First up (and most importantly) your Wi-Fi isn’t broken. 

Want even more good news? There are plenty of things you can do right this second to boost your internet strength.  

Our brain-fizzingly clever Zzoomm techies have told us all their secrets.  

Let’s get you back to zapping zombies and bingeing boxsets already! 

Wi-Fi and broadband speed myth busting 

There are lots of misconceptions around the internet and how it works. Mostly because words and phrases get used interchangeably. Fear not! The Zzoomm Techies have got you.  
 

1. It’s totally normal not to get full internet speeds in all the rooms of your house 
   Wi-Fi signal gets weakened by walls, so rooms that are further away from the router will naturally have lower signal strength.  
    

2. Your broadband speed and your Wi-Fi speed are not always the same thing 
   When your devices are plugged directly into the router with an ethernet cable they get a faster, consistent service. The broadband speeds you see advertised, provided the fibre connection to the property is healthy, are what we expect the router to receive. How Wi-Fi can then travel around the property will vary. 
    

3. If you don’t want to (or can’t) plug your devices into the router, there are some other gadgets to help 
   Wi-Fi extenders and mesh kits can help boost Wi-Fi around your home.   
    

4. A slow speed test result doesn’t automatically mean there’s a fault in your broadband service 
   Things like the location of your router, if your devices are plugged in, and even the ages of your devices can all affect the speed of your internet connection. The best way to check if there’s a disruption to service in your area is to check the Network Status. 

But, why are wired connections faster than Wi-Fi? 

The quick answer is because the Wi-Fi radio waves can get interrupted, lost, or blocked.   

Imagine your broadband speed is like water flowing through a hose pipe.  

• A wired connection is like a hose pipe watering a sunflower. All the water is going exactly where you want it to go, right at the roots. In the case of the internet, the cable brings a consistent flow of internet data directly to your device.  
   

• Wi-Fi is more like the hose pipe with the sprinkler attachment. Water is spraying through the air and it’s getting all the flowers in the flower bed. All the flowers are getting a little bit of water, rather than one direct flow. In the case of the internet, Wi-Fi has lots of places to go. So, it meets more obstacles and the signal can become weaker. 
   

It’s normal for Wi-Fi speeds to be 30-40% lower than a wired connection. 

For example: 

Actual results will vary depending on your home environment and devices. 

Wi-Fi coverage vs speed – how are they different? 

Sometimes, we can think our internet speed is “slow” when actually, there’s a coverage problem.   

• Speed refers to how many Mbps are getting to your devices.  

• Coverage refers to how far your Wi-Fi router is from your devices. The closer the device to the router, the stronger the connection.  

Buying faster internet with higher Mbps speeds won’t automatically improve your internet connection if the real issue is that your Wi-Fi can’t reach your devices. For example, a slower but stable 200Mbps connection throughout your home on a mesh system will often provide better internet connection than a 500 Mbps connection with one router in the living room. 

If you’re streaming high-quality YouTube clips, video calling your mates, or streaming a movie-marathon, you need stable coverage just as much as consistent speed. 

“Your broadband speed and your Wi-Fi speed are not always the same thing.” 

• Clever Zzoomm Engineer 

Tip 1: Get the best connection in your home with wired connection 

Broadband speeds are measured on wired connections because they’re the most accurate. Wired connections consistently provide the best internet access. 

A wired connection means you: 

1. Avoid wireless interference from other devices, like TVs, baby monitors, or smart home hubs (like Alexa) 

2. Avoid weak, patchy connections – because the Wi-Fi signal doesn’t need to pass through walls or floors  

3. Get a strong, consistent performance because the cable is doing all the work 

4. Access the maximum available broadband speed on your internet package 

To set this up, simply plug your device directly to your router using an ethernet cable. When shopping for one, make sure you get a cat 5e ethernet cable as a minimum. 

Don’t worry, you don’t have to connect every device which uses internet. Choose the “hungriest” devices, the ones which use the most internet bandwidth. These are likely to be your smart TV, your laptop, and your games console. 

Tip 2: Buy a gadget to boost your Wi-Fi connection 

Wi-Fi uses radio waves to transmit data signals between your router and devices. These radio waves can be interrupted, and they can struggle to ‘get around’ your home. When this happens, your connection suffers.  

By removing interruptions and boosting coverage, your Wi-Fi connectivity will improve. There are two different gadgets which can do this:  
 

• Gadget 1 – mesh systems 
  Instead of one router in one room trying to get Wi-Fi everywhere, a mesh kit blankets your home in a web of Wi-Fi signal using multiple access points that all team up to work as one network. A bit like a daisy chain, bringing Wi-Fi signal to every room.  
   

• Gadget 2 – Wi-Fi extenders  
  These are different to mesh systems and also improve the coverage of Wi-Fi in your home. Range extenders pick up your router’s Wi-Fi signal, amplify it, and rebroadcast the boosted signal. Like your WiFi got given a microphone.  

Both gadgets solve the problems of inconsistent, ‘slow’, or patchy Wi-Fi. They are especially good options if you live in a larger home, where the Wi-Fi has to travel further, or if you live in an old home which has thick stone walls and floors. 

Tip 3: Move your router into a different room and reboot it 

Give your Wi-Fi connection a boost right now, without gadgets or cables!  
 

1. Disconnect your router and set it up in a central position in your home. The Wi-Fi radio waves will be able to move more easily around your rooms.  

2. Keep your router away from corners, walls, or enclosed spaces like shelves or cupboards. 

3. Move it away from baby monitors, smart home devices (like Alexa), TVs, and large electrical appliances to reduce interference. 

4. Reboot your router by turning it off and on again every few months.  

Tip 4: Something still not right? Check your devices 

Tried everything? Is your device still not connecting properly to the internet? The problem might be with the device itself.  

What you’re using, its age, and its condition all affect Wi-Fi performance. Older laptops, Smart TVs, streaming boxes, tablets, and gaming consoles may have an outdated hardware which isn’t compatible with the latest Wi-Fi technology. This caps the device’s speed, no matter how fast your broadband connection is.  
 

It might be time to replace your device with a newer model. But before you go shopping, double check your devices are working properly and have the latest software updates. 

The Zzoomm Customer Care Team are always ready to help 

Call us confident, but we reckon all the tips we’ve shared here will solve your internet connection problems pretty promptly. You’ll be simultaneously scrolling and singing along to your favourite playlists in no time!  

But as always, if your internet service isn’t working the way you’d expect, please call us. Our Zzoomm experts are at the end of the phone Monday to Friday: 8:30am – 7pm. 0333 311 9933 

Up next… Read more about Broadband and Wi-Fi speeds 

The post ‘Why’s my Wi-Fi speed not the same as my broadband speed?’ Quick fixes and myth busting from the Zzoomm broadband experts.  appeared first on Zzoomm Full Fibre broadband.

Sometimes we know the words. Sometimes we think we know the words. Sometimes we have no idea.

So, let’s get you up to speed on some internety, broadbandy terminology.

What does it all mean?

1. What does ‘internet’ actually mean?
The internet is an enormous network of computers around the world. That’s why there’s “net” at the end of the word internet. The world wide web as we know it was invented by Tim Berners-Lee back in 1989 (pub quiz fact – he also invented HTML, HTTP and URLs, but we’re not going down that rabbit hole today).

2. What does broadband mean?
Broadband is now the overarching term for how you access the world wide web at high speed: without tiring or interruption, and even better on networks like Zzoomm’s full fibre to the property (FTTP) connection. Gone are the days where you had to pick between making a phone call or browsing the internet.

3. What does Wi-Fi mean?
Wi-Fi is another way we can access the internet. This time, it’s wireless. Internet data is transmitted via radio waves. There’s a broadband cable going into the router in your home. The router then sends out radio waves which connect to your devices. Another fun fact – Wi-Fi isn’t actually short for anything. The name was coined by a branding firm as an easy-to-remember term for wireless tech, deliberately sounding a bit like the audio term hi-fi.

4. What’s the difference between FTTP and FTTC?
Other providers often use a Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) network, where the network is made up of fibre-optic cables that lead into a local cabinet, the kind you see on the side of the road (often painted green). Then older, slower copper cables take over the last section from the cabinet to the home. FTTC is being phased out, with some copper connections being disconnected.

Zzoomm’s network is 100% Full Fibre To The Property (FTTP), with the most modern and speedy fibre-optic connection straight to your home. We don’t use any copper cables on any part of our network, so there’s no slowdown during busy times. With full fibre, information is quite literally travelling at the speed of light.

5. What’s the ONT box?
ONT stands for Optical Network Terminal. The ONT is normally on an outer wall, inside your house, close to a plug socket. It translates the external connection for the router. It basically brings the fibre to the property and then enables the router to connect to it.

6. What’s a router?
A router is a physical box in your home which plugs into the ONT box and acts as a traffic director for digital data. It connects your home to the wider internet and routes data between your devices (like phones, laptops, and smart TVs).

7. What’s a device?
In this case, it means anything which connects to the internet. TVs, laptops, tablets, phones, gaming consoles and smart speakers.

8. What’s a wired internet connection?
A wired internet connection means the device that’s using the internet is directly plugged into the router with an ethernet cable. Your device will then use this connection to get online.

9. What does internet coverage mean?
Internet coverage refers to where the internet signal reaches. You have ‘good coverage’ if your devices connect consistently across your home.

10. What does internet speed mean?
Internet speed is the rate at which you can download and upload data through your broadband connection, measured in Mbps.

11. What are Mbps, and what do they mean?
Mbps means ‘megabits per second’. It’s how much internet data is being transferred every second. The higher the number, the faster the internet speed. Just like ‘miles per hour’ in a car.

What’s a mesh kit/system?
A mesh kit/system gives extra individual access points for your Wi-Fi connection. They connect with your router either wirelessly or through an ethernet cable and join up a bit like a daisy chain. They boost your signal and send it further, depending on where they are in your home. The mesh kit can help your wireless connection get stronger and reach areas that previously had poor (or no) connection.

So, there you have it. A list of the techie terms you might spot when you’re looking into which broadband provider is best for you.

If you’ve still got any questions about how Zzoomm broadband could zip around your home, give our helpful humans a call on 0333 311 9933

Up next… Learn how to fix your WiFi issues

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