Troubleshooting Wireless ADSL Problems

In this article, we will consider some of the ways you can troubleshoot wireless issues on your broadband to ensure that you get the best service that you can out of the connection.  Whether you’re with a provider such as AOL Broadband at the slower speed end of the market, or Sky Broadband or BT Broadband which is much faster, the issues tend to be the same.

So let’s jump in to why we have limited speed coming in to our home before we go into the wireless issues. 

Limited Speed of Your Connection

It’s important to understand that ADSL connections are not always as fast as the speeds that were advertised.  Indeed, only around 20% of consumers get the advertised speeds on the up to rates they saw on the headlines that they bought from.  This is because the telephone cables that are used to transfer the internet data for ADSL are not optimal for the passage of Internet information.

The copper cables lose speed of internet over distance and therefore the further you are from the telephone exchange, the slower the connection you’ll likely to get.  Indeed, it’s well worth jumping on to a service such as Sam Knows Best and finding out where your local telephone exchange is.  This can provide you with useful information so that you know whether you have an unlimited connection coming in in the first place.

Testing Your Connection

Whether you’re testing an AOL Broadband or Sky Broadband connection, the process should be the same.  There are three speed tests you should run to find out where the problem lies. 

First of all you should test wirelessly to find out what wireless connection speed you’re getting in different areas for your home.  Jump on to a service such as speedtest.net and find out what levels of speed you are getting in all of the places in the home that you use your internet.  Do three tests in order to ensure you can take an average and don’t expect an inaccurate result from a single test.  If you find you’re getting lots of different results then do more than three to get an average and also consider that you may have instability on your line.

Next, you should plug an Ethernet cable into your router and in to your connecting device.  This will provide you a measure of the speed that’s coming off your router so that you can access the difference between the wireless speed and the router speed.  This is a great way to find out how much speed you’re losing wirelessly in different parts of your home.  If you find that in certain locations from your home, you’re getting a particularly poor speed, then there are things you can do and we’ll look at this a little bit later.

The third test you should do is a test straight into the testing socket on your BT line.  If you go to the socket that your router is plugged into, it should be the main socket.  By unscrewing the two screws on the front face of the panel, you can open up the bottom and you should see a testing port.  By plugging in your filter and your router in to this port you can find out the actual line speed coming into your home without the impact of any internal factors.  Indeed, your telephone wiring system in your home can cause a lot of interference with your broadband and can cause up to 4Mbps decreases in speed.

What next?

Once you’ve done tests on your AOL Broadband or other ADSL connection, you’ll have an idea of where you’re losing speed.  If you find that the speed between the testing socket and the wired tests are very similar and that your wireless connections are suffering, then it may be that you need to look at wireless troubleshooting.

Issues with Wireless Connectivity

Wireless signals passed from your router must be able to meet your device in order to offer a decent level of internet performance.  However, physical obstructions, electrical interference and wireless signals can all get in the way of the wireless passage of information.

It’s important therefore to look at certain steps to understand why you have issues.

Interference from Other Connections

If you live in a built up area and when you go to manage connections on your device you see a number of internet connections with strong signal, it’s likely that there are a lot of wireless signals flying around in your home.  This will mean that there is a great possibility for interference from these other devices.

If you find you’re getting particularly poor internet signal on your wireless devices, this may well be the cause.  Most routers work on the 2.4GHz spectrum range and therefore one solution is to go for a premium router that offers a different frequency.  Indeed, many premium routers offer the ability to change channel or change frequency so that you can bypass this interference.

Interference from Home Devices

 Home devices can also cause interference if they work on a wireless basis.  For example, baby monitors, Wi-Fi boilers, and Wi-Fi music systems can interfere with your broadband.  Again, you need to check out what frequency they use and there are applications you can download in order to find out.  If you do a search online for what frequency devices are in my area, we’ll find tools that you can use.

Electrical Interference

Electrical interference can be caused by anything that is between you and the router or is around the router.  Indeed, the more electrical interference you get, the more likely you are to have problems.  You should place your router at least a meter or two away from microwave ovens, fridges, freezers, and so on and put it in elevated position to give it the best opportunity to pass the signal around your home.

You should also place the router centrally in your home if possible so that you can get the signal to all corners. 

Solutions to Broadband Wireless Issues

If you find your AOL Broadband is really suffering, then there are certain steps you can take to overcome the issues. 

Ethernet Cables

The simplest way to bypass wireless issues is just to plug in using your Ethernet cable.  This is fine and good if you are trying to connect close to your router, but if you want to connect upstairs in a different portion of your house, then you may well need to run cable prominently around the doors, up the skirtings and into the rooms.  This can be slightly unsightly but the truth is that these cables are only around the same width as your telephone cables, so if you do it properly, it shouldn’t be a problem,

Homeplug Systems

It’s also possible to buy a home plug system which is able to pass the internet signal through your electrical circuit and then you can plug an Ethernet cable into the socket in order to receive your internet signal.  This is a very good way to get a good speed of internet around your home without having to pass Ethernet cables.

Repeaters or Relayers

A repeater or relayer amplifies the signal in your home.  Essentially this will enable you to pass the signal further by placing the device in between your router and your connecting device and therefore getting more signal between the two.  This can be particularly useful if you are subject to obstructions. 

Physical Obstructions

Physical obstructions can come in many forms but often they are the walls and ceilings of your home that are dense and unable to allow the penetration of the wireless signals.  Older homes tend to be more sturdily built and often have more issues.  Indeed, some older homes even have chicken wire placed in the walls and these can prove impenetrable barriers for wireless signals.  A relayer or repeater can pass the signal around to ensure that you can still get wireless signal despite these obstructions.

Get as Much AOL Broadband, Sky Broadband, BT Broadband or Other Broadband into Your House to Start With

It’s important to ensure that you get as much broadband speed into your house as possible if you are speed motivated.  If you do high intensity activities, there’s no point getting an AOL Broadband connection at 5Mbps because it’s simply won’t be enough.  If there are multiple people in the house, then it may be time for an upgrade to fibre optic broadband or a time to look for a faster ADSL supplier. 

Of course we’ve seen that the distance from your telephone exchange is important when it comes to the speed that you receive, however, you can also look on Sam Knows Best and see which companies have their own equipment installed in the telephone exchanges because ADSL 2 offers twice the bandwidth of standard ADSL and ADSL 2+ offers three times the bandwidth of the AOL Broadband 8Mbps connection packages.