“The internet is down” is one of the most common phone calls we get, and about half the time the internet is completely fine. The problem is the Wi-Fi. They feel identical from your desk, but they are two different things, and telling them apart takes about five minutes and no special tools. Here is how.
Wi-Fi and internet are not the same thing
Your internet is the line coming into the building, from your router out to the wider world. Your Wi-Fi is just the last wireless hop, from that router to the device in your hand. If the line is slow, everyone suffers. If the Wi-Fi is weak in your corner, it might only be you, and no amount of shouting at your provider will fix it. The whole trick is working out which half is misbehaving before you pick up the phone.
The five-minute test
- Plug in with a cable. Connect a laptop straight to the router with an ethernet cable, which takes Wi-Fi out of the picture entirely. If everything is suddenly fast and smooth, your line is fine and the problem is Wi-Fi. If it is still slow while wired, the problem is the line or the kit behind it.
- Run a speed test, wired. Use a speed test site while plugged in and compare the result to what you expect. A wired result far below your plan points at the line; a healthy wired result that collapses over Wi-Fi points at the wireless.
- Check the ping. Most speed tests show ping and sometimes jitter. High ping or packet loss even on a cable usually means a line or provider issue, not Wi-Fi, and it is exactly the sort of thing that makes calls stutter on an otherwise “fast” connection.
- Try a second device. If one laptop is slow but everyone else is fine, the network is not the villain, that one device is. If every device is slow in the same spot, it is the network.
- Change spot and time. Slow only in one part of the building is a Wi-Fi coverage problem. Slow everywhere, but only at busy times of day, points at a congested or over-shared line.
| What you see | Most likely cause |
|---|---|
| Fast on a cable, slow on Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi (coverage, interference, AP placement) |
| Slow even on a cable | The line or the router |
| Only one device affected | That device, not the network |
| Slow only in one area | Wi-Fi coverage in that spot |
| Slow everywhere at peak times | Contention or an undersized line |
| High ping or dropouts on a cable | A fault worth reporting to your provider |
The single most useful step is the cable. It splits the problem in two in about thirty seconds, and it saves you reporting an “internet fault” that turns out to be a Wi-Fi dead spot, or fiddling with Wi-Fi when the line itself is the issue.
What to do next
If the test points at Wi-Fi, especially in one part of the building, our guide to Wi-Fi that is slow in one area walks through the usual fixes. If it points at the line, do not just reboot and hope, gather a few details first so it gets fixed quickly, using our checklist on what to collect before reporting a fault.
How Synergy Max helps
When a Synergy Max customer calls, we are not guessing from a script. We can see the health of your line, and because we often look after both the connection and the Wi-Fi, we can tell in minutes which half is at fault and put it right, rather than bouncing you between a broadband company and an IT company who each blame the other.