How to troubleshoot ionNet broadband speed problems

Before you begin troubleshooting the speed of your ionNet internet connection, we suggest that you run a ionNet Internet Speed Test to benchmark your current broadband speed.

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

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

Possible causes of ionNet’s slow internet speed

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

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

The speed problem could be due to over-utilization of your system resources i.e RAM/memory/CPU Processor and not an issue with ionNet’s internet connection.

If you’re 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 should hopefully terminate all applications that may have been using up your systems resources.

Re-run the ionNet Speed test on your personal computer and your phone to check how the speedtest results compare between the two devices.

This should hopefully provide you with some info to work with in terms of whether the problem is with your PC/Smartphone or the ionNet internet connection.

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

Is your wireless the cause of the slowness?

The root cause of the performance issue could be your Wifi network and not the ionNet broadband internet connection.

You could rule out the wireless by connecting your computer directly to the ionNet broadband router with a network cable and then run the ionNet Speedtest again.

If the speed is better when you’re connected by an ethernet cable, this proves that the problem could be with your Wi-Fi network.

Possible things to investigate:

• Are the WiFi channels that you are using for your Wifi network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbours?
• Is your wireless signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does your speed improve when your are stood directly in-front of the ionNet internet router?

Who is connected to my Wi-Fi network?

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

Others could be using your Wifi network and using up all your ionNet bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos over your ionNet broadband connection! Worse still, they may be conducting illegal activities over your ionNet internet connection.

There are three applications that you can utlise to scan your Wi-Fi network to check who is connected:

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

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

• How to see who is on your ionNet Wifi network

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

You may discover that you have Wi-Fi black spots in your house, a Wi-Fi network extender aka a Wifi Booster is the best fix to increase your wireless signal to cover any black spots.

• Cheapest Wifi Signal Extenders

The wireless booster simply picks up your existing wireless network signal as it is starting to become weaker and re-transmits the wireless network signal to extend it’s coverage.

Position the Wi-Fi network booster/extender where your wireless signal from your ionNet internet router is starting to become weaker.

Place it approximately where your wireless signal is dropping down to two signal bars. Walk around your property with a smartphone to try and establish where this is.

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

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

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

If you cannot do this, get in touch with ionNet and they will be able to perform the upgrade for you or alternatively, guide you through the process.

As well as updating the software, if you have had the same hardware for a long time, it is worth speaking to ionNet to request for a router upgrade.

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

This is probably the most common cause for ionNet broadband performance problems in your area and is more common for internet broadband connections that are delivered via phone lines.

If you’re not sure if this is relevant in your case, contact ionNet who will be able to conduct the appropriate connection tests to see if there is a issue on the ionNet internet line.

Is it due to ionNet broadband congestion?

If you’re finding that the ionNet internet connection speed in your area is slow during certain times i.e. weekends or during the evening, then it may be because of congestion during peak times.

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

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

Re-testing your ionNet internet connection

After the problem has been fixed either by yourself or ionNet, re-test your internet connection using  at least 2 separate Speedtests to ensure the problem is resolved:

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