Recently, my broadband has been performing really badly, with slow download speeds and browsing taking ages, even on simple pages.
I decided to have a go at fixing this myself, before contacting my supplier’s support.
I know from previous experience that the channel your router is using can play a big part in wifi performance issues – if there are lots of wifi networks in your area using the same channel, this always causes interference, delays and performance problems.
In Mac OSX 10.9.2 there is a very handy tool allowing you to scan the local area to see what networks are in operation – this can be done via Wireless Diagnostics.
Using Wireless Diagnostics to scan for wifi networks
Hold own Alt key and click the Wifi icon in the Menu bar.
Firstly, this will give you extra, detailed information on your wifi connection.
And under that, there should be the option to ‘Open Wireless Diagnostics’.
In Wireless Diagnostics, don’t bother with the popup that appears to guide you through a process – instead, in the menu bar for Wireless Diagnostics, click on Window then Utilities, then select the Wifi Scan option and press the Scan Now button to scan local wifi networks.
This will then show you what channels all these local wifi networks are using – plus a handy display of ‘Best channels’ to use, depending on your Network’s Ghz speed.
I then decided to use channel 2 instead of channel 6, as almost everything else appeared to be using channel 6.
Updating Channel in Broadband Router
Login to the admin part of your Broadband Router and then change the channel its using to the new one e.g. I used channel 2.
Once you’ve saved the settings, your broadband / wifi network should then be performing much better and with less interference.
Note: Some devices/computers which connect to your wifi may then need updating, to use the new channel, but nowadays I don’t think you need to worry about this.
Results
Much faster broadband – and no need to call support.