I don't think I'm getting the speeds I'm paying for
Lot's of things can affect your speeds and most of them are to do with how you are accessing the internet and what speedtest server you are using.
To get the best possible speedtest results you should be connecting via a wired connection directly into the router with a Cat 6 cable and on a device with a 1Gbps capable ethernet port. You should also turn off the WiFi whilst you run the speedtest. You can do this by simply pushing the WLAN button and the WLAN light will go off. To turn it back on just push the button again.
If you are connecting to the router via WiFi and running your speedtest it is very unlikely that you will get near to the headline rate of your line. Lot's of factors affect speeds on WiFi connections such as:
- The number of devices connected to your WiFi - If you have many devices in your home connected to your WiFi, think about Smart speakers, Smart TV's, Phones, Tablets, PC's, Gaming Consoles Doorbell cameras etc, then every single device is competing for the available bandwidth on the WiFi network. Whilst the router we supply, the FritzBox 5530, is a fairly powerful router the absolute maximum available to all WiFi devices would be 2.4Gbps using WiFi 6 standard and 1.7Gbps using WiFi 5 standard. If you have multiple devices using the WiFi at the same time you can see how your speeds may be slower thank you expect. Incidentally the maximum throughput for a single device on WiFi 6 would be 1.4Gbps and on WiFi 5 it would be 860Mbps. (You can find out more about the FritzBox WiFi throughputs here)
- Your WiFi Device - some older devices cannot connect to the newer WiFi bands such as WiFi 5 or 6 so they are limited to much lower speeds than newer devices.
- Your WiFi Signal Quality - If your WiFi signal quality is not optimal then you are just not going to get a true speed. You can check the signal quality on your android device by going to network settings and selecting your WiFi network on an iPhone its more difficult but you can see how many bars you have on the display. (You can find out more about how to Improve Your WiFi Signal here.)
If you really do have to do a speedtest using a WiFi device you can obtain the best results by turning off as many other WiFi devices as possible, stand next to the router to get the best possible signal and run the test to
Gigabit's Own Speedtest server.
If you are seeing less than 50% of your headline rate, contact our support team at
support@gigabitnetworks.co.uk or on 01163 800290, Mon-Fri 8am to 8pm and Saturday from 10-4pm.
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