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Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > Features > Boost your broadband speed for free
Boost your broadband speed for free
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Boost your broadband speed for free

by Tim Danton , Barry Collins , Zara Baxter  on Aug 11, 2008
Tags: Broadband | router
Everything you need to know about maxing-out your broadband connection, including interleaving, fine tuning MTU settings, firmware updates, ADSL filters and splitters,and that old chestnut - electrical noise in your wiring
A recent Choice Computer survey found that, although broadband users are much happier than their dial-up counterparts, only 26% of ADSL users and 42% of ADSL2/2+ users never experience slow connections.

While there’s often little you can do to improve the physical speed of the line entering your house – especially if you don’t live in a cable area – it’s entirely possible to add 2 to 3Mb/s to the speed of your connection by following some of the measures offered here, substantially improving the throughput of most home ADSL connections.

TEST YOUR TV
You’d probably have replaced your router, rewired the house and spent Dame Edna’s wardrobe budget on your ISP’s technical support line before deciding your TV was to blame for your faltering broadband connection.

But TVs are just one of the innocent-looking culprits that could have a catastrophic effect on your connection. Satellite set-top boxes, microwave ovens and even Christmas lights can put the brakes on your broadband.

It’s generally the power supply – a capacitor that’s gone a bit leaky and started to emit more electrical noise than it used to. A slightly faulty power supply in a television or set-top box can degrade the performance of your line.

The electrical interference can severely hamper the speed of your ADSL connection. PC Authority saw just how debilitating such interference can be in a demonstration showing how an ADSL connection running at 3.8Mb/s was reduced to only 700Kb/s when a nearby fluorescent lamp with a faulty power supply was switched on. One poor Whirlpool forum member even had his ADSL connection keel over each time he opened his fridge door – possibly caused by a faulty light.

So how can you tell if your home electronics are murdering your bandwidth? It isn’t easy, largely because the device with the leaky power supply will probably still be functioning perfectly normally. It’s often a case of trial and error: switching equipment on and off, one by one, until you find the one that’s doing the damage to your connection.

One handy tip is to tune an AM radio to 627KHz and listen for crackling when you turn the device on, as this is a sure sign of excessive electrical interference.

However, it might not even be your equipment that’s dragging your broadband down. We’ve heard of a faulty television affecting broadband services in a 200m radius.

Avoid Extension wiring
Wiring is the number one connection issue; a lot of people suffer simply because of poor wiring in the house. The standout piece of advice from all the experts we’ve spoken to is to plug your ADSL equipment into the Boundary Termination socket – the main point in your home that the cable leads into, and that all other sockets daisy-chain from.

Placing the modem or router on an extension leaves it at the mercy of the internal wiring and, in the same way broadband speeds decrease significantly the further your house is from the local telephone exchange, the same applies in your own home.

However, the boundary termination socket is often awkwardly located in the lounge, and many a domestic dispute has arisen from a desire to place in full view a wireless router that looks like the offspring of Dexter and a Dalek, not to mention the NAS drives, games consoles and other devices that require a physical ethernet connection to the router.

Hooking your router to an extension socket is, therefore, often a necessary compromise. If you must use an extension socket, make sure the wire stretches no further than 3m. Use the estimate of expected line speed, based on your distance from the exchange, as a good indicator of how badly internal wiring may be affecting your connection if your router is plugged into an extension.

If you look at the speed of your router and it’s considerably less than expected, it’s clear something’s going wrong in the home.

If you’re noticing a significant drop-off, check the extension wiring – make sure no tacks have been hammered through the cable, for instance.

“If your DSL equipment is connected to the Boundary Termination socket then the quality of the cabling plays a huge part in the sync speed that can be obtained; the higher the quality cable the better,” said Phil Long, Zen Internet’s technical support manager. “Running network cable around your house can be simplest, but could be messy or impractical.”
This article appeared in the April, 2008 issue of PC Authority.
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Comments: 8
Narna
Aug 13, 2008 10:46 AM
 An excellent article - who would have thought my neighbours tv could disrupt my broadband signal! My favorite suggestion is "Last but not least, install a good adblocker to prevent adverts from downloading to reduce their bandwidth-sucking effect." This is especially pertinant considering the page it is written on has no less than seven flashy advertisments and at least 3 sponsered links (not including competition entries)! I can feel my bandwidth being sucked already, now to find an adblocker....


Comment made about the PC Authority article:
Boost your broadband speed for free?
Everything you need to know about maxing-out your broadband connection, including interleaving, fine tuning MTU settings, firmware updates, ADSL filters and splitters,and that old chestnut - electrical noise in your wiring

What do you think? Join the discussion.
FatBob
Aug 16, 2008 12:37 AM
 Great advice... You've got me moving furniture, checking to find the boundary socket, searching everywhere for my Old AM radio (I know I have one hiding Somewhere !) and testing the fridge door to see if the little light really does go off when it's shut (Hmm maybe if I accidently shut one of the kids in there, they can teel me for sure..) - as for the 'flouros' I see their affect on the security lights evfery time someone turns one on, the spotlights light up the front yard.... You've definitely given me (Heaps of) food for thought.... I'll get this ADSL2+ flying Yet!.... Thanx - FatBob
kellyluvsamy
Aug 28, 2008 6:46 PM
 Wow, I thought I was pretty with it technology wise, but I haven't considered alot of those things. No to go and ask my IT consultant (aka my husband) if he's heard about any of this.
nitrorc111
Aug 28, 2008 11:49 PM
 AM radio detection is a handy way to isolate faulty switch mode power supplies. When there crook the in built filtering allows high frequency to induce into your house cabling. Any power cable that runs parallel for around 30m meters will induce around a 1meg bandwidth of noise from around 400Kh/z to 1200Kh/z. slap bang in the main down stream frequencies of your ADSL. DSTB's Foxtel boxes, lexmark fax machines, cheap DVD players, LV down lights in your ceiling, dimmer controllers, LCD TV power supplies, you name i have found them interfering with ADSL services. I have seen entire neighbourhoods, 300m radius around the faulty device, not a broadband service will work. CLEAN YOUR HOUSE. Simply sanity check with the AM radio tunned to 521Kh/z or as low as it can go and sweep up through the frequencies.
nitrorc111
Aug 28, 2008 11:58 PM
 Sorry interleaving is offered by Telstra, its applied on every ADSL 1 and ADSL 2+ by default.OPTUS ULL is interleaved by request of the customer for a stable service.
moty
Aug 29, 2008 11:09 AM
 Thanks for advice. I too will go off to ask hubby all about it
LogicprObe
Aug 29, 2008 4:29 PM
 Doesn't effect the cat5!
nitrorc111
Aug 31, 2008 9:41 PM
 Yes it does affect affect CAT 5. This issue occurs at around 45db attenuation from the exchange. when your signal is starting to weaken. CAT 5 is not be all and end all to your problems by a long shot. RF interference can induce into any twisted copper no matter what the twist ratio is and shielding.
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