Ten hacks to boost your broadband

“Hi Mam!”

Bzzzzztt…crackle…bzzzzzttt

“Son?…”

“Mam?”

“Hello? Are you still there?…Mam?”

We’ve all had these unsatisfactory but absolutely vital video chats lately as we try to keep in touch with our locked-down loved ones.

High quality broadband has never been as important to us as it is right now.

Our children need it to stay on track at school through internet research and video classes…

We need it for entertainment, to keep working and to basically stay sane over the next few weeks or even months.

Our home broadband is performing heroically in the circumstances.

But it might need a timely boost just now. Here are 10 simple hacks to try if you need some extra online oomph:

Revert to voice only

If you can’t get through by video, as a last resort, simply turn off the video option and have an old-fashioned voice-only call, which uses a tiny fraction of the bandwidth of a video call…just 0.003Mbps.

Avoid peak times

We may be avoiding stress caused by ‘rush hour’ traffic as we languish at home in lockdown mode. But it has been replaced by “cyber rush hour” at around the same time - between 9 and 10. That’s when everyone is trying to make a video call at the start of the day. With everyone on lockdown, there’s no reason why you can’t call later, or earlier.

Extend your options

The trouble with wifi is that it is often located in the worst place like at the back of an extension – as mine is. Or it may be at the very front of the house where cable access is easier. It’s rarely put bang in the middle of your home where it can easily reach all rooms.

I work far away from my router and invested in a simple, cheap wifi extender recommended as a Best Buy by Which? Magazine – Neatgear’s EX6110. This costs €39.99 from Currys, for example, and was available the last time I checked. .

You basically plug it in half way between the router and the place you want to boost your wifi signal in. Mine boosts the original signal of around 10Mbps to between 30 and 67 Mbps, which is more than adequate.

Which? Also recommends TP-Link’s RE450 model, which gets a higher score but is more expensive.

Get a new router

This is the box that the internet (Ethernet) cables plug into. Consider purchasing a third-party internet router. These can often provide significantly better WiFi connections than the ones provided by suppliers, but requires a little technical know-how to set up. Which? Magazine’s Best Buys are in our table.

Site your router carefully

Keep your router as far away as possible from other devices, especially those which operate wirelessly. 

This includes cordless phones, baby monitors, halogen lamps, dimmer switches, stereos and computer speakers, TVs and monitors. 

Also, place your router on a table or shelf rather than on the floor, and keep it switched on for maximum effect. 

It is proven that microwave ovens can reduce wi-fi signal. So don’t use the microwave when you're watching HD videos or doing something important online like making that all-important video call to your mammy.

Don’t ‘keep tabs’ on your computer

Before making that video call, close any other tabs or pages on your browser that may be on in the background eating up bandwidth.

Turn off other devices

Turn off or disable the WiFi on devices that may be connected to your network that you aren't using, such as phones, smart speakers or unused tablets, as these can passively eat up your bandwidth.

Get the best broadband deal for you

Most broadband packages have a maximum speed of 100mbs. That’s adequate for most people, even now. But if you need more oomph, the fastest broadband deal is Virgin’s much 500mb package which costs €70 a month if you go for the triple play phone/TV/broadband option. However its 250Mb triple play option for €60 a month is more than adequate at two and half times the speed of most rival packages. To sweeten the deal, Virgin has just announced a two-for-one deal on pay-per-play movies until May 6. “The Movie Month features top film titles like Judy, Downton Abbey, The Lion King, Frozen II, LE Mans’ 66, Knives Out, The Joker and more, meaning you can watch two great movies for the price of one,” Virgin tells us.

Get Wired 

“Wireless networks can be subject to interference and are affected by the size and composition of your home,” says Daragh Cassidy of the comparison website Bonkers.ie.

Connecting using a wired ethernet (network cable) avoids this problem and can significantly improve speeds, but it obviously is less flexible than a wireless connection, he advises.

Use your mobile

Using your phone as a hotspot or for direct internet access might also come in handy for boosting your wifi options at home if your system is under pressure – or if you don’t have wifi.

All major telecoms providers have committed to a number of measures to help everyone stay in touch during the lockdown. 

They say they will go easy on customers who are behind with bills or go over their data limits during the lockdown, which would be particularly important if you are using your smartphone as a ‘hotspot’. Where “technically feasible” the operators have agreed not to count access to healthcare and educational websites in your data limits. Check with your provider for details.

A mobile phone signal booster could come in handy but be careful you don’t buy a cheap and illegal Chinese devices which are widely available online and are causing havoc by interfering with our phone networks. They will be shut down by teams of inspectors tracing interference in local networks.

Irish company Eldoradus sells a decent legal model which works well and will not interfere with your neighbor’s phone signal. But it isn’t cheap and is used mainly by Irish businesses without access to broadband.

How much broadband speed do I need?

Broadband speed is measured in Mbps (Megabytes per second). Most providers offer speeds of “up to” 100mbps. But the key words here are “up to”.

If you want to check how fast yours is, simply go onto www.switcher.ie or www.bonkers.ie where you can check your speed as well as all the best broadband offers at the moment.

I have Virgin’s 250 Mbps broadband deal at the moment. I just checked the speed near then router, and it was an impressive 242Mbps. However, when checked again 20 minutes later it was 98Mbps. But that’s still pretty good and it's normal for the signal to vary.

My router is located next to the TV access point at the back of an extension. At the front of the house, without a wifi booster (see main story), the speed is a less impressive 8.8Mbps.

However, the good news is that even that much speed will generally suffice for most internet activities, unless you’ve a house full of gamers and video streamers, all gobbling up bandwidth at the same time.

The big bandwidth guzzlers are: fast movie downloads (50Mbps), streaming Ultra High Definition (UHD) movies (25Mbps) and gaming (10 Mbps).

However, you can always wait a little longer for your movie, Netflix UHD services have reportedly been restricted due to bandwidth demand and gaming should still be possible in your teenagers’ bedroom even at reduced broadband speeds in distant rooms.

A video conference call should in theory use 1.5MBps, for example, while you could get by with 5Mbps for watching a merely high definition movie on Netflix.

Of course, that doesn’t explain why video chats are so often unsatisfactory. What might help explain that problem is that video calls rely on several different internet connections and servers to make them happen, not just yours. So it might be worthwhile passing on these tips to your mammy so you can have a decent video chat with her the next time you call!

Activity Speed required

Gaming online At least 10Mbps

Downloading movies quickly Around 50Mbps

Streaming movies in UHD At least 25Mbps

Checking/sending emails 1-5Mbps

Using social media 1-5Mbps

Watching Netflix in HD At least 5Mbps

Making a Skype video call Around 1.5Mbps

Streaming music Around 2Mbps

Table: Switcher.ie