Before doing anything else, run a speed test to establish your baseline. Visit tools.examineip.com/speed-test/ and note your download speed, upload speed, and ping. Compare these to your ISP’s advertised speeds — if you’re getting less than 80% of what you’re paying for, something is wrong.
Fix 1: Restart Your Router
Routers accumulate memory issues, connection table bloat, and firmware bugs over time. A full restart (unplug for 30 seconds, plug back in) clears all of this. Many ISPs recommend restarting your router weekly. Some newer routers can be set to auto-restart overnight.
Fix 2: Switch to a Wired Connection
Wi-Fi introduces latency, interference, and speed loss. An Ethernet cable gives you the full bandwidth your router can deliver — no signal degradation, no interference, lower latency. If your device is near the router, try plugging in even temporarily to see how much faster it is.
Fix 3: Optimise Your Wi-Fi
If you must use Wi-Fi:
- Place your router centrally and elevated — not in a cabinet or corner
- Use the 5GHz band for devices close to the router (faster, shorter range)
- Use 2.4GHz for devices far away or through walls (slower but better range)
- Change your Wi-Fi channel — use a Wi-Fi analyser app to find a less congested channel
- Keep the router away from microwaves, baby monitors, and cordless phones
Fix 4: Check for Bandwidth Hogs
Open your router’s admin panel and check which devices are using the most bandwidth. A single device doing a large upload or download can saturate your connection. Enable QoS (Quality of Service) to prioritise certain traffic types (gaming, video calls) over others (backups, updates).
Fix 5: Update Your Router Firmware
Router manufacturers release firmware updates that improve performance and fix bugs. Log into your router’s admin panel and check for updates. Older firmware can cause throughput issues, especially on newer devices.
Fix 6: Change Your DNS Server
Your ISP’s DNS server may be slow, adding latency to every page load. Switch to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) — it’s consistently the fastest public DNS resolver. This won’t increase your download speeds but will make pages start loading faster (quicker DNS resolution).
Fix 7: Check for Interference From Neighbours
If you live in a flat or dense urban area, neighbouring Wi-Fi networks on the same channel cause interference. Download a Wi-Fi analyser app, see which channels are crowded, and switch your router to a less congested one (channels 1, 6, or 11 for 2.4GHz).
Fix 8: Contact Your ISP
If your speed test consistently shows less than 80% of your plan’s speeds on a wired connection, contact your ISP. You may have line faults, signal attenuation, or be entitled to a free engineer visit. Many ISPs will upgrade equipment or check line quality at no charge if you report consistently poor speeds.
Keep testing: Run our Speed Test at different times of day. If speeds are fine in the morning but terrible in the evening, the problem is network congestion on your ISP’s infrastructure — a known issue called “peak time throttling.”