Internet slow or dropping out?

Slow speeds and dropouts usually come down to one of three things: the Wi-Fi inside the office, the number of people and devices sharing the connection, or a fault on the line. A few checks will tell us which.

1. Run a speed test that means something

A single speed test over Wi-Fi doesn’t tell us much. This does:

1. Use a computer plugged into the router with a network cable, not Wi-Fi. If you can, plug it straight into the router rather than through a wall socket or switch.
2. Turn off any VPN. VPNs often slow things down, so test with it off (and again with it on, if you need the VPN for work).
3. Run a test at speedtest.net or a similar site.
4. Take a screenshot of the result. Make sure the date and time are visible or in the file name.
5. Repeat at different times of day: morning, lunchtime, mid-afternoon. If the office is used in the evening, test then too.

If the cabled results are good but people on Wi-Fi are slow, the problem is the Wi-Fi, not the internet. If the cabled results are slow too, log a fault and attach the screenshots.

2. Get the most out of your Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi gets weaker with distance and with every wall and object it passes through.

• Placement: put the router (or Wi-Fi access point) up off the floor, in an open, central spot close to where most people work. Not in a cupboard, comms cabinet or behind furniture.
• Obstacles: metal doors and cabinets, mirrors, solid brick or concrete walls, floors and ceilings all weaken the signal. So do things containing water: fish tanks, fridges and hot water systems.
• Interference: microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, radios and baby monitors can interfere with Wi-Fi. Keep the router away from them.
• Bands: most routers offer 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz (and newer ones 6 GHz). Most modern routers move devices to the best band automatically. If yours doesn’t, ask us.
• Coverage: a single router may not cover a large or multi-level office. Extra access points or a mesh Wi-Fi system can fix dead spots. Ask us about options.
• Age: older routers and older laptops and phones can’t reach the speeds newer Wi-Fi standards offer. A router supporting Wi-Fi 6 or newer is a good baseline.

3. Use cables where it matters

A network cable is faster and more stable than Wi-Fi, and doesn’t suffer from interference. Plug in desktops, printers, meeting room screens and anything that doesn’t move. If cables are old or you need more data points, a registered cabler can assess or install them (Cat6 or better).

4. Count the devices

Every device online shares the same connection: computers, phones, cloud backups, cameras, screens and updates. If everyone is on video calls at once while a large backup or update runs, things slow down. If this happens often, your plan may need more speed. Talk to us.

5. Busy times

Speeds can dip at the busiest times of day if there’s congestion on the network. That’s why testing at different times matters: it shows us whether the slowdown follows a pattern.

6. Dropouts

If the connection keeps dropping:

1. Check the lights on the nbn connection box. Watch them for about a minute and note whether any change colour or flash. See Which nbn connection do we have? for the guide to your box.
2. Check the cables between the nbn box and the router are clicked in and undamaged.
3. Restart the equipment in the right order (see Internet down? Check these first).
4. Keep a note of each dropout: the date, time and how long it lasted. A monitoring app such as PingPlotter can log these automatically.

What to send us

When you log a fault, include:

• Your speed test screenshots, with the times, and whether they were on a cable or Wi-Fi.
• When it happens: all the time, certain times of day, or during bad weather.
• The times of any dropouts, and how long they lasted.
• Roughly how many people and devices are online at once.
• Whether a VPN is in use.
• What you’ve already tried.