How to troubleshoot Plusnet broadband speed issues

Before starting to troubleshoot the speed of your Plusnet internet connection, we suggest that you perform a Plusnet Broadband Speedtest to benchmark your current broadband speed.

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

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

Common causes of Plusnet’s slow internet speed

Is it the Plusnet broadband that is running slow or is it your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

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

The speed problem may be due to the over-utilisation of your system resources i.e Memory/CPU Processor and not an issue with Plusnet’s broadband connection.

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

On any other device, you could try rebooting the device which hopefully will kill all applications that may have been using up your systems resources.

Re-run the Plusnet Speed checker on your computer and your phone to see how the speed test results compare between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully provide you with more information to help determine if the problem lies with your PC/Smartphone or the Plusnet broadband connection.

• What does the Plusnet download and upload speed mean?
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Is your wireless network the reason for the issues?

The root cause of the performance problem could be your wireless network and not the Plusnet internet connection.

You can rule out the wireless by connecting your computer directly to the Plusnet broadband router with an ethernet cable and run the Plusnet Speed test again.

If the performance improves when you are connected using a network cable, this indicates that the issue could be with the internal wireless network.

Possible things to look further into:

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

Who is connected to my wireless network?

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

Neighbors could be on your Wifi network and using up all the Plusnet speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos on your Plusnet internet connection! Worse than that, they could be carrying out illegal activities using your Plusnet internet connection.

There are 3 applications to utlise to scan your Wi-Fi network to check who’s connected:

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

The above apps analyse your Wifi network and display a list of the connected devices.

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

Should I get a Wi-Fi network booster for my Plusnet broadband?

You may find that there are wireless coverage holes at your home, a Wifi network extender also known as a Wi-Fi Booster may be the best fix to increase your Wi-Fi signal to cover any black holes.

• Best Wireless Signal Boosters

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

Place the Wifi booster near where your Wi-Fi network signal from your Plusnet broadband router is starting to become weaker.

Place it near where your Wifi network signal drops down to two bars. Walk around your property with a tablet to find where this is.

When did you last upgrade the Plusnet internet router?

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

The majority of Plusnet internet routers allow you to carry out the software update by simply logging on the Plusnet broadband router and simply clicking a button to perform the upgrade.

If you can’t do this, contact Plusnet and they will perform the upgrade for you or talk you through performing the upgrade yourself.

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

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

This is probably the most likely cause for Plusnet broadband performance issues in your home and is more common with broadband connections that are delivered through copper phone lines.

If you’re not sure if this is applicable to you, contact Plusnet who will be able to carry out the relevant connection tests to check if there is a issue on the Plusnet internet connection.

Is the issue due to Plusnet Internet congestion?

If you’re finding that the Plusnet broadband connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods i.e. weekends and evenings, it may be because of congestion during peak times.

• What is Broadband Contention Ratio and does Plusnet have contention?

You should contact Plusnet to check your minimum speed.

Re-testing your Plusnet internet connection

After the fault has been fixed either by yourself or Plusnet, re-test the broadband connection using  at least 2 independent Speedtests to ensure the issue is fixed:

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