your Wifi network to see who is connected:

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

The above software analyse your Wifi network and produce a list of the devices connected.

• How to check who’s on your HiWiFi Wifi network

Do I need a Wi-Fi network booster for my HiWiFi broadband?

You may find that there are Wi-Fi coverage gaps at your property, a Wifi extender also known as a Wifi Booster is the best fix to increase your Wi-Fi signal to cover any coverage holes.

• Cheapest Wifi Signal Boosters

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

Position the Wi-Fi network booster/extender near the position where your wireless network signal from the HiWiFi internet router is becoming weaker.

Position it approximately where your Wifi signal is dropping down to less than two signal bars. Walk around your home with a tablet to find where this is.

When was the last time you upgraded the HiWiFi broadband router?

The HiWiFi and broadband infrastructure, in general, are frequently updated to support new features and improve performance as technology evolves.  Ensure that your HiWiFi internet router is running on the most up-to-date software.

Most HiWiFi broadband routers allow you to carry out the software upgrade by logging into the HiWiFi broadband router and simply clicking a button to do the update.

If you cannot do this, get in touch with HiWiFi and they will perform the upgrade for you or guide you through performing the upgrade yourself.

As well as upgrading the software, if you have had the same hardware for a long period, it may be worth speaking to HiWiFi to request for a hardware upgrade.

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

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

If you are not sure if this is applicable to you, you should contact HiWiFi who will be able to run the appropriate line tests to see if there is a fault on the HiWiFi internet line.

Is the issue because of HiWiFi Internet congestion?

If you’re finding that the HiWiFi internet connection speed in your area is slow during certain times e.g weekends and evenings, it may be due to congestion during peak hours.

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

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

Test your HiWiFi broadband connection

After the fault has been resolved either by yourself or HiWiFi, retest the internet connection using  at least 2 independent Speedtests to ensure the fault is fixed:

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