Why is my Wi-Fi so slow? Seven things to try before you call anyone

Slow Wi-Fi is one of the most common things people call us about, and the good news is that a lot of it can be sorted without any technical know-how at all. Before you assume your broadband is broken or that you need to buy anything, it is worth running through a few simple checks. Here are the seven we always start with.

1. Give your router a proper restart

It sounds obvious, but switching your router off, waiting a full thirty seconds, and switching it back on clears up a surprising number of slow-downs. Routers run for months without a break and can get bogged down. Turn it off at the wall, count to thirty, then power it back up and give it a couple of minutes to settle.

2. Check where your router is sitting

Routers hidden in a cupboard, tucked behind the telly or sat on the floor give much weaker signal. Wi-Fi spreads out and downwards, so the ideal spot is out in the open, up high, and as central in the home as you can manage. Even moving it off the floor and away from other electronics can make a noticeable difference.

3. Count how many devices are connected

Every phone, tablet, TV, speaker and doorbell shares the same connection. If several are streaming or updating at once, everything slows down. Try pausing a big download or a 4K stream and see if things pick up. It is often not the Wi-Fi itself, just too much happening at the same time.

4. Test on a different device

If one laptop is slow but everything else is fine, the problem is that device, not your Wi-Fi. A restart, a pause on background updates, or clearing out an overloaded web browser will often fix a single slow machine.

5. Move closer and check the difference

Stand right next to the router and run a quick speed test, then try again in the slow room. A big drop points to a coverage problem, which usually means the signal is struggling to get through walls. In Aberdeen's solid granite and stone homes this is very common, and it is exactly the sort of thing a mesh system is designed to fix.

6. Change the Wi-Fi channel

In blocks of flats and busy streets, lots of routers are shouting over each other on the same channel. Most modern routers sort this out automatically, but not all. If yours has an app or settings page, switching to a less crowded channel can help. If that sounds daunting, it is a two-minute job for us.

7. Ask how old your router is

If your router is more than four or five years old, it may simply not keep up with modern speeds and the number of devices in a typical home today. The free router that came with your broadband is often the weakest link. Upgrading it, or adding a mesh system, is frequently the single biggest improvement you can make.

• ●Restart the router and check it is out in the open and up high
• ●Too many devices at once is a common, harmless cause
• ●A big speed drop between rooms means a coverage problem
• ●An old router or thick granite walls are worth getting looked at