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“Slow Speeds” can come from a multitude of causes, and there could be any number of solutions. It is very difficult to completely define all causes that could be responsible. Before we look at the causes of Slow speeds let get familiar with some of the terminology.
Terminology
Bandwidth, Speed, and Usage
To better understand how your service works, first, we need to understand some of the terms involved.
To do so we will compare your internet service to your water service. Just like your water comes from a source such as a river or a lake, the internet also can be linked to a source, such as a webpage or a server.
In this scenario lets assume you wish to fill up a barrel with water. The water travels a path from a source to a pumping station from that station into a pipe, then follows that pipe to a faucet in your home and into the barrel from a hose. If you turn on one faucet you would have the maximum amount of water the pipes could carry which would translate into a lot of water and a lot of pressure. Because there is only one hose using the water the barrel would fill up rather quickly.
Now take that same scenario follow that water all the way to your home, and instead of turning on one hose you turn on all of the faucets in your home. In this case, you would still have the same amount of water, however, each faucet would have much less pressure because it is divided out to all of the faucets and the barrel will take much longer to fill.
For your water…
Bandwidth is the amount of water being carried to your home from the pipes, as well as in the pipes of your home.
Speed is the amount of pressure allowed to your faucet.
Usage is the number of barrels you are allowed to fill over a given time, let’s say a month.
For your internet…
Bandwidth is the amount of flow that is available, both from DFN to the internet but it is also the amount of flow from your router to all the devices in your home. DFN makes sure that we have more than enough bandwidth for all of our customers over our entire network.
Speed is the amount that we divide out to your home due to the package that you have purchased, let’s say for example you purchased the 100 Mbps package. With that package, you are able to use 100 Mbps
Mbps The way that your speed is measured is called megabits per second abbreviated by Mb/s or Mbps the lower case b stands for bit. Megabits are often confused with Megabytes per second which a megabyte (MB/s or MBps) is eight times larger than a megabit so a megabyte per second is eight times faster than a megabit per second. Network device speeds are normally described as megabits and megabytes are normally for storage. All of DFN speed package are in megabits per second. To learn more Data-rate units
Usage is the amount of data you are allowed to use each month, normally measured in “MBps”(MegaBytes per second). Currently, DFN does not monitor or control the amount of usage you can use per month. To learn more Monitoring your Bandwidth
Causes
Line Changes
If you have a connection that previously ran well but is now running slow, it is possible that the physical condition of the line has changed over time and lowered the rate at which your modem is able to train up with our equipment. If you have changed the property of the lines by adding a splitter or filter, possibly even a new phone on a jack in your home remove those devices and check your speeds again to see if they have returned to normal.
Bandwidth Consumption
Slow-downs can also be caused by simply using up all of your available speed and saturating your connection with traffic. Some devices like Cellular phone boosters and some programs like Peer-to-peer sharing software are notorious for using all available bandwidth, which in turn would cause other applications and devices in your home to receive slow speeds.
Sometimes to the detriment of other applications. If any device on the network is running a program that hogs your connection’s bandwidth, it will affect all other devices as well. Frequently this happens on the upstream side, as the software attempts to upload data faster than the connection can handle. Consult the program in question’s documentation on how to limit the speeds it attempts to use.
Wireless routers use unlicensed frequencies that just about any device can broadcast on, which can result in signals from one device interfering with the signals of another device. Wireless security cameras, baby monitors, and other wireless computer networks can all result in noise and congestion issues for a Wi-Fi connection. If you normally connect wirelessly, connect your computer directly to the modem and see if the problem persists.
If you’re still having issues, please contact Support and we will assist in further troubleshooting.
Speed Tips
If you have hardware, software and related equipment configurations that can connect to the Internet but that are different from the above recommendations, they will still work with your Internet service; however, our testing has shown that these recommendations will work best to achieve your provisioned broadband speed.
If you are not receiving the speeds you expect, remember to test using a hardwired connection to the Internet. Also, make sure you are not in the process of downloading or uploading anything, close all programs using the Internet and power off any other devices that are sharing your home network.
Remember, there are a number of external factors that may limit your speed; as a result, actual speeds may vary. For the best performance, contact your device manufacturer or software provider to learn about required upgrades, configuration updates or to find troubleshooting guides.
WiFi Speed Tips
For wireless connections, you can improve your WiFi speed by positioning your Wireless Gateway centrally in order for it to broadcast its strongest signal. For better WiFi performance see these tips.