Why does my broadband slow down or stop working?

Browser settings, the number of people who share your connection and capped services are all reasons why you might experience poor performance.

By knowing where to look you stand a better chance of solving the problem, which is important as there's nothing more frustrating than a dodgy internet connection .

You don't want to wait for hours to download audio or video when you're paying for a high speed connection!

Browser settings

If you've just upgraded from a dial-up connection to broadband, your computer might still think you are using a standard modem.

This is because the internal settings need to be changed for broadband.

Normally this is done for you when you install your new modem, but sometimes old settings get left behind and cause problems.

For example, once your broadband connection is active, Internet Explorer needs to be told that it doesn't need to 'dial a connection' every time you want to use it.

In Internet Explorer you open the 'Tools' menu, choose 'Internet Options' and then Connections. You then click 'Never dial a connection' and then 'OK'.

Now if you reboot your computer, you should find that opening Internet Explorer automatically loads the home page.

Remember, with broadband you are connected all the time and don't need to 'connect' every time you switch on the computer.

Capping

Hopefully you will have read our guide to getting broadband and avoided the pitfalls of a capped service by signing up to an unlimited account!

If not, and you have a download limit, then a slow service could be due to your ISP limiting your connection speed because you are over your limit.

Your ISP should let you know if this has happened by e-mail and either you can pay more (per GB) or move to an uncapped service.

Contention ratio

If you find that your broadband service is much slower at some times than others, it could just be that some sites are very busy in the evenings and weekends but fine during the day.

If you find big drops in performance with lots of different sites then it could be something called the 'contention ratio'.

This is just jargon for the number of people who share your broadband connection.

An ISP may provide a contention ratio of 20:1 (which is very good) or 50:1 (which is normal), but some others have higher figures.

If you experience considerable variation in your connection speed you should check the contention ratio with your ISP to see how many other people share your connection.

Keep your dial-up modem!

It's a good idea to keep your old modem if you upgrade to broadband because that way you can connect to the internet and check your ISP's website for useful information if things go horribly wrong.

You can also download any drivers or updates you might need to correct the problem.

Many ISPs operate an e-mail help service too, and you need to be able to get in touch!