Troubleshooting On-Communications internet performance problems

Before starting to troubleshoot the speed of your On-Communications broadband connection, we suggest that you perform a On-Communications Internet Speed Test to measure your current broadband speed.

It is also a good idea find out the guaranteed minimum download speed you are paying for from On-Communications.

You can find this information by checking your On-Communications broadband bill, your On-Communications contract or by contacting On-Communications.

Probable causes of On-Communications’s slow internet speed

Is it your On-Communications internet connection that is running slow or is it your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

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

The speed problem could be due to over-utilization of your system resources i.e Memory/CPU Processor and not an issue with On-Communications’s broadband connection.

If you are on a laptop then you may use the task manager to check your Processor and RAM utilisation.

On any other device, you could try restarting the device which hopefully should kill all apps that may have been hogging your systems resources.

Run the On-Communications Speedtest on your personal computer and your mobile to check how the results differ between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully give you some information to work with in terms of if the issue lies with your PC/Smartphone or the On-Communications internet connection.

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

Is your wireless network the cause of the slowness?

The cause of the performance issue may be your Wifi network as opposed to the On-Communications broadband connection.

You can rule out the Wifi by simply connecting your PC directly into the On-Communications broadband router with a network cable and then run the On-Communications Speed checker again.

If the speed test result is better when you’re connected via an ethernet cable, this suggests that the issue could be with your Wifi.

Possible things to check:

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

Who’s connected to my Wi-Fi network?

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

Others could be using your Wi-Fi network and eating up all your On-Communications speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos on your On-Communications broadband connection! Worse still, they could be conducting illegal activities on your On-Communications internet connection.

Here are 3 applications to use to scan your wireless network to check who’s connected:

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

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

• How to see who is on your On-Communications Wi-Fi network

Do I need a Wifi network booster for my On-Communications broadband?

If you discover that you have Wifi black holes in your home, a Wi-Fi network extender also known as a Wi-Fi Booster may be the best solution to strengthen your Wifi signal to cover any black holes.

• Cheapest Wi-Fi Signal Extenders

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

Position the Wifi network extender near where your Wi-Fi network signal from the On-Communications internet router is starting to become weaker.

Place it near where your wireless network signal is dropping down to two bars. Walk around your property with a mobile phone to find where this location is.

When was the last time you upgraded the On-Communications broadband router?

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

Most On-Communications internet routers allow you to perform the software update by simply logging on the On-Communications broadband router and simply clicking on a button to do the update.

If you can’t do this, get in touch with On-Communications and they will do this for you or guide you through performing the upgrade yourself.

As well as updating the software, if you have had the same router for a long period, it may be worth speaking to On-Communications to request for a hardware upgrade.

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

This is probably the most likely cause for On-Communications broadband performance problems in your property and is more common with internet broadband connections that are delivered via phone lines.

If you’re not sure if this is relevant in your case, contact On-Communications who should be able to conduct the appropriate connection tests to see if there is a issue on the On-Communications broadband connection.

Is it because of On-Communications broadband congestion?

If you’re finding that the On-Communications broadband connection speed in your area is slows down during certain periods e.g weekends and during the evening, it may be due to congestion during peak times.

• What is Broadband Contention Ratio and does On-Communications have contention?

You should contact On-Communications to check your minimum speed.

Test your On-Communications internet connection

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

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