Tips for getting the best speeds from your broadband connection

Your Business Broadband connection shares bandwidth across all of your users and devices. In theory the greater the bandwidth of your service the more devices you’ll be able to support but if you use them all at the same time your broadband speed will suffer. Try to stagger downloading large files or run updates outside office hours to ease congestion.

You’ll need to understand your network to determine if the volume of traffic is appropriate for the service you have purchased. Too many devices, too much concurrent traffic, hosting of servers generating high volumes of upload traffic may mean it’s necessary to upgrade the service or choose an alternative solution altogether.

Devices perform differently. The cheaper and older the device the less likely it is to deliver great speeds. If the device is a Router, Firewall or Switch and located at the hub of your network then it’s really important that this is up to the job. Keep your devices current.

With most devices connected wirelessly, the configuration and location of your WiFi is very important to ensure best speeds.

• Locate your WiFi access point as close to your devices as possible, avoid placing it on the floor, in amongst electrical items or shutting it away in a cabinet. These will only weaken the signal and impact coverage and speeds.
• WiFi can become crowded especially where several other WiFi networks exist. The WiFi access point will transmit a radio signal on a particular wireless channel within the 5GHx and 2.4GHz bands. If another nearby wireless device is transmitting on the same channel, the two will be fighting it out for the airwaves. By rebooting your broadband router it will automatically pick the least congested channel, so it’s a good idea to do this every now and again just in case a new wireless device is competing for the airwaves.
• Our Hitron CGNv4 supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz concurrently. The 5GHz channel is capable of higher speeds so please ensure you have selected the 5GHz channel on your device if it supports it.
• If you have walls and doors between you and your WiFi access point you may need to purchase a booster or range extender.