There are several things that can play a factor in speeds and connectivity. Tower congestion and/or tower maintenance are just a few of those things that can cause a disruption in service. Unfortunately, some of these things, Miles Out Internet can not control. However, if you experience loss of internet connection or extremely slow speeds for more than 24 hours and after completion of the following steps, please reach out to us so we can eliminate everything on our side and help determine what the issue might be.
Basic Home Internet Setup For Outdoor Modems
The image depicted above shows a breakdown of a basic setup for your home internet connection.
The modem mounted on the outside of your home, is what brings the internet from the tower to your home.
From the modem, the cables that come into your home include the power supply for the outside modem and the ethernet cabling that brings the connection inside the home to the Wifi Device.
The Wifi Device then distributes the internet wirelessly throughout your home.
Connectivity
In the event that you lose your connection to the internet or experience slower than normal speeds, the first thing you should do is reboot the outdoor unit. A simple reboot will typically resolve most connectivity/speed issues. Keep in mind these units run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We recommend rebooting the unit once per week.
To Reboot The Outdoor Modem:
1. Locate the power supply that powers the outdoor unit. This will be located somewhere in the vicinity of where the cables come into your home. The box will look like this:
2. Pull the POWER ONLY from this box. It is very important NOT to unplug the other cables connected to this box.
3. Leave unplugged for a minimum of 5 minutes. It takes that long for all of the internal components in the modem to reset.
4. Reconnect the power cord and wait approximately 10-15 minutes for the connection to restore.
Testing Speeds
As long as your modem is connected to the internet, you can check your internet speed by two different methods.
Through A Hardwired Connection
The first method is through a hardwired connection to the modem. You will need a computer/laptop and a network/ethernet cable for this method. This method bypasses the WiFi and will get speeds directly from the modem.
1. Locate the power supply for the Outdoor Modem. This will be located somewhere in the vicinity of where the cables come into your home. The box will look like this:
2. Disconnect ONLY the network cable from the port labeled “Data” and sit to the side. (If you follow this cable, the other end should be connected to your Wifi Device.)
3. Connect a network/ethernet cable to the “Data” port you just removed the cable from.
4. Connect the other end of the cable to the network port on a computer/laptop.
5. Go to the following site: https://www.speedtest.net/.
6. Once you get to the site, click “Go” and wait for the test to complete.
7. When the test completes, it will give you the results of your download speed and upload speed.
8. After testing, reconnect the network cable that was sat to the side in Step 1. (The other end of this cable should still be connected to your WiFi device.). This will connect your WiFi device back to the modem.
_________________________________________________________
Through The WiFi
The second method is through the WiFi. You will need a mobile phone, tablet or computer connected to your Wifi for this method. Please note that devices using the internet during testing will impact the speeds, such as TVs streaming, files downloading, etc.
1. Verify the device you will be testing from is connected to the WiFi.
2. Go to the following site: https://www.speedtest.net/.
If you are using an Apple Device, you can also download the APP “Speedtest by Ookla” in the APP Store. If you are using an android device, you can down load the APP in the Google Play Store.
3. Once you get to the site, click “Go” and wait for the test to complete.
4. When the test completes, it will give you the results of your download speed and upload speed.
WiFi Issues
If you experience a lag in speed on the devices connected to the WiFi but are getting good speeds via the speed test:
1. Make sure the device is in range of the WiFi.
2. A reboot of the WiFi unit may be needed. To reboot, pull the power to the WiFi unit for a few minutes.
3. Depending on the type of WiFi unit you have, you may need to see if the device needs an update. Most WiFi units are accessible through an app. This is where you would need to look for the update. If you purchased the WiFi unit through us, a technician can walk you through the steps if an update is available.
**It is important to never press the reset button on the WiFi unit, this will erase the settings in the device and it will no longer function properly. A technician would have to walk you through adding those settings back in.
***We can only support/assist with WiFi units that are purchased from Miles Out Internet. We have specific units that we provide and have the most knowledge of these units.