How to troubleshoot KCOM broadband speed problems

Before you begin troubleshooting the speed of your KCOM internet connection, we recommend that you run a KCOM Internet Speedtest to confirm your current connection speed.

Also confirm the guaranteed minimum download speed that you have subscribed to from KCOM.

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

Common causes of KCOM’s slow broadband performance

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

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

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

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

On other device, you should try restarting the device which hopefully will terminate all applications that may have been hogging your device resources.

Re-run the KCOM Speed checker on your personal computer and your mobile phone to see how the speedtest results differ between the 2 devices.

Hopefully this should provide you with some info to help determine whether the issue is with your PC/Smartphone or the KCOM broadband connection.

• What does the KCOM download and upload speed mean?
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• DNS hack to speed up internet browsing speed on KCOM

Is the wireless network the issue?

The cause of the performance problem may be your Wifi as opposed to the KCOM broadband internet connection.

You could rule out the wireless by simply connecting your PC directly to the KCOM broadband router using an ethernet cable and run the KCOM Speed test again.

If the speed checker result is better when you’re connected by a network cable, this suggests that the problem could be with your Wifi network.

Possible things to investigate:

• Are the Wireless channels that you’re using for your wireless network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbors?
• Is the Wifi signal from the wireless router obstructed?
• Does your speed improve when your are standing right in-front of the KCOM broadband router?

Who’s 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 complex is your Wifi network password? It could be time to change it.

Neighbours could be on your wireless network and using up all the KCOM speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or video over your KCOM broadband connection! Worse than that, they could be carrying out illegal activities using your KCOM internet connection.

Here are 3 apps that you can potentially utlise to analyse your wireless 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 scanning tool WiFi Analyzer

The above software will scan your wireless network and display a list of the devices connected.

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

Should I get a wireless booster for my KCOM broadband?

If you find that there are Wifi coverage gaps at your home, a wireless extender also known as a wireless Booster may be the best fix to boost your wireless signal to cover any black holes.

• Cheapest Wifi Signal Extenders

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

Position the wireless network booster near where your wireless signal from the KCOM internet router is starting to become weaker.

Position it near where your wireless signal drops down to less than two bars. Walk around your home with a tablet to try and establish where this location is.

When did you last upgrade the KCOM broadband router?

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

The majority of KCOM broadband routers will allow you to perform the software update by simply logging into the KCOM broadband router and simply clicking a button to perform the update.

If you can’t do this, get in touch with KCOM and they will perform the upgrade for you or alternatively, talk you through the process.

As well as updating the software, if you have had router for a long period, it may be worth talking to KCOM to ask for a router upgrade.

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

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

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

Is the issue because of KCOM broadband congestion?

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

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

You should contact KCOM to find out your guaranteed speed.

Test your KCOM internet connection

After the issue has been resolved either by yourself or KCOM, retest your internet connection using  at least two separate Speedtests to ensure the issue is fixed:

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