Very poor Broadband speeds

[Richardtalk]

My broadband speed is always pretty rubbish. It is supposed to be 63mbps but  I have ever seen anything above 45mbps. On a daily basis it will get as low as 1-2mbps at which time I have to turn the router of and on. This will usually get it back to aroiund 25mbps but it isn't always successful, and decays back to very low speeds very quickly. I am on a contract with TalkTalk until September so I cannot move. I have tried their helpline but I just get told it is not their problem but is to do with my equipment and bandwidth usage in my area and they refuse to try anything more. Any help would be great!

[Karl-TalkTalk]

No Problem 🙂

Should arrive in the next day or two, let us know when it's connected and we can pick this back up with you.

Karl.

Karl 

[Richardtalk]

Thanks to everyone who has been on this chat. YOu have been very helpful. Hopefully the new router will fix the problem!

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi Richardtalk

A router is on the way to you. This may be more of a wifi issue, but the new model router can work with a mesh system if we identify there are wifi issues.

Thanks  

Karl. 

[KeithFrench]

Then the router as you suspected must be faulty. I will ask TalkTalk to replace it for you.

[Richardtalk]

Yes it is. Ookla made it to 1.15Mbps this morning on first start up. SamKnows test says 0.95Mbps. The router dashboard page says 68.28Mbps The router has been on all night without being reset.

I will reset it now by unplugging and plugging in again.........

All on Ethernet, now says:-

Ookla says 15.1Mbps

SamKnows says 16.3Mbps

Router Dashboard says  67.81Mbps

[KeithFrench]

Just to confirm, your PC is now connected to the Power Line Adapter via Ethernet & not wireless?

[Richardtalk]

I have just borrowed a TP-Link powerline adaptor so I am now connected by Ethernet!

It is 6:45pm. The SamKnows speed checker is ar 15.5Mbps and Ookla has got as far as 29.15Mbps.

I will now turn the router on and off to see what happens............

The SamKnows speed checker is ar 21.9Mbps and Ookla has gone 8.85Mbps, all in a matter of minutes.

I think I have a duff Router. I can't think of any othe reason for it to be so random?

[Richardtalk]

It is a DG8041W-2.T5.

The TV is connected to the router witha cable. It may have been coincidence about the TV though as I haven't ever considered checking the speed to the TV or would even know how to!

It is now 6pm and the router still says 68.23Mbps and seems always the same. The SamKnows is now reading 34.4Mbps and the Ookla is saying 37.52Mbps! 

[KeithFrench]

All Huawei routers have a  model number on the sticker on the rear, it is most likely one of these:-

• HG635
• HG633
• DG8041W.

How is your TV connected to the router?

[Richardtalk]

So it is now some hours later. The router is still reporting 68.23Mbps as it has done to two decimal places all day. I have tried using the SamKnows link in an earlier message and that is showing 43.8Mbps. I am not sure what that is measuring but it is all being done on a Wifi connected PC. The Ookla speed checker I have downloaded is showing 7.69Mbps.

My router is a TalkTalk one. It has no specific make or model on it but it is manufactured by Huawei.

I cannot check a wired connection to the router easily as my laptop has no wired connectio apart from a USB-3 for which I have no lead. But my TV will freeze or disconnect from Netflix when the speed becomes very slow.

[KeithFrench]

That is the very nature of WiFi, it can suffer from interference that can be worse at different times of the day.

Slow speed, intermittent dropouts, breaks in the signal, no signal on some or all devices or no internet access might be caused by Wi-Fi interference from other local networks, which can also lead to a permanent reduction in speed. No ISP can be responsible for your local environment, this is mainly a byproduct of the popularity of Wi-Fi.

Generally speaking, the 2.4GHz band suffers much more from interference than the 5GHz band, but the 2.4GHz one can sometimes have a better range, but this all depends on your local area.

If you would like me to help you, please can you specify the make/model of TalkTalk router that you are using?

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi

OK, test later when there is an issue. Run a couple of tests wired and wireless to confirm if the issue is only affecting devices using wifi.

Karl.

[Richardtalk]

Right now, as you say, the router speed on the dashboard says 68.23Mbps and when I do a speed test on my computer over the wifi it is saying 61.92 Mbps so at the moment all is good. I will wait until later on when I suspect the wifi speed will reduce and look at the two speeds again. It seems odd that the incoming speed can be so constand but what I get on wifi can vary so dramatically? It doesn't seem related to the number of wifi connections I am using either.

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi Richardtalk,

Your router is in sync at 69mb and all tests are clear.

If you can answer the questions from Keith, this will help us investigate.

also, a couple of wired speedtests from Sam Knows Speedtest to confirm your current wired speeds will help.

Thanks  

Karl. 

[KeithFrench]

Please can you elaborate by answering these few questions:-

1. What make/model of router do you have (if this is a TalkTalk router, these details will be on a label on the rear or underside of it)?
2. I assume that these speeds are from speed test sites, what speed is the router displaying if you log into it? This is normally in the initial dashboard if you have a Wi-Fi Hub.
3. If you have any wired connections, are they affected in the same way as wireless ones?