Broadband: Increase your broadband speed Improve your broadband speed

Which? broadband experts' 10 top tips to improve your internet speed and get a better online experience.

A wireless connection might mean slower broadband speeds

1 Change your router to boost broadband speed

Upgrading your wireless broadband router could make a real difference to the speed of your broadband connection, especially if your current router is a few years old.

You could also try replacing the router's aerial – the longer the aerial, the better the signal and the further its reach.

To find the Best Buy wireless routers that will offer the best speed, have a look at the Which? review of wireless routers.

2 Improve your wi-fi internet signal

If you've got more than one phone socket in your house, if possible connect your broadband router or ADSL modem to the primary telephone socket (the one that your external phone line connects to directly). 

Aim for the most direct line of sight possible between your router and your computer. Wireless broadband signals deteriorate if there are 'blocks' in the way such as walls or furniture. If you use a wireless connection, you could increase your broadband speed by minimizing the number of blocks between the wireless router and your PC or laptop. 

3 Watch your broadband router distance

Even if there are no blocks in the way, moving your PC or laptop closer to the router may improve your broadband speed if you use a wireless connection.

If you connect the router or modem directly to a computer with a cable, use the shortest cables you can. Ethernet cables will be more efficient than USB cables.

4 Secure your wi-fi to improve broadband speed

If your wireless broadband network isn't secure, people in the local area may be logging on to it and sharing your broadband connection. This will decrease your own broadband speeds. 

It's important to set a secure password, so that only people who know the password can access your broadband connection.

5 Update your online browser

Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and all other popular browsers undergo frequent updates. 

Make sure you're up to date with the latest versions of your preferred browsers – outdated versions might mean slower download speeds.

6 Spring clean your computer

Every time you access a web page through your browser, the browser stores or 'caches' it. 

Periodically clearing out your browser's cache will help it to function more efficiently. 

Clear your browser's cache regularly

Here's how to do this for the browser you're using:

• Internet Explorer 7 or 8 From the Tools menu, click Internet Options. Select the General tab. Under Browsing history click Delete. Next to Temporary internet files, click Delete files (say yes if you're prompted to confirm). Click Close and then OK to exit.
• Firefox From the Tools menu, select Clear Private Data, and then choose Cache.
• Safari From the Safari menu, select Empty Cache. When prompted, click Empty to confirm that you want to empty the cache.
• Google Chrome Click the 'spanner' icon in the top right of the screen. Select Options then the Under the hood tab. Click Clear browsing data. Select the Empty the cache option (it's up to you whether to also delete other options such as browsing history or cookies). Under Clear data from this period select Everything. Finally, press Clear Browsing data.

7 Avoid peak web hours for faster broadband speeds

More people access the internet at certain times of day than at others. 

Peak internet times include when America wakes up. If you can avoid going online at these busy times, you'll find you experience a faster broadband speed. Evenings tend to be more congested than during the day or night.

8 Use OnSpeed

OnSpeed is a subscription-based service that increases the speed of your internet browsing. It claims to make both dial-up and broadband (of up to 2Mbps) up to five times faster. 

It works by reducing elements of a webpage such as image quality so that less data is downloaded (this is called compression).

It also holds ready-compressed versions of popular websites so it can deliver them faster. However, it will speed up only your web surfing experience – it can't make it faster to download a file, such as a music track or TV show.

There are also add-ons you can download and install that will speed up your browsing in Firefox. 

9 Try the BT Broadband Accelerator

The BT Broadband Accelerator (formerly known as the BT I-Plate) includes a small plate that broadband customers who have more than one phone socket can insert into their main telephone socket to reduce the impact of electrical interference from equipment such as microwave ovens, electrical light fittings and televisions. 

BT says fitting a BT Broadband Accelerator may increase broadband speed by up to 1.5Mbps, though it doesn't guarantee this. 

Some BT phone sockets aren't compatible and you need to have more than one phone socket in your house for the Accelerator to have any effect. It won't work on Virgin Media cable phone lines. 

The BT Broadband Accelerator is free for BT Total Broadband customers who order it online (although you'll need to pay postage), but non-BT customers can also get the BT Broadband Accelerator for around £10. 

10 Switch provider for better broadband speeds

When it comes to broadband speed, all providers are not created equal. When Ofcom speed-tested eight leading broadband providers, including BT, Virgin Media, Orange and O2, some performed much better than others. If you're unhappy with your current provider's speed, swapping to another could help. 

For a full breakdown of Ofcom's findings, see broadband speed put to the test. 

You can see whether the broadband providers with the highest speeds also have happy customers in other respects – such as customer service – in the Which? broadband review.

For more on broadband and the internet, see our book Internet Made Easy for the Over 50s.