Troubleshooting ICUK broadband speed problems

Before you start troubleshooting the performance of your ICUK internet connection, we recommend that you run a ICUK Broadband Speedtest to confirm your current internet speed.

It is a good idea to also confirm the guaranteed minimum download speed you have subscribed to from ICUK.

You can get this info by checking a ICUK broadband bill, your ICUK contract or by contacting ICUK.

Possible causes of ICUK’s slow internet performance

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

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

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

If you’re on a computer then you may use the task manager to check your CPU and Memory utilisation.

On any other device, you should try rebooting the device which should hopefully shut down all applications that may be hogging system resources.

Re-run the ICUK Speed checker on your computer and your mobile to check how the results differ between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully give you more information to help determine if the issue is with your PC/Smartphone or the ICUK internet connection.

• What exactly does the ICUK download and upload speed mean?
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• Five ways to improve your ICUK broadband performance
• Simple DNS tip to speed up internet browsing speed on ICUK

Is your Wi-Fi network the cause of the issue?

The cause of the performance issue may be your Wi-Fi network as opposed to the ICUK broadband internet connection.

You could rule out the wireless by simply connecting your PC directly to the ICUK broadband router using a network cable and then run the ICUK Speed test again.

If the speed improves when you’re connected via a network cable, this proves that the problem may be with your Wifi.

A few other things to look further into:

• Are the WiFi channels that you are using for your Wifi network network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbours?
• Is your Wifi signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does your performance get better when your are standing right infront of the ICUK internet router?

Exactly who’s connected to my Wi-Fi network?

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

Neighbors could be on your Wi-Fi network and eating up all the ICUK speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos on your ICUK broadband connection! Worse still, they could be conducting illegal activities using your ICUK broadband connection.

Here are three apps that you can use to analyse your Wifi network to check who’s connected:

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

The above applications will scan your wireless network and display a list of the everything on your wifi.

• How to check who is on your ICUK wireless network

Should I get a wireless network booster for my ICUK broadband?

If you discover that there are Wi-Fi black spots in your property, a wireless network extender aka a Wi-Fi Booster may be the best fix to boost your Wifi signal to cover any black spots.

• Best Wireless Signal Extenders

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

Place the Wifi booster where your wireless signal from your ICUK internet router is becoming weaker.

Place it approximately where your wireless signal drops down to 2 signal bars. Walk around your property with a mobile phone to determine where this location is.

When did you last upgrade the ICUK broadband router?

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

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

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

As well as updating the software, if you have had router for a long period, it’s probably worth speaking to ICUK to request for a hardware upgrade.

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

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

If you are unsure if this is applicable to you, you should contact ICUK who should be able to conduct the appropriate line checks to check if there is a issue on the ICUK internet connection.

Is the performance issue because of ICUK Internet congestion?

If you are finding that the ICUK internet connection speed in your area is slow during certain times i.e. weekends and evenings, then it may be because of congestion during peak times.

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

You should speak to ICUK to check your minimum speed.

Re-testing your ICUK internet connection

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

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