FAQs
Lothian Broadband customers can monitor data usage in The Portal:
Login to The Portal. Click the NETWORK option and choose Usage Details.
Click here for Broadbandchoices’ rough guide on broadband usage.
Watch this UK WISPA video on How to Bypass your Router to check if your router is causing you connection issues.
We recommend using speedtest.net to get an accurate test of your current speeds.
Tip: make sure no other devices on your network are using large amounts of data (i.e. streaming or downloading) while carrying out speed tests as this can show slower speeds than reality.
Speed tests are best carried out over a wired connection (where possible) rather than over a wireless connection. If you’re unable to connect your device using an ethernet cable, test your wireless device while standing next to the router, making sure the device is up to date and has 5Ghz capability if possible. The results won’t be as accurate as WiFi signal interruptions can affect the speed/quality of the internet service you receive on your device.
Ping
Ping is the reaction time of your connection (how quickly you get a response after you’ve sent out a request). A fast ping means a more responsive connection, especially useful in applications where timing is key such as video conferencing and gaming. Anything under 59ms is great – the lower the ping the better!
Download Speed
The download speed is how fast you can pull data from the server to you. Traditional fibre-to-the-cabinet connections are designed to download much faster than they upload, since the majority of online activity, such as loading web pages or streaming videos, consists of data downloads.
Download speed is measured in megabits per second (Mbps)
Upload Speed
The upload speed is how fast you send data to others. Uploading is ecessary for sending big files via email, using video calls to talk to someone else and online gaming.
Upload speed is also measured in megabits per second (Mbps)
Many factors can impact a speed test result. It’s always good to do multiple speed tests over a period of time using a different device, if you can. This can help narrow down any issues to a particular device or connection.
Devices
All devices have different capabilities, and some may not be able to measure the full speeds of your broadband service. Your test result will only be as fast as the slowest part of the connection between your device and the speed test server.
Wired or Wireless
How the test is carried out will make a huge difference. Always test using a wired connection first if possible.
Cables
Not all ethernet cables are capable of carrying the full speeds of your broadband service. Cat5 can carry 100Mbps, Cat5e can carry 1000Mbps and Cat6 can carry 1000Mbps+.
Timing
A speed test measures the connection at that point in time and will vary based on what is happening at that time, both on the device and within the home. More devices on the network in your means more devices sharing the internet connection. This will affect the speed any single device can achieve. If the device is occupied doing something at the same as the speed test, it will react slower to the speed test giving a lower speed than is actually available.
Your Device
Mobile device test results will usually be different than tests using a computer or laptop due to the hardware processing limitations and may provide lower results than your broadband service speed. As an example, the Apple iPhone 6 has a maximum Wi-Fi connection speed of up to 120Mbps whereas recent laptop and desktop computers can achieve up to 1Gbps via a wired connection.
VPNs can slow your connection down, so it may be causing the issue. Make sure to turn your VPN off when you don’t need it.