How to troubleshoot Sky broadband performance issues

Before you begin troubleshooting the speed of your Sky internet connection, we suggest that you run a Sky Internet Speedtest to benchmark your current connection speed.

Also find out the minimum download speed that you have subscribed to from Sky.

You can get this information by checking a Sky broadband bill, your Sky contract or by contacting Sky.

Possible causes of Sky’s slow broadband performance

Is it your Sky broadband that is running slow or could it be your device (PC/laptop/phone)?

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

The performance problem could be due to the over-utilisation of your system resources e.g RAM/memory/CPU Processor and not an issue with Sky’s broadband connection.

If you’re on a computer then you can use the task manager to see your Processor and Memory utilisation.

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

Run the Sky Speedtest on your computer and your mobile to see how the results differ between the 2 devices.

Hopefully this should give you some info to work with in terms of whether the problem lies with your device or the Sky internet connection.

• What exactly does the Sky download and upload speed mean?
• Who’s the best Broadband Service Provider in the UK?
• 5 tips to speed up your Sky Internet speed
• Simple DNS tip to speed up internet browsing speed on Sky

Is your Wi-Fi network the reason for the issues?

The cause of the performance problem may be your Wifi and not the Sky broadband connection.

You could rule out the wireless network by simply connecting your PC directly to the Sky broadband router with an ethernet cable and run the Sky Speedtest again.

If the performance improves when you’re connected by an ethernet cable, this suggests that the issue could be with your internal wireless network.

A few other things to look further into:

• Are the WiFi channels that you are using for your Wifi network network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbours?
• Is your Wifi signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does your speed get better when you’re stood directly infront of the Sky broadband router?

Exactly who’s connected to my Wi-Fi network?

Have you checked that your Wifi network password has not been hacked? Do you have an open Wi-Fi network? How strong is your Wi-Fi network password? It may be time to update it.

Others could be on your Wi-Fi network and eating up all your Sky speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos on your Sky internet connection! Worse than that, they could be carrying out illegal activities on your Sky broadband connection.

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

• Microsoft users can use Wireless network watcher
• IOS users can use whoFi (who is on my Wifi)
• WiFi scanning tool WiFi Analyzer

The above applications scan your Wifi network and show you a list of the everything on your wifi.

• How to see who is on your Sky Wifi network

Do I need a Wi-Fi network booster for my Sky broadband?

You may discover that you have Wi-Fi black holes at your property, a Wifi extender also known as a wireless Booster is the best fix to strengthen your Wifi signal to cover any coverage gaps.

• Best Wi-Fi Signal Boosters

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

Place the Wi-Fi network extender near the position where your Wi-Fi network signal from the Sky broadband router is becoming weaker.

Position it near where your Wi-Fi network signal drops down to less than two signal bars. Walk around your property with a tablet to try and establish where this location is.

When was the last time you upgraded the Sky broadband router?

The Sky and broadband infrastructure, in general, are frequently updated to provide new features and improve performance as technology evolves.  Always ensure that the Sky broadband internet router is running on the latest software.

Most Sky broadband routers will allow you to perform the software update by logging into the Sky broadband router and simply clicking a button to do the upgrade.

If you can’t do this, contact Sky and they will be able to 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 is worth speaking to Sky to ask for a router upgrade.

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

This is probably the most likely reason for Sky broadband performance issues in your home and it’s more common for broadband connections that are delivered via phone lines.

If you are not sure if this is applicable to you, you should contact Sky who will be able to carry out the appropriate line checks to see if there is a issue on the Sky internet connection.

Is it because of Sky Internet congestion?

If you are finding that the Sky internet connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods i.e. weekends or during the evening, it may be because of congestion during peak hours.

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

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

Find Best Alternatives to Sky Broadband

 

Re-testing your Sky internet connection

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

• • How to the ookla internet broadband speed test to test your Sky broadband
  • Test your Sky internet speed using Ookla Offical Speed Test
  • Test your Sky broadbandspeed using fast.com speed test
  • Check My Broadband Speed Checker Sky broadband speed checker
  • • 0845UK Broadband Speedtest and troubleshooting