Troubleshooting Spectrum Internet broadband performance problems

Before starting to troubleshoot the performance of your Spectrum Internet broadband connection, we recommend that you perform a Spectrum Internet Internet Speedtest to measure your current internet speed.

You may also want to find out the guaranteed minimum download speed that you are paying for from Spectrum Internet.

You can find this information by checking a Spectrum Internet broadband bill, your Spectrum Internet contract or by contacting Spectrum Internet.

Probable causes of Spectrum Internet’s slow broadband speed

Is it your Spectrum Internet internet connection that is running slow or is it your device (laptop/smartphone/PC)?

You need to consider the number of apps are currently running on your device.

The performance issue may be due to the over-utilisation of your device’s resources i.e Memory/CPU and not an issue with Spectrum Internet’s broadband connection.

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

On other device, you could try restarting the device which should hopefully shutdown all apps that may be using up system resources.

Re-run the Spectrum Internet Speedtest on your personal computer and your mobile phone to see how the results compare between the two devices.

This should hopefully give you some info to work with in terms of whether the issue is with your PC/Smartphone or the Spectrum Internet internet connection.

• What exactly does the Spectrum Internet download and upload speed mean?
• Who is the best Broadband Service Provider in the UK?
• 5 ways to speed up your Spectrum Internet broadband speed
• Simple DNS hack to improve internet browsing speed on Spectrum Internet

Is your Wifi the cause of the performance issue?

The root cause of the performance issue may be your wireless and not the Spectrum Internet broadband connection.

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

If the performance improves when you are connected via an ethernet cable, this indicates that the problem could be with your Wifi network.

Possible things to check:

• Are the WiFi channels that you are using for your Wifi network network (SSID) overlapping with the neighbors?
• Is your wireless signal from the wireless router obstructed?
• Does your performance get better when you’re stood right in-front of the Spectrum Internet internet router?

Who’s connected to my Wi-Fi network?

Have you checked that your wireless network password has not been compromised? Do you have an open Wifi network? How complex is your Wifi network password? It may be time to update it.

Others could be using your wireless network and eating up all the Spectrum Internet speed by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or videos over your Spectrum Internet broadband connection! Worse than that, they could be conducting illegal activities using your Spectrum Internet internet connection.

There are three applications to utlise to scan your Wi-Fi 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 scanning tool WiFi Analyzer

The above software analyse your wireless network and produce a list of the devices connected.

• How to see who’s on your Spectrum Internet wireless network

Do I need a wireless booster for my Spectrum Internet broadband?

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

• Cheapest Wi-Fi Signal Extenders

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

Place the Wi-Fi network booster near the position where your Wi-Fi network signal from the Spectrum Internet internet router is becoming weaker.

Place it approximately where your wireless signal is dropping down to less than 2 bars. Walk around your house with a mobile phone to determine where this is.

When did you last upgrade the Spectrum Internet broadband router?

The Spectrum Internet and broadband infrastructure, in general, are constantly upgraded to provide new features and improve reliability as technology evolves.  Ensure that the Spectrum Internet internet router is running on the most up to date software.

Most Spectrum Internet internet routers will allow you to perform the software upgrade by simply logging on the Spectrum Internet broadband router and simply clicking a button to do the upgrade.

If you can’t do this, contact Spectrum Internet and they will be able to perform the upgrade for you or alternatively, guide you through performing the upgrade yourself.

In addition to updating the software, if you have had hardware for a long time, it may be worth speaking to Spectrum Internet to ask for a hardware upgrade.

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

This is probably the most likely reason for Spectrum Internet broadband performance issues in your area and is more common with broadband connections that are delivered using copper phone lines.

If you’re unsure if this is relevant in your case, contact Spectrum Internet who should be able to conduct the relevant line checks to see if there is a issue on the Spectrum Internet internet connection.

Is the issue because of Spectrum Internet broadband congestion?

If you’re finding that the Spectrum Internet internet connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods i.e. weekends and during the evening, then it may be due to congestion during peak times.

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

You should speak to Spectrum Internet to find out your guaranteed speed.

Re-testing your Spectrum Internet broadband connection

After the fault has been resolved either by yourself or Spectrum Internet, 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 Spectrum Internet connection
  • Check your Spectrum Internet internet speed using Ookla Offical Speed Test
  • Test your Spectrum Internet broadbandspeed using fast.com speed test
  • Check My Broadband Speed Checker Spectrum Internet internet speed checker
  • • 0845UK Broadband Speed Checker and troubleshooting