Internet keeps dropping on all devices

[juliehut]

For the last couple of weeks, the internet is buffering and stopping on all our devices. Is it possibly the router? It's quite old now.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @juliehut 

Do not worry about interpreting the results, I will do that for you. I will send a PM to you that contains a link for a guide of mine on Wi-Fi interference. It is quite long (about 30 pages), but you will probably only need to look at three or four pages in total. Initially look at the section called "Are you suffering from interference – prove it first". This is the first link in the table of contents. This section includes full details of free Wi-Fi analysers that I recommend for Windows, Windows phone, Android and Apple operating systems. However, I have no way of testing the Apple product. Select the analyser of your choice & my guide explains how to use it.

If you are using Wi-Fi Scanner, then please attach the zip file to this thread. As soon as I have downloaded it, I will remove the attachment from your post, to preserve your privacy.

With all other analysers, please follow my instructions below.

Collect the screenshots that I require and include them in your reply.

Please post the screenshots to me in a PM (to protect your privacy), which I have requested in my guide. No photos please as they can be difficult to read, because the text can get out of focus when zoomed in. Please ensure that the analyser window is maximised (if Windows) before taking the screenshots & upload them via the "Insert Photos" button (in a mobile browser it's the picture icon) on the post editor's toolbar with the Size parameter set to Large.

[juliehut]

Hello, Keith. Thank you for your offer. Can you send out any advice please? I have recently added a Wi-Fi booster, which seemed to help a bit, but sometimes I'm getting less than 1 Mbps on my mobile. This didn't happen with the old router, it just cut out and came back.

My router is in the same place and nothing else changed. I hope you can help.

Thanks again,

Julie.

[KeithFrench]

Hi @juliehut 

@Karl-TalkTalk has suggested that I might be able to help you.

Slow speed, intermittent dropouts, breaks in the signal or 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 a lot more from interference than the much faster 5GHz band, but the 2.4GHz one can sometimes have a better range, but this all depends on your local area.

In other words, I try to help you optimise your Wi-Fi connection. The next stage involves sending out a guide to you to help you get me some important diagnostic results so that I can analyse them for you and recommend changes to your router configuration to solve them.

I only send this out to people who request it.

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi Julie

Wi-Fi can be tricky to troubleshoot, and the speed of your Wi-Fi is only as fast as your slowest device, so if you have any old devices, laptops or tablets these can slow things down a little. There is also the position of the router thickness of the walls the signal has to travel through etc etc.

Have  a read of our article here :  https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Articles/Boosting-your-Wi-Fi-performance/ta-p/2895540

If still having issues, @KeithFrench is our resident Wi-Fi expert and can really help troubleshoot Wi-Fi speed issues.

Thanks  

Karl. 

[juliehut]

Hello, Karl, my new router is not disconnecting at all, but it is really slow to some wireless devices. (never happened with old router)I've tried to sort it, but I get sent in circles. Can you help? Thanks for any advice,

J Hutchison.

[Karl-TalkTalk]

Hi

That's great news, thanks for letting me know.

Regards,

Karl. 

[juliehut]

Hello, thanks, Karl, I've just set it up and so far so good. Hopefully the family will be happy.

[Karl-TalkTalk]

hi @juliehut 

Your router is quite old, so I've a new router on the way to you, to see if this helps.

Thanks  

Karl. 

[Divsec]

tHi @juliehut your diagnosis is probably a good one. your post has been escalated and you should hear soon.