There are several reasons why a broadband service appear to drop out and lose connection. Understanding why a particular service is unstable can be because of many reasons. Below are some of those reasons and recommended solutions to fix it.
Your Broadband Service Provider
- It could be you are using a provider that doesn’t have a network that is sustainable for a steady connection in your area.
- There could be an underlying problem with your phone line that the broadband runs over.
- REIN & SHINE – These are factors that are related to powerful radio waves that utilise the same frequency spectrum that your broadband service uses. These instances can be caused in your office/home or be an external factor. Examples of interference include: faulty electrical installations, faults power adapters, electrical power units, electric fences, power lines, railway lines, security lighting, alarms etc…..the list is endless.
Solution
- Speak to your provider. They will be able to check the logs of your connection and the reason why it might be disconnecting.
- Perform a quiet line test if you are using a BT Phone Line. Call 17070 and select option 2. If you here any crackling then contact your phone line provider and make them aware.
- REIN & SHINE is a difficult problem to overcome since it could be and in a lot of cases the problem can be an external factor. Contact your broadband provider to advise if a specialist BT Openreach engineer can attend site. Alternatively you can tune an AM radio into 612Khz and place it near devices that are electrical. If there is any interference emitting, the radio will make a distinctive annoying noise. Turn off the device that is causing the problem and re-test your broadband service.
Your Equipment & cabling
- We are a business internet service provider so we stick to premium rated broadband routers that can handle lots of network usage. Your router might not be able to handle the traffic you are passing through it, giving you a stuttered performance.
- You may have too many wireless devices connected which is sapping the performance of your router and subsequent broadband service.
- Your cabling from the phone line socket might need replacing. A cable called an RJ11 connects from your phone line socket to your router.
- Your microfilter might need replacing. A weak microfilter can cause your service to stop working but it can also cause an intermittent connection.
- An unreliable network switch.
Solution
- Look to change your router if you are happy that all your cabling and your phone line is working as it should be.
- Potentially invest in wireless access points for your business. Connect those access points to your switch or router via an ethernet cable, this will take the workload off the router.
- Refresh your cabling and check that all cables are not damaged.
- Replace your microfilter or call your landline operator and ask them if you can have the latest Mark 4 BT phone sockets installing with in-built microfilters.
- Check your switch is operating correctly. An easy way to do this is to perform a speed test from the switch and also from the router directly. If there is a difference, then you may have found the problem.
Wireless Interference
- It is common for users to experience drop-outs in there connectivity where it is the wireless service and not the actual broadband service. Surprisingly there are many factors that can actually effect your wireless service within your business of home environment. Some of these include:
- The walls in your building – certain construction materials within your environment can seriously effect the strength and quality of your wireless signal.
- Electronic devices – many common devices emit radio waves that can cause wireless connection issues
- REIN & SHINE – As mentioned further above.
- You may have too many devices connected to your router on the 2.4g band range. Connecting by 5g will certainly help for short term (close) connections.
Solution
- Upgrade your router or install wireless access points in your office/home
- Check for electromagnetic and radio interference by using an AM radio tuned into 612Khz as mentioned above.
- Switch to 5G connections within your environment
Usage & Contention
- Some providers cap users to a certain amount of download per month. Whilst this should not cause an annoying drop in your connection on a continuous basis, it may cause your connection to slow down to a snail pace.
- Contention is very similar to the motorway at peak times of the day. If there are too many cars on the road or motorway, traffic builds up and slows down the pace you can travel at. This also happens with your provider. When providers are very busy and there is not enough throughput to be shared around, your broadband speed suffers.
Solution
- Move to an unlimited provider
- If you are a business, make sure you are subscribing to a business service or a business provider and not a consumer related service. You will improve the level of contention and get better throughput.
- Move to Fibre Ethernet which has no contention.
Real Faults
Aside from some of the reasons mentioned above, you may have a genuine fault on your broadband service or your phone line. Contact your provider so they can investigate further.
For more information on how we monitor our broadband connections and provide visibility to our customers, have a read of our Monitoring and Reporting blog – https://cloudandfibre.co.uk/connectivity-monitoring-reporting/