Internet Speed - What can I do to increase it ?
First things first – before checking your Internet speed make a call using your Land Line for a couple of minutes to check that you have dial tone. Make sure that the line is clear, free from any noise or crackles. You might not have used your Land Line telephone for a while and even if your Internet is working, it only needs one wire to function.
To work correctly – reliably and as fast as possible your Internet Broadband connection needs both wires connected and in good condition. Corrosion and moisture getting into the cable through a graze or cut will ruin your Internet speed.
Therefore if there is a fault on your line slowing your Internet speed down, you would never realize unless you try to make a call first. If you discover your line is dead, follow my instructions on this page Phone line dead – what to check
Simplify things - keep it basic, go cordless
Here’s a great looking Panasonic Cordless Phone with top reviews and a low price!
Consider doing away with unused extension sockets. With just the BT master socket and no other wiring attached you will be getting the very best Internet speed direct from the street, without any losses.
How about just having a Master Socket or NTE and using a good quality cordless phone to replace your old tired phone. You could pop a handset in the garage or near the back door so if you’re cleaning the car or gardening you don’t have to take off boots to answer a call. I brought one myself and have been very pleased. Click my link, buy it, plug it in, and you’re good to go!
Make changes to your existing phone cables
There are various ways to speed up your Internet speed by making some simple changes to your existing telephone wiring in your house to maximise internet connection speeds. These include removing the ‘Bell Circuit’ – an old standard BT way of connecting telephone sockets around your house, which is fine when used just for telephony, but a different story with Broadband signals.
If you’re confident with a screwdriver you could try this tip. Unscrew your master socket and if you have 3 wires connected to the front plate disconnect the orange wire from Number 3 connection. Pop the wire back in the box, and replace the front panel.
Check your phones still work, then do a Broadband Speed Test.
Filtered Front Plate, or Digital Plate
Making sure you have a new style master socket also known as an NTE5 is good practise. However a further enhancement is made to this by fitting a ‘Digital Front Plate’, or ‘Filter Plate’, which acts as a barrier between your phone line coming in, and the rest of your own wiring and extension sockets which could normally slow your line. With the ‘Filter plate’ a barrier is placed between the BT Openreach line coming in and your own extension wiring. This ensures you have the very best Broadband connection speed possible. I can fit these for you and give your wiring a complete health check and tidy up.
Please note that if you don’t have any extension wiring then there is no benefit fitting one of these Filtered Face Plates.
Increase Internet speed with Fibre Broadband BT Infinity
BT Infinity Superfast Broadband will make your Internet speed much faster. You could see a speed increase of ten times what you are currently getting. End those frustrating pauses while you watch that blue bar climbing across your screen, which always seems to take for ever! A word of caution – when you book an engineer to visit be sure to make it clear if you have working BT Telephone Extension sockets, and state that you want them to remain that way before any modification of your wiring goes ahead.
Even better - Switch to Full Fibre
Your old conventional copper fed telephone line connection will soon be obsolete as High Speed Fibre Broadband or Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) is rolled out across the UK. It’s a brand new network relying on Optic-Fibre, just light shining down a ‘cable’!
Download and upload speeds in the order of Ten times faster than what you have now will be achievable! Deals are available to entice you to switch over early.
Contact your Service Provider to see if and when it is available in your area.
Be aware that if you use your existing telephone sockets around the office or house, that after you upgrade, these will no longer work. I can re connect them for you but you will need an engineering visit..
Read more here and follow my checklist Ten things you MUST know before switching over to Fibre.
Booking a visit with a local Broadband engineer
You’re already close to arranging a visit to end your frustration caused by slow Internet speed, so go ahead and pick that phone up. Call me and have a chat, tell me what you expect to achieve and If I can help you I will ! Simple good old fashioned service with a smile 🙂
Internet Speed in my area - find out what speed your neighbors are getting with Uswitch Streetstats !
While fault finding someone’s slow Broadband connection I came across this incredibly handy comparison website that does a broadband test. It shows what speed my neighbours get and I want to share it with you.
Uswitch Broadband Streetstats Broadband Test Speed Checker
It’s so very quick and easy to use. There’s no cost, or dodgy software to download. Simply click on the link below, which will take you directly to the Uswitch website and present you with a box to enter your postcode. Once you have done that, press enter. Next, a Google Map type screen shows pushpins displaying a Broadband Speed Test result – all over your neighbourhood ! I was able to test and demonstrate my customers Broadband connection and compare it with other houses in their road and surrounding homes. We could see what kind of speed was achievable, and how abysmal their connection was before I started work on their old wiring.
See instantly if you are getting a slower Broadband connection than the average for your street, or if in fact you ought to be the envy of your neighbours!
Try it now – type in your postcode here Uswitch Broadband Speed Test Streetstats
Telephone wiring check - book a local Ex BT Engineer
Store my number in your phone and call me! Tell your friends about my service!
Geoff 07790 200800
