How to troubleshoot UtilityWarehouse broadband speed problems

Before you begin troubleshooting the speed of your UtilityWarehouse internet connection, we recommend that you run a UtilityWarehouse Broadband Speedtest to measure your current broadband speed.

Also confirm the guaranteed minimum download speed that you on your broadband package from UtilityWarehouse.

You can find this info by checking your UtilityWarehouse broadband bill, your UtilityWarehouse contract or by contacting UtilityWarehouse.

Common causes of UtilityWarehouse’s slow internet speed

Is it your UtilityWarehouse internet connection that is running slow or could it be your device (laptop/smartphone/PC)?

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

The performance problem may be due to over-utilization of your device’s resources e.g Memory/CPU Processor and as opposed to an issue with UtilityWarehouse’s broadband connection.

If you’re on a laptop then you may use the task manager to check your CPU and Memory utilization.

On any other device, you should try restarting the device which should hopefully terminate all applications that may have been hogging system resources.

Re-run the UtilityWarehouse Speed checker on your PC and your mobile to check how the speed test results differ between the two devices.

This should hopefully give you some information to work with in terms of if the issue is with your device or the UtilityWarehouse broadband connection.

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

Is your wireless the reason for the issues?

The root cause of the performance problem may be your Wifi network and not the UtilityWarehouse internet connection.

You can rule out the wireless by connecting your PC directly to the UtilityWarehouse broadband router using an ethernet cable and run the UtilityWarehouse Speedtest again.

If the speed test result is better when you’re connected via an ethernet cable, this proves that the issue could be with your Wifi.

A few other things to check:

• Are the Wireless channels that you’re using for your Wifi network (SSID) overlapping with your neighbours?
• Is the Wi-Fi network signal from the broadband router obstructed?
• Does the speed get better when you’re standing right in-front of the UtilityWarehouse wireless router?

Who’s connected to my Wi-Fi network?

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

Neighbors could be using your wireless network and using up all the UtilityWarehouse bandwidth by downloading, uploading or even streaming music or video over your UtilityWarehouse broadband connection! Worse than that, they may be carrying out illegal activities using your UtilityWarehouse broadband connection.

Here are 3 applications that you can utlise to analyze your wireless network to check who’s connected:

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

The above software will scan your Wifi network and produce a list of the devices connected.

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

Do I need a wireless network booster for my UtilityWarehouse broadband?

If you discover that you have wireless black holes in your house, a wireless extender also known as a Wi-Fi Booster is the best fix to strengthen your Wifi signal to cover any black spots.

• Best Wi-Fi Signal Boosters

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

Position the wireless booster near the position where your Wifi signal from your UtilityWarehouse broadband router is starting to become weaker.

Place it approximately where your Wifi network signal is dropping down to less than 2 bars. Walk around your home with a smartphone to determine where this location is.

When did you last upgrade the UtilityWarehouse broadband router?

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

The majority of UtilityWarehouse broadband routers will allow you to carry out the software upgrade by simply logging on the UtilityWarehouse broadband router and simply clicking on a button to start the upgrade.

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

As well as upgrading the software, if you have had the same router for a long period, it’s probably worth talking to UtilityWarehouse to ask for a router upgrade.

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

This is probably the most common cause for UtilityWarehouse broadband performance issues in your home and is more common for broadband connections that are delivered via phone lines.

If you’re not sure if this is relevant in your case, contact UtilityWarehouse who will be able to conduct the appropriate connection checks to see if there is a fault on the UtilityWarehouse broadband line.

Is the issue due to UtilityWarehouse Internet congestion?

If you are finding that the UtilityWarehouse internet connection speed in your area is slow during certain periods e.g over weekends or evenings, it may be because of congestion during peak times.

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

You should speak to UtilityWarehouse to find out your minimum speed.

Test your UtilityWarehouse internet connection

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

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