How to troubleshoot O2 internet performance issues

Before you start troubleshooting the performance of your O2 internet connection, we recommend that you perform a O2 Internet Speedtest to confirm your current internet speed.

It is a good idea to also confirm the guaranteed minimum download speed that you are paying for from O2.

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

Possible causes of O2’s slow broadband performance

Is it the O2 broadband that is slow or is it your device (laptop/smartphone/PC)?

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

The performance problem may be due to over-utilization of your device’s resources i.e RAM/memory/CPU Processor and as opposed to an issue with O2’s internet connection.

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

On any other device, you should try restarting the device which hopefully should terminate all programs that may have been hogging system resources.

Re-run the O2 Speed checker on your computer and your phone to check how the speedtest results differ between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully provide you with some info to work with in terms of if the issue is with your device or the O2 internet connection.

• What exactly does the O2 download and upload speed mean?
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• 5 ways to improve your O2 broadband performance
• DNS tip to improve internet browsing speed on O2

Is your wireless the issue?

The root cause of the performance issue could be your wireless network as opposed to the O2 internet connection.

You can rule out the wireless network by simply connecting your PC directly into the O2 broadband router using a network cable and then run the O2 Speed test again.

If the result is better when you are connected by a network cable, this proves that the issue could be with your internal wireless network.

A number of things to look further into:

• Are the WiFi channels that you’re using for your Wifi network network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbors?
• Is your Wifi network signal from the wireless router obstructed?
• Does your speed improve when you’re standing directly infront of the O2 broadband router?

Who’s connected to my Wifi network?

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

Neighbours could be on your wireless network and eating up all the O2 speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or video over your O2 broadband connection! Worse still, they could be carrying out illegal activities using your O2 broadband connection.

There are 3 apps that you can potentially use to analyse your Wifi network to check who’s connected:

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

The above apps will scan your wireless network and show you a list of the devices connected.

• How to see who’s on your O2 Wi-Fi network

Do I need a Wifi booster for my O2 broadband?

You may discover that you have Wi-Fi coverage gaps at your home, a Wi-Fi network extender aka a wireless Booster may be the best fix to boost your Wi-Fi signal to cover any black holes.

• Best Wi-Fi Signal Boosters

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

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

Place it approximately where your Wifi 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 O2 broadband router?

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

The majority of O2 internet routers will allow you to perform the software update by simply logging on the O2 broadband router and simply clicking 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 the process.

In addition to updating the software, if you have had hardware for a long period, it’s probably worth talking to O2 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 O2 broadband performance issues in your property and it’s more common for broadband connections that are delivered via copper phone lines.

If you’re not sure if this is relevant in your case, you should contact O2 who will be able to run the relevant line tests to see if there is a issue on the O2 broadband line.

Is it because of O2 broadband congestion?

If you’re finding that the O2 internet connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods i.e. weekends or evenings, then it may be due to congestion during peak hours.

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

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

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Re-testing your O2 broadband connection

After the issue has been resolved either by yourself or O2, re-test your internet connection using  at least 2 separate Speedtests to ensure the problem is resolved:

• • Use the ookla internet broadband speed test to test your O2 broadband
  • Test your O2 connection 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 Broadband Speedtest and troubleshooting