It's worth starting the troubleshooting process with a restart of the router. So if you haven't already done that recently, do that now. Restarting the router is most easily achieved by disconnecting the router's power supply momentarily before reconnecting. Or if easier switch the router off at the wall socket. Then allow a couple of minutes before testing whether you're able to get to a web site. e.g. Google. If still not connecting read on.
I'd expect you to be able to find relevant, useful information in your router's log. To get to the router's log follow the instructions that came with the router which will show how to gain access to the router's administration console. As a general guide the administration console is typically accessed by typing the ip address of the router into the web address box in your web browser. You may, however, have a desktop shortcut or some other program to gain access.
As can be seen from the following screenshot the log lists the date and time of each connection attempt to your broadband service provider. If there are entries in the log which show multiple failed connection attempts in a short space of time it's normally an indication of a problem establishing a connection to your service provider.
Every router has a connection status display that lists information such as uptime – both for the ADSL connection and the router. Errors here are likely to be further indication that a connection to the broadband service is failing and, perhaps, why that is.
Most routers will provide some useful feedback on the quality of the signal on your phone line, too. Two parameters shown in the following screenshot are important: the amount of signal lost (line attenuation) and how ‘loud’ the signal is compared to background noise.
Line attenuation should ideally be low (60dB is on the poor side; 20dB is good), while the signal-to-noise ratio (labelled as Noise Margin in the above table) should be high (20dB is good; 6dB is on the poor side). A low SNR ratio makes it difficult for the router to sync with the DSLAM card at the telephone exchange. That said the figures for line attenuation and noise margin in this screen are on the poor side but my connection speed comes in at over 3Mbps which is perfectly useable and the connection is reliable.
Since the ADSL connection speed is adaptive, you can’t be sure what connection speed you’ve actually got and it does vary from one day to the next in my experience. However it's possible to see the connection speed from within your router's admin console, as above. Alternatively there are many broadband speed test sites, but we recommend the one offered by BT. To try it, head to speedtester.bt.com using the broadband line you want to test, enter your phone number and click on Go.
In my case I click on the up to 24Mbps option which matches the broadband service I subscribe to. The tests are then run and results page displays automatically. Mine came up with the following:
As an additional test I can open up a command prompt window (see following screen for guidance on how to do that) and use the ping utility to measure the response time I'm getting from my PC to any given web site I visit.
The following example shows me issuing a ping command using the Google web site as the target.
The response time to a ping command is measured in milliseconds and in this example is perfectly acceptable. If I were seeing responses which say Request timed out it would be indicative of a problem. If the Request timed out response is received from multiple web sites it's most likely a problem that exists somewhere between your service provider and your own PC rather than beyond. The tracert command will provide some more granular detail to the journey the ping requests are taking from your PC to the Google site and can help pin the performance issue down to a specific leg of the journey.
The first leg of the journey is to the destination 192.168.0.1 which is to my own router/gateway and took just 2 milliseconds which is about as fast as it can get. The other legs of the journey are outside of my router and across the internet.
In summary I hope this article has provided some help in terms of providing places to go in search of clues which, hopefully, will help clarify why your internet connection isn't good and enable you to have a more informed conversation with the technical support folks at your service provider.
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