Troubleshooting SAQ internet speed issues

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

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

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

Probable causes of SAQ’s slow broadband performance

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

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

The speed problem could be due to over-utilization of your device’s resources e.g RAM/memory/CPU Processor and not a problem with SAQ’s broadband connection.

If you are on a laptop then you can use the task manager to see your Processor and Memory usage.

On any other device, you should try restarting the device which should hopefully kill all apps that may be using up your device resources.

Run the SAQ Speed checker on your computer and your phone to check how the results differ between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully give you some information to help determine whether the issue lies with your PC/Smartphone or the SAQ broadband connection.

• What does the SAQ download and upload speed mean?
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• 5 tips to speed up your SAQ broadband performance
• Simple DNS hack to speed up internet browsing speed on SAQ

Is the wireless network the reason for the issues?

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

You can rule out the Wifi by simply connecting your computer directly into the SAQ broadband router using an ethernet cable and run the SAQ Speed test again.

If the speed checker result improves when you’re connected using a network cable, this shows that the issue may be with the wireless.

A number of things to investigate:

• Are the WiFi channels that you’re using for your Wifi network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbors?
• Is your Wifi signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does the performance get better when you’re standing directly in-front of the SAQ wireless router?

Exactly 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 complex is your wireless network password? It may be time to change it.

Neighbors could be using your Wi-Fi network and using up all your SAQ bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos on your SAQ internet connection! Worse still, they could be carrying out illegal activities using your SAQ internet connection.

Here are 3 applications that you can potentially use to analyze your Wifi network to see who is connected:

• Windows users can use Wireless network watcher
• IOS users can use whoFi (who is on my Wifi)
• wireless network troubleshooting tool WiFi Analyzer

The above apps will scan your Wi-Fi network and produce a list of the everything on your wifi.

• How to check who is on your SAQ wireless network

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

If you discover that you have Wi-Fi coverage gaps in your property, a wireless network extender also known as a wireless Booster is the best solution to strengthen your Wi-Fi signal to cover any black spots.

• Cheapest Wireless Signal Boosters

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

Position the Wi-Fi network booster/extender near the position where your wireless network signal from your SAQ internet router is starting to become weaker.

Place it near where your wireless signal is dropping down to less than two bars. Walk around your home with a mobile phone to determine where this location is.

When did you last upgrade the SAQ broadband router?

The SAQ and broadband infrastructure, in general, are constantly upgraded to support new features and improve performance as technology evolves.  Always ensure that the SAQ broadband router is running the latest software.

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

If you cannot do this, get in touch with SAQ and they will be able to perform the upgrade for you or alternatively, guide you through the process.

In addition to updating the software, if you have had the same router for a long time, it may be worth talking to SAQ to ask for a hardware upgrade.

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

This is probably the most likely cause for SAQ broadband performance issues in your area and is more common for internet broadband connections that are delivered using phone lines.

If you’re unsure if this is relevant in your case, you should contact SAQ who will be able to conduct the appropriate line checks to check if there is a problem on the SAQ broadband connection.

Is the issue because of SAQ Internet congestion?

If you are finding that the SAQ broadband connection speed in your area is slows down during certain times i.e. weekends or during the evening, then it may be due to congestion during peak times.

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

You should contact SAQ to check your guaranteed speed.

Re-testing your SAQ broadband connection

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

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