Troubleshooting Inmarsat broadband speed problems

Before you start troubleshooting the performance of your Inmarsat internet connection, we suggest that you run a Inmarsat Internet Speed Test to measure your current internet speed.

It is a good idea to also find out the guaranteed minimum download speed that you on your broadband package from Inmarsat.

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

Likely causes of Inmarsat’s slow broadband speed

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

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

The speed issue could be due to the over-utilization of your system resources e.g RAM/CPU Processor and as opposed to an issue with Inmarsat’s broadband connection.

If you’re on a laptop then you can use the task manager to see your CPU and RAM usage.

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

Re-run the Inmarsat Speedtest on your computer and your phone to see how the speedtest results compare between the 2 devices.

Hopefully this should give you some information to work with in terms of if the issue is with your PC/Smartphone or the Inmarsat broadband connection.

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

Is your wireless network the reason for the issues?

The cause of the performance issue could be your internal Wifi network and not the Inmarsat broadband connection.

You can rule out the Wifi by connecting your PC directly to the Inmarsat broadband router with an ethernet cable and run the Inmarsat Speed test again.

If the result is better when you’re connected using a network cable, this suggests that the issue may be with the internal wireless network.

A number of things to investigate:

• Are the Wireless channels that you are using for your wireless network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbors?
• Is your wireless signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does the speed get better when you’re stood right infront of the Inmarsat wireless router?

Who is connected to my wireless network?

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

Neighbours could be on your Wi-Fi network and using up all the Inmarsat bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos on your Inmarsat broadband connection! Worse than that, they could be conducting illegal activities on your Inmarsat internet connection.

There are 3 apps that you can potentially utlise to analyse your Wifi network to check who is connected:

• Microsoft 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 scan your wireless network and display a list of the connected devices.

• How to see who is on your Inmarsat wireless network

Do I need a wireless network booster for my Inmarsat broadband?

If you find that you have wireless black holes at your home, a wireless network extender aka a Wifi Booster is the best solution to strengthen your wireless signal to cover any coverage holes.

• Cheapest Wifi Signal Extenders

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

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

Place it approximately where your wireless network signal is dropping down to 2 signal bars. Walk around your home with a smartphone to determine where this is.

When did you last upgrade the Inmarsat broadband router?

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

Most Inmarsat internet routers will allow you to carry out the software upgrade by logging into the Inmarsat broadband router and simply clicking on a button to start the upgrade.

If you cannot do this, get in touch with Inmarsat and they will be able to do this for you or talk you through the process.

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

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

This is probably the most common cause for Inmarsat broadband performance issues in your home and it’s more common with broadband connections that are delivered via phone lines.

If you are unsure if this is relevant in your case, contact Inmarsat who will be able to conduct the appropriate connection tests to check if there is a issue on the Inmarsat broadband connection.

Is it because of Inmarsat broadband congestion?

If you’re finding that the Inmarsat broadband connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods e.g over weekends and during the evening, it may be because of congestion during peak times.

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

You should contact Inmarsat to check your guaranteed speed.

Test your Inmarsat broadband connection

After the problem has been fixed either by yourself or Inmarsat, retest the broadband connection using  at least 2 separate Speedtests to ensure the problem is fixed:

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