How to speed up your broadband

Every ISP in the UK promises its customers fast and reliable access to the internet. Despite this, many of us are still putting up with connections without enough bandwidth to power iPlayer, and with so much lag that online gaming is impossible.
Other web users tolerate draconian deals where downloads are monitored and restricted to particular times of day. If you're angry about your sluggish broadband speed, you don't have to take it any more.
We know how you can get the best from your connection. We want to give you targeted advice specific to your needs, whether you're an online TV viewer, gamer, downloader, mobile broadband user or on a budget. But there are some tweaks that everyone can benefit from.
If your broadband speeds are slow, it could be down to a host of issues. Some could be to do with problems at your telephone exchange. These can be fixed by BT through your ISP. Other issues could be related to problems on your side of the line, so it's best to get those sorted out before calling your ISP to complain.
Rule number one - don't use extension cables to connect your router to the ADSL filter. Use the cable supplied with your router, and make sure the filter is plugged directly into the socket in the wall. The more cabling you add, the more line noise and packet errors you introduce - so the shorter the cable, the better.
While you're looking at your phone sockets, make sure that any extension sockets have ADSL filters fitted too. Every extension in your building needs a filter attached, whether you use it for broadband or not. That's why routers are often supplied with several.
If your download speeds haven't improved after a few days, it's time to get friendly with your neighbours. Do they have problems with slow broadband speeds too? It could be that they're suffering alongside you. If that's the case, get online and find out what the optimum line speed is for your area.
The superb broadband resource Sam Knows has an online broadband checker that will tell you what the best line speed for your area should be. To find it, go to www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker. Armed with this, you're ready to get into some more serious tweaks depending on your specific needs.
Speed up media streaming
When watching streaming media, you have a right to expect stutter-free film and TV. With current broadband speeds, you should even be able to watch at resolutions of 720p or even 1080p.
Whether you'll get this depends on three factors. Your hardware is one of them - and we'll come back to that in a moment. The actual speed of your broadband is a crucial factor too. Less obvious is the overall stability of your connection, which can contribute as much to the perception of speed as your actual bandwidth. Dropped packets result in jerky performance and buffering loops that pause playback.
The tips we've already given you for stabilising your connection are a good place to start. You may also want to try some of these more advanced hardware tweaks.
The right router

ADSL has advanced a great deal since broadband was introduced, so a newer, better router that supports current protocols may help stabilise your connection.
When your router tries to sync with your broadband connection, it does so using multimode - a protocol that listens for a range of ADSL variants and then connects using the best method it can find. An older router may well be connecting to broadband successfully, but using a legacy method. It also means that as a first step, you could try getting a better connection using that age-old method: turning your router off and on again.
As long as the connection isn't in its primary training period and you don't make a habit of it, this won't adversely affect the stability and speed of your broadband, but it may help you resync using a steadier, more stable protocol.
Before you splash out on new hardware - especially when a top-of-the-range router can cost around £60 - try visiting your router manufacturer's website to search for new firmware. The software that runs your router is upgraded periodically, and if you've never updated it, you could be missing out on features and protocol support that your hardware is capable of delivering.
Remember, a router is basically a small computer - so adding features in firmware is fairly straightforward. You just update the device's operating system.
Over the years we've been trying and testing routers, it's surprising how often a different router can affect the speed and stability of a broadband connection. It's an odd fact of complex systems that some chipsets work better with certain exchanges (and the equipment they have installed) than others.
If you currently have a router that generates errors or drops periodically, especially when under high bandwidth loads, it'll be worth borrowing a couple from friends to see if you can get a steadier, faster connection from another brand. Netgear routers are among the best at syncing and hanging on to flaky connections in our experience.
Get wired
Another way to reduce errors and dropped signals is to simplify your system. First, if streaming speeds are unsatisfactory, try a wired Ethernet connection rather than Wi-Fi.
Remove other machines from the network to reduce the competition for bandwidth, and while you're at it, make sure that your media player - whether it's BBC iPlayer running in a browser, YouTube or an ISP-provided service like BT Vision - is the only thing sucking bandwidth from your net connection. That includes updaters, antivirus programs that call home, and VoIP tools like Skype.
If tweaking your connection doesn't improve your viewing sufficiently, streaming may not be the best option for you. Few people notice that you can download programmes on BBC iPlayer, but you can. Click 'Download options' when you've selected the program you want to watch.
You have a choice - a version that plays on iPlayer Desktop, a DRM-crippled download for Windows Media Player, or a lean version for portable devices. iPlayer desktop gives you the best quality, and is the choice to make if your computer's up to speed. If you're watching TV on an older machine, there's no shame in picking the version for portable playback to speed things up.
Test your phone socket
To eliminate client-side socket and filter problems from the broadband chain, begin by connecting your router directly to the master socket without a filter. Monitor your connection speed and stability.
If there's no improvement, you can rule out your microfilters. It could be a problem with the socket itself, so you can try plugging your router into the test socket. You can find this by removing the BT faceplate - it's the same size as the master socket at the bottom right of the recess.
If you see an improvement this time, you can make the improvement permanent by fitting a BT I-Plate. This is an add-on that sits in between your existing telephone socket and the faceplate, routing your connection directly through the test socket.
The device costs under £10, and we've seen impressive results in testing.

For online gaming, you need a steady, stable connection with minimum lag. To start bringing down that ping, you can use an expert software tweak.
Windows 7 is already heavily optimised for network use, but with file transfers in mind, not steady streams of game data.
Nagle's algorithm is the culprit. It delays small chunks of data and gathers them into bigger packets. It's fine for files, but not so great for World of Warcraft. Use the free software SGC Optimizer to disable Nagle's algorithm depending on how you use your machine.
Under the Advanced Settings tab, you can apply changes to the Registry without adding keys yourself. For general broadband optimisation, there's a simple 'Optimise' button that applies a range of tweaks. If your ping speeds seem slower at certain times of day - or when you're using different types of application - then your ISP could be throttling traffic to optimise its network.
Most ISPs won't admit it, but it's standard practice to reduce or block the bandwidth available to some applications to free up space for mainstream activities, like web browsing. It could affect you if you're a gamer, using VoIP apps like Skype, or downloading files using BitTorrent or uTorrent.
Traffic management

Most providers are secretive about traffic management, but others use it as a selling point, recommending and targeting specific packages at different user requirements.
PlusNet's Value package limits gaming bandwidth to 2MB. Upgrade to PlusNet Extra though, and you'll be able to enjoy full speed gaming. Be Broadband claims not to throttle any specific type of traffic, and if you opt for its Unlimited product, you get access to a control panel that lets you optimise your connection profile for gaming.
If all other tweaks fail, call up your old, sluggish ISP and demand a MAC (Migration Authorisation Code) so you can move to a provider that's prepared to meet your needs.
If you're serious about gaming, pay a little extra for a static IP. It's the ultimate stability upgrade. Your gaming experience will only ever be as good as the weakest link in your system, so it's essential you match a tweaked broadband connection with a machine that can keep up.
Don't bother with network cards aimed at gamers. We've yet to find one that's worth the small performance increase you'll reap. Spend your money on extra RAM and a better graphics card instead.
Firmware
We've already suggested that streaming media users might upgrade their firmware to the latest version from the manufacturer. Gamers and downloaders may want to go a step further and try downloading a tweaked and optimised version of the firmware for their router.

There are several hacked and patched options, using open source software to replace or enhance the existing router operating system. Tomato replaces the firmware in certain Buffalo or Linksys routers, and other models that share the same chipset. Netgear users should take a look at DGTeam.
In both cases, additional commands are added to your router's control panel, letting you directly optimise your connection, making it faster or more stable.
Speed up downloads
If you're downloading large files regularly, then you'll want to make sure you're using the full capacity of your broadband package. Your first step should be to find out whether your ISP throttles or otherwise manages download traffic.
Virgin, for example, has been vocal about its management of filesharing traffic, reducing the amount of bandwidth available for this activity at peak usage times. You therefore need to find a provider that's friendly towards P2P traffic.
Some ISPs allow full bandwidth for P2P traffic at specific times of day - usually from midnight until early morning. Antisocial hours, in other words. If you're planning to be in bed then, you can schedule your large downloads to run automatically.
For example, in uTorrent - a widely used BitTorrent client - you can set up a schedule that only permits downloads between specific hours. Set up the scheduler, start your download and leave your computer switched on. It will begin automatically when the scheduler allows it.
Drop freeloaders
Assuming your ISP lets you to use all your bandwidth allowance for downloads, it's important to make sure that external parties aren't hitching a free ride on the service you're paying for.
Your Wi-Fi router should be secure out of the box, but some people try to solve connection issues by switching off password protection. This is a very bad idea. We'd even go so far as to suggest that simple WPA protection isn't enough protection.
Most routers let you narrow down permitted machines by their MAC address - the unique ID code of the network card in your computer. Have a poke around in your router's configuration page and you should find a way to do this.
Spot malware
It's not only unscrupulous neighbours who might be stealing your bandwidth and making downloads slow. We've already suggested switching off legitimate programs that use up bandwidth, but there could be other code on your machine phoning home and using up your valuable megabits.
If you download files online, especially from dubious sources, you could have viruses, trojans, spyware and worms hidden away in archives. Clean up your system with free tools like AVG Free and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
Botnets are perhaps the worst culprits when it comes to adversely affecting download speeds, not only eating up bandwidth by connecting back to their source network, but using it to send spam emails. It's sometimes difficult to track them down, but TrendMicro's RUBotted is one option if you suspect that your system may have been compromised.
The software runs in your system tray, quietly monitoring traffic to and from your router. It will alert you if it spots a pattern it recognises as potentially suspicious activity.
If you've tried all our suggestions and you're still not satisfied with your download speeds, sometimes there's just no substitute for more bandwidth. Right now, ADSL2+ speeds top out around 20Mbps, with average connections actually capable of 8-10Mbps.
But what if you could have two ADSL lines? Or four? You can. This is known as bonded ADSL, and it uses multiple broadband lines to increase the bandwidth available. The only problem is, it's expensive.
BT offers bonded ADSL as a business service, charging £30 per line after a set-up fee of £275 and a connection fee of £60.
Digital line management
If you're experiencing slow downloads, one common culprit is a line speed that's been set too low. When you're connected to a new broadband account, the line goes into a 10-day training period at the beginning of the contract. If there are errors on your line during this period, your line speed will be lowered at the exchange.
With modern ADSL2+ lines, you can even experience line speed problems later than that, because Digital Line Management on these packages checks your line capability periodically. If your line drops frequently, it may become 'banded', which means that a maximum download speed has been set to stabilise the connection.
If you can diagnose and stop the cause of the instability, you can then contact your ISP and ask it to arrange for the cap to be lifted. However, it's important to note that if problems remain, your speed could drop again. When consistently downloading large files, that's a real possibility.