Troubleshooting South West Internet broadband speed issues

Before you start troubleshooting the performance of your South West Internet internet connection, we recommend that you perform a South West Internet Internet Speed Test to measure your current connection speed.

It is also a good idea find out the guaranteed minimum download speed that you on your broadband package from South West Internet.

You can find this info by checking a South West Internet broadband bill, your South West Internet contract or by contacting South West Internet.

Possible causes of South West Internet’s slow internet performance

Is it the South West Internet internet connection that is slow or is it your device (laptop/smartphone/PC)?

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

The speed issue could be due to over-utilization of your system resources e.g Memory/CPU and not a problem with South West Internet’s internet connection.

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

On other device, you should try rebooting the device which should hopefully terminate all applications that may have been using up system resources.

Re-run the South West Internet Speed test on your personal computer and your phone to check how the speedtest results differ between the 2 devices.

This should hopefully give you some info to work with in terms of whether the problem lies with your PC/Smartphone or the South West Internet broadband connection.

• What exactly does the South West Internet download and upload speed mean?
• Who’s the best Broadband Service Provider in the UK?
• Five tips to speed up your South West Internet broadband performance
• Simple DNS tip to improve internet browsing speed on South West Internet

Is the Wifi network the cause of the slowness?

The cause of the performance problem may be your internal Wifi network as opposed to the South West Internet internet connection.

You can rule out the wireless by simply connecting your PC directly to the South West Internet broadband router using a network cable and then run the South West Internet Speed checker again.

If the result improves when you are connected using a network cable, this proves that the issue could be with your wireless network.

A number of things to look further into:

• Are the Wireless channels that you are using for your wireless network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbours?
• Is the Wifi network signal from the internet router obstructed?
• Does your speed improve when your are standing directly infront of the South West Internet internet router?

Who is connected to my Wifi network?

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

Neighbors could be using your Wi-Fi network and using up all the South West Internet speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or video on your South West Internet internet connection! Worse still, they could be conducting illegal activities on your South West Internet broadband connection.

Here are 3 applications to use to scan your Wifi network to see who is connected:

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

The above applications scan your Wi-Fi network and show you a list of the devices connected.

• How to check who is on your South West Internet Wi-Fi network

Should I get a Wi-Fi network booster for my South West Internet broadband?

You may discover that you have Wifi coverage holes at your property, a Wifi network extender aka a Wi-Fi Booster may be the best solution to boost your Wifi signal to cover any coverage holes.

• Cheapest Wireless Signal Boosters

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

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

Place it near where your Wifi network signal drops down to less than 2 bars. Walk around your home with a smartphone to find where this is.

When did you last upgrade the South West Internet broadband router?

The South West Internet and broadband infrastructure, in general, are frequently upgraded to support new features and improve performance as technology evolves.  Ensure that the South West Internet internet router is running on the latest software.

Most South West Internet internet routers will allow you to carry out the software update by simply logging on the South West Internet broadband router and simply clicking a button to do the update.

If you can’t do this, get in touch with South West Internet and they will be able to perform the upgrade for you or talk you through performing the upgrade yourself.

As well as upgrading the software, if you have had router for a long time, it’s worth talking to South West Internet to request for a router upgrade.

Is the cause of the problem external to your home (at the exchange)?

This is probably the most common cause for South West Internet broadband performance issues in your property and it’s more common for internet broadband connections that are delivered using phone lines.

If you are not sure if this is relevant in your case, contact South West Internet who will be able to run the appropriate connection checks to check if there is a fault on the South West Internet broadband line.

Is the issue due to South West Internet Internet congestion?

If you are finding that the South West Internet internet connection speed in your area is slows down during certain times e.g over weekends or during the evening, then it may be due to congestion during peak hours.

• What is Broadband Contention Ratio and does South West Internet have contention?

You should contact South West Internet to check your guaranteed speed.

Re-testing your South West Internet internet connection

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

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