Troubleshooting O2 broadband speed issues

Before you begin troubleshooting the speed of your O2 broadband connection, we recommend that you run a O2 Broadband Speedtest to benchmark your current connection speed.

Also confirm the guaranteed minimum download speed you are paying for from O2.

You can find this information by checking a O2 broadband bill, your O2 contract or by contacting O2.

Potential causes of O2’s slow internet speed

Is it your O2 internet connection that is slow or is it your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

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

The speed issue could be due to the over-utilization of your system resources e.g RAM/CPU Processor and not a problem with O2’s internet connection.

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

On other device, you should try rebooting the device which should hopefully shut down all programs that may have been using up your device resources.

Run the O2 Speedtest on your computer and your mobile to see how the results differ between the two devices.

Hopefully this should give you more information to work with in terms of whether the problem is with your device or the O2 broadband connection.

• What exactly does the O2 download and upload speed mean?
• Who is the best Internet Service Provider in the UK?
• Five tips to improve your O2 Internet speed
• DNS tip to improve internet browsing speed on O2

Is your Wifi the cause of the issue?

The cause of the performance issue may be your wireless and not the O2 broadband internet connection.

You could rule out the Wifi network by simply connecting your PC directly to the O2 broadband router with a network cable and run the O2 Speed checker again.

If the speed checker result improves when you are connected by an ethernet cable, this indicates that the issue could be with your Wifi network.

A few other things to investigate:

• Are the WiFi channels that you’re using for your Wifi network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbours?
• Is the Wi-Fi network signal from the wireless router obstructed?
• Does the performance improve when your are standing right in-front of the O2 wireless router?

Who’s connected to my wireless network?

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

Others could be using your wireless network and eating up all your O2 speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or video over your O2 broadband connection! Worse than that, they may be carrying out illegal activities over your O2 internet connection.

There are 3 applications that you can potentially use to analyze your wireless network to check who’s 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 applications analyse your wireless network and display a list of the devices connected.

• How to see who’s on your O2 wireless network

Do I need a Wifi network booster for my O2 broadband?

If you discover that you have wireless coverage holes in your property, a wireless extender aka a Wifi Booster may be the best solution to strengthen your Wi-Fi signal to cover any coverage gaps.

• Best Wi-Fi Signal Extenders

The wireless network extender simply picks up the existing wireless signal just as it is starting to become weaker and re-transmits the Wifi network signal to extend it’s reach.

Position the Wifi network booster near where your Wifi network signal from the O2 broadband router is starting to become weaker.

Place it approximately where your Wifi signal drops down to less than 2 signal bars. Walk around your home with a tablet to determine where this location is.

When did you last upgrade the O2 broadband router?

The O2 and broadband infrastructure, in general, are frequently updated to support new features and improve reliability as technology evolves.  Always ensure that your O2 broadband internet router is running on the most up-to-date software.

The majority of O2 broadband routers allow you to perform the software update by logging on the O2 broadband router and simply clicking on a button to start the update.

If you cannot do this, get in touch with O2 and they will do this for you or alternatively, guide you through performing the upgrade yourself.

In addition to updating the software, if you have had router for a long period, it may be worth talking to O2 to ask for a router upgrade.

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

This is probably the most common reason for O2 broadband performance problems in your home and it’s more common with broadband connections that are delivered using phone lines.

If you are unsure if this is applicable to you, you should contact O2 who will be able to carry out the relevant line checks to check if there is a problem on the O2 broadband connection.

Is the performance issue due to O2 Internet congestion?

If you are finding that the O2 internet connection speed in your area is slows down during certain times e.g weekends or during the evening, then it may be because of congestion during peak times.

• What’s Broadband Contention Ratio and does O2 have contention?

You should speak to O2 to find out your guaranteed speed.

Test your O2 broadband connection

After the problem has been fixed either by yourself or O2, re-test the internet connection using  at least two separate Speedtests to ensure the issue is fixed:

• • Use the ookla internet broadband speed test to test your O2 connection
  • Test your O2 internet speed using Ookla Offical Speed Test
  • Test your O2 broadbandspeed using fast.com speed test
  • Check My Broadband Speed Checker O2 broadband speed checker
  • • 0845UK Internet Speed Checker and troubleshooting