Troubleshooting your Fixed Wireless Internet Connection

If you are having issues with your nbn Fixed Wireless connection, they normally fall into the following categories:

  • Dropouts
  • Slow Speeds – If you get slow speeds all the time, it’s likely the problem is with your in-home equipment. If the slow speeds are during peak times/busy periods it may be congestion
  • No connection

Here are 7 STEPS to try before calling your RSP. (It’s a good idea to do methodical tests and make detailed notes while you’re trying to find the cause of your problems. You might like to take screen shots or record the speed test results you get.) Likewise, if you are experiencing drop outs and other (non speed related issues), there could be a problem with your equipment and you will need to escalate with your provider.FW Indicator lightd

Information about your nbn™ Wireless Connection Box

If you cannot complete one of the steps, then move to the next one.

  1. A full power cycle routine.

When troubleshooting your nbn Fixed Wireless connection, your first step should be a power cycle. To do this, you need to turn the device off, and all devices connected to it, then turn it back on. This will force it to reset, which can fix a lot of basic problems. It is important to turn the devices on in order. A monthly reboot of everything often makes a performance difference. Do further speed tests and see if that made a difference.

Here are the steps to power cycle a typical nbn Fixed Wireless setup:

  • Turn off ALL devices.
  • Wait at least 5 minutes.
  • Turn the Devices on in order
    • Turn on the NBN box first (also known as the NTD or modem). Wait until all the lights are on and indicate an active connection (this may take a few minutes). Active connections for NBN Fixed Wireless connections are indicated in the nbn light chart above.
    • Then turn on your router. Wait until all the lights are on the router, this indicates an active connection.
    • Then turn on all your other devices – e.g. computer, tablet or phone.
  1. Plug direct into the NTD

Plug a computer directly into the NBN modem (NTD), with an ethernet cord – thus bypassing the router. Repeat Step 1 above (do a complete power cycle). If this fixes your problem, you may need a new router, contact your provider for help with router issues.(NB make sure you use the same port that has a cable in it already, only one port is activated by NBN – usually port 1)

  1. Check cables

Try a new network cable / ethernet cord from the router to the NBN NTD, check that the cord is plugged into Port 1 (unless instructed otherwise by your provider). If you have a few of them in your home, try them all just in case you have a dud cable. Network cables lull you into a false sense of security by rarely being faulty, then when you least expect it, there they are!

nbn Fixed wireless equipment diagram Uni D

  1. Check your account usage

If you are on a limited data nbn Fixed Wireless plan log into your account and check you aren’t ‘shaped’ or ‘speed limited’ (used all your peak data & have been slowed).  Check what ‘speed tier’ your plan is on whilst you are logged in.

  1. Check for any network outages

Check for any nbn Fixed Wireless or provider network outages.  Nbn outages can be either provider or nbn related. You will need to check both.

To check for an outage, see our Network outage Page

  1. Do a speed test

If you are experiencing slow speeds, do some speed testing.

Run regular speed tests , see the BIRRR How to Run A Speed Test. You should run the speed test at various times of the day and night, especially when you think your speed is slow.

Record the speed test results, so you can forward them to your RSP. Please keep in mind that your speed will vary depending on a number of factors including congestion at peak times. Your RSP probably doesn’t guarantee to give you 100% of the peak speed of your service 100% of the time, so check your Customer Agreement and see what it says about expected speeds.

      7. Check your device

  • Check to see if you can access the internet with another device, phone, tablet or laptop. If you can the Wi-Fi device drivers in your computer may need to be updated. You should ask your local computer specialist for help with device driver updates as it’s tricky if you’re not sure what you’re doing.
  • If using a computer, download and install a fresh copy of a browser you haven’t used before. If you use Windows and Internet Explorer, try Chrome or Firefox. If you’re a Mac owner using Safari, try Firefox. Sometimes browsers get clogged up with cookies and other stuff and that can affect your speed.
  • Make Sure Your PC Is Healthy. Check for spyware, viruses, and malware. These programs are easily downloaded and installed, without your knowledge, while you’re surfing the Web. They can run undetected and have a significant impact on your Web surfing speed and overall system performance. There are plenty of free and subscription-based utilities available that will detect and eradicate these programs and prevent them being downloaded and installed in the first place.  If you notice an improvement, then you may have something wrong with your antivirus software (try disabling web shield in your antivirus software.to see if there is an improvement). Scan your computer for malware. (Anti Malwarebytes is a good program)
  • Windows users can try setting the computer into Safe Mode with Networking (how to is here). Reboot your Windows computer in Safe Mode with Networking and run some more speed tests. That starts your computer with the bare basic software, so if you have anti-virus or some other program that’s slowing your computer, speed tests in Safe Mode will reveal that.

STILL HAVING ISSUES

If you have tried all the steps above and are still having problems, you will need to contact your provider.

Use your Provider Contact Sheet to contact your service provider to help you troubleshoot your issue further.

If your provider is unable to help resolve your issue, get a fault number/ticket number from your provider, also ask for the nbn Incident Number and fill in the Regional Tech Hub  form (the RTH are now doing the escalation of either no connection or an issue with your connection), please visit here and complete their form
https://regionaltechhub.org.au/stay-connected/escalation-form/

You can also try activating a second port on your service with a different provider, such as Aussie Broadband, to see if your service improves. Aussie Broadband will offer a no contract 30 day trial to enable you to see if your old provider has the congestion issue, or if the issue is with nbn.  You can read more about nbn Fixed Wireless Congestion here.

You can also check out Whistle Out’s Guide to how to fix a slow nbn connection here.

*Please note, while all care has been taken in compiling BIRRR documents, we recommend that you check with your ISP regarding your own connection and speed issues.  Thanks to SkyMesh for their assistance in compiling this document. This page was updated on 20/11/2020

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