Secret 1: Replace your modem

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2 10 Secret Ways to improve your Internet Connection Secret 1: Replace your modem The ADSL modem is an essential part of an Internet connection as it assists with the transmission of data along a telephone line. If the ADSL modem becomes faulty or is not set up correctly you may not receive a quality Internet connection or be able to connect at all. Old Technology If your modem is more than 2 years old it is running on older technology. The processors and chips are based on older designs. The newer technology often runs faster and more efficiently. This will minimise the amount of connection drop-outs and lost/dropped data packets. Think of your Internet connection like a garden hose with water flowing through it. The less restrictions such as blocked pipes will allow more water to flow through. The difference here is the internet data is your water that flows through the pipes which is your telephone line connection. Cheap Modems Many homes and businesses dismiss the importance of the ADSL modem. They often go for the cheapest modem on the retail shelf or rush for the FREE MODEM WITH CONNECTION deal. The free modem that is included is usually what is referred to as CHEAP CHINESE JUNK. It s free for a reason as the quality is less than that of a regular brand. Almost every electronic device sold around the world these days is made in China. China makes a lot of very good, professional quality products. There is also a lot of cheap rubbish that is poorly manufactured and tested. By all means it serves its purpose, but the quality of the connection may not ensure the highest performance.

3 Recommended Modems Avoid any modems that are no name or rebadged with your Internet provider s name. There may be some that are good out there but most generally are poor quality. TeleMates has also noticed a common trend of connection technical problems involving the following brands: DLINK and Netgear. TeleMates has partnered with a special Australian company called Netcomm Wireless to provide modems to our customers. The modems are shipped to our customer s doorstep and are pre-configured with the log in details for the connection. The pre-configuration is completed by the modem manufacturer s technical team to ensure the best quality performance. This way when you receive your modem from TeleMates it is already set up for plug and play.

4 Secret 2: Check Your Telephone Line Quality Many customers ignore the fact that their line has interference and noise such as crackles, static and occasional cross lines. All these circumstances will interfere with the quality of your Internet connection that could lead to a lower connection speed or drop outs of your Internet connection. How do I fix these? Your service provider is responsible for maintaining the quality of your telephone line connections. All you need to do is contact your service provider and report a fault. Some customers are worried about logging a fault because it will cost them money. Here s a secret.faults ARE REPAIRED FOR FREE! It is covered in the cost of your monthly line rental. How is it fixed? When a line fault is reported to the network, a technician will begin by testing the line to detect points of signal loss. The technician may check the cabling in the ground pit outside your home or business for broken cables or moisture damage such as corrosion. The technician may re-assign your telephone line to a completely different cable or make recommendations for a complete replacement of telephone cables on the street due to age or wear and tear. TeleMates has successfully assisted many customers to restore and repair faulty telephone line connections. Due to the heavy government regulations set by ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) most phone lines are required to be repaired within 1 business day if the line is located within a city metro area. TeleMates has also managed to obtain compensation for clients in some cases where the line has not been repaired within adequate industry timeframes.

5 Secret 3: Upgrade Your Internet Speed There are two types of Broadband Internet connections available in Australia. ADSL 1 and ADSL 2+. ADSL 1 operates at a maximum speed of up to 8mb/s and ADSL2+ operates on a maximum connection speed of 24mb/s. ADSL 1 was the first Broadband Internet connection available in Australia and was released in Australia in the year It requires your local telephone exchange in your suburb to be equipped with ADSL 1 equipment and your distance from the telephone exchange must be within 7km. ADSL 2+ was released at a later date of approximately 2004 to offer customers a faster Internet connection option. It also requires your local telephone exchange to be equipped with ADSL 2+ equipment and you must be within 5km of the telephone exchange. Failure to upgrade Many customers have failed to be told that they can upgrade to ADSL 2+ by their existing provider. They have maintained their standard ADSL1 connection for many years and were not aware that their telephone exchange was upgraded for ADSL 2+ access. Therefore you have always been connecting to a lower speed. Why was I not told about the exchange upgrade? This is the secret most larger providers do not want to tell you. There are not enough ADSL2+ Internet connection ports available for every home and business in the area to connect. If every home or business tried to connect, the exchange would run out of ADSL 2+ ports. Instead they have left you on the older ADSL 1 ports running at a slower speed. But I have tried upgrading before and was declined by my provider? When was the last time you checked on this? Every month TeleMates receives notice that ADSL exchanges have been upgraded in particular areas for ADSL2+ connections. If you have not checked this in the last 12 months it is time to check again. TeleMates has assisted many customers to obtain Internet connections where customers thought it was not available. In one such example we found 6 different providers denied a customer high quality Internet before they tried TeleMates. The issue we have found in examples like this is the lack of specialised knowledge by the larger service provider s staff. High turnover of skilled well trained staff in larger service providers has commonly led to a loss of industry skill and knowledge.

6 Secret 4: Change to a plan without speed shaping What is shaping? Shaping is the technical term used for slowing the speed of your connection when you reach your total data allowance for the period in which it has been allocated. If you exceed your download limit, your connection speed will be "shaped" to a slower speed. How does shaping affect my Internet access? If you reach your data allowance allocated for the month by your service provider, you will find your Internet speed is slower than normal. This could occur at the most inappropriate time when you are trying to work. Why do Internet Service providers do this? The secret here is that the Internet service provider is trying to share their data feed with many customers. By shaping the amount of data and restricting access to a user, they save on wholesale costs by providing you with less data service. How do I fix shaping? You should move to a plan or a new Service Provider that does not shape their Internet access. TeleMates removed shaping restrictions from all current ADSL broadband plan offers and made the data UNLIMITED to ensure all customers are satisfied with their connections.

7 Secret 5: Avoid lower priced providers It s no secret that large corporations exist to make profits for their shareholders. Different companies apply different strategies to make profits. Some providers charge a premium price for service and provide a premium quality service. Other providers go to market with the cheapest price and attract a lot of customers. What is the cost of a cheap provider? A cheap provider will attract a lot of customers to connect to their Internet service. The type of customer this cheaper service provider attracts is commonly network hogs who download high volumes of music and movie files illegally. This type of customer accesses a lot of Internet data whilst they are downloading from the Internet. As each service provider has one data feed to share amongst its customers, you will find that the data is split up and shared across many customers. If the majority of the network is being accessed by network hogs, it lowers the amount of data to be shared amongst the customers. How does data feeds work? Imagine you have a single garden hose supplying water to a house. Then you connect an adapter that allows the water to be shared amongst 10 houses and 3 of these houses have long heavy showers, it will leave less water for the other houses that do not use the water as much. They will find the pressure of the water is low to the premises. The same works for Internet connections. A lower priced provider will attract network hogs that will overuse and abuse the supply of data to their Internet connection. The amount of data used for the Internet is shared off between multiple customers. The end result is you do not receive the full strength of Internet connection that your service is capable.

8 Secret 6: WIFI connection As technology has changed and become more portable, many customers are switching to WIFI connections. What Is WIFI? WIFI stands for WIRELESS FIDELITY. In simple non-jargon terms is a method of connecting your portable device such as a laptop, tablet computer or mobile phone to a computer network without the use of cables. When connected to a WIFI network at your home and business you will be able to access the Internet and other computers on the same network. The benefits of using WIFI include: No interconnecting cables throughout your premises Freedom to roam around your house without cables You are not restricted to working at a desk You could move your computer to other rooms in the house You could even use your computer in your backyard or in bed! Your modem will need to be equipped with WIFI to be able to receive WIFI on your WIFI compatible laptop, tablet or mobile phone. What is the WIFI range? The WIFI range depends on a couple of factors: Modem WIFI type Physical boundaries such as walls Interference from other radio devices at the premises.

9 What is the secret to improving my WIFI speed and range? TeleMates modems use WIRELESS N Technology. Wireless N technology has a range of up to 60 metres and a connection speed of up to 300mbps. If you are using any other type you WIRELESS technology you will find the distance the WIFI can travel is shorter and the connection speed will be slower. Below is a diagram comparing the different types of WIFI technology along with their maximum distance and data transmission speeds. If you are using a modem that has built in WIFI and is over two years old, you may find it is using technology that has a shorter range and slower speed. If you want to improve your WIFI connection you should upgrade your modem to a newer modem supplied by TeleMates. If you have difficulty setting up your WIFI modem or are afraid of changing technology, a Pre-configured Plug & Play modem can be supplied by TeleMates. This will be set up with the best quality WIFI connection speeds and settings ready for the best performance of your Internet connection. Many new customers have converted to TeleMates due to the ease of our preconfigured modems and easy transfer without interruption to service.

10 Secret 7: Telephones & Filters Did you know the signal strength of your Internet connection on your telephone line can be weakened by: a) Faulty Filters b) A faulty Telephone c) Multiple Telephones Faulty Filters An ADSL filter separates the analogue telephone voice-frequency from the ADSL data signals and prevents interference between the two types of service. If the filter becomes faulty it can interrupt the quality of the ADSL Broadband signal. A faulty filter is the number one cause of Internet drop outs, interference and slower connection speeds on an ADSL Broadband Internet connection. Why does an ADSL Filter become faulty and need replacement? There are a number of reasons a filter may become faulty including: Wear and tear from age Corrosion Electrical Surges from lightning By simply unplugging the faulty filter and replacing it with a new one you may notice a significant increase in your Internet connection speeds.

11 Faulty Telephone A faulty telephone can cause interruption to your ADSL Internet connection by creating a short circuit or interference in the telephone line. You may see the Internet speed slow down or even cause drop outs in connection. If you know one particular handset in your house has static noise, you should remove it from the telephone line. A secret non-expensive test you can do is simply unplug the telephone handset from the telephone line and see if your internet speed improves. If you know your telephone handset is faulty or not working correctly, you should consider replacing this handset with a new one. TeleMates can assist with the supply of new household telephones and cordless phones as part of your monthly service access. Multiple Telephones With the increased use of mobile telephones and cordless phones at home, you should reconsider the number phones that you have connected at home. The more telephones you have connected to a telephone line will weaken the signal strength of your telephone line. This is because the average phone line is designed to handle 1-2 telephone handsets. Any more handsets can cause a reduction in signal strength to all telephones and Internet modems connected on the same telephone line. If the signal strength on the telephone line is lowered you may experience problems such as slower Internet speed and drop outs.

12 Secret 8: Secure WIFI What is the secret to securing my WIFI connection? You need to secure your modem WIFI access with a password. If you leave your WIFI access open with no password: anyone could log into your computer network access your internet for free access your personal data monitor your internet access infect your computer with viruses slow down your internet speed You should regularly change your WIFI access passwords by logging into the menu system and updating this. The SSID (Service Set Identifier) should be changed to a personalised name rather than a default name. The password should be reset using WPA2 with an alpha-numeric password that is not obvious. If you do not know how to set up WIFI in your ADSL modem please contact TeleMates on and a service specialist will assist. You can easily secure your WIFI access by purchasing a Pre-configured Plug & Play modem from TeleMates. Alternatively a TeleMates representative can log into your computer modem and complete this remotely on your behalf.

13 Secret 9: Anti-virus It s no secret that your computer must have sufficient antivirus protection. Yet so many people take antivirus protection lightly and either do not have protection or are not aware they have let their anti-virus subscription expire. If your computer or a computer on your network is not adequately protected, your Internet could slow down due to a virus infection. Some of the effects of a virus infection include: Your computer is sending out spam Your computer is being used to redistribute viruses Your computer is being used to attack other computer networks Your computer has other unauthorized programs running in the background whilst you are working on the Internet. This slows down the processor in your computer and the ability to quickly access Internet data. Your personal computer data is being sent out to 3 rd parties without your knowledge. All of this activity can clog and slow down your Internet connection whilst you are trying to regularly access the Internet. It is also not safe for your personal information such as banking and membership passwords being shared with 3 rd parties. TeleMates recommends the use of an Anti-virus program such as AVG Antivirus or the all-round protection of AVG Internet Security. For details on pricing and ordering AVG please go to Licensing of AVG is fast and easily delivered via and a special download link attached. Once you have installed your AVG anti-virus program or any other program you use, make sure you have downloaded the latest virus update.

14 Secret 10: Internet Traffic Filtering Do these situations seem familiar to you? Your Internet speed slows down when your children come home from school? Your Internet speed is slower whilst your employees surf the Internet during their office break? Your Internet almost stops when specific tasks are performed such as sending out a newsletter to your customers? You are not using your computer but the modem shows a lot of data is flowing through the connection. I m sure one of these examples seems familiar to your home or office environment. The secret to fixing this is using a facility called Quality Of Service (QOS) Quality of service is built into most modems such as the Netcomm modems supplied from TeleMates. QOS will allow you to regulate how much of the Internet traffic a particular type of Internet data uses such as Chat, Video, and VOIP. For example you could give priority to or restrict the level of usage on video traffic such as You Tube. Or if you are using VOIP chat such as Skype it could priority over all traffic whilst you are on a call. About the author This special report was written by Paul Knight, Director of TeleMates. Paul Knight comes with over 14 years of experience working in the IT industry in both the retail and service provider sectors. Paul has assisted many customers personally at TeleMates and extensively trained the TeleMates customer service team to provide you with superior quality customer service. If you have any enquiries, comments or feedback to this article please feel free to contact or support@telemates.com.au

15 TeleMates Case Studies Here are some case studies of TeleMates customers that we have helped. The names have been removed to avoid embarrassment: Example 1: ADSL drop out due to faulty filter Problem: TeleMates received a complaint from a customer regarding drop outs in the Internet connection. The customer requested TeleMates log a network fault for the Internet connection. Solution: A quick test of the modem connected directly to the telephone wall socket showed that the filter was faulty due to a recent electrical storm in the area. The customer purchased a replacement filter from TeleMates and the Internet service went back to normal speeds. Example 2: WIFI Password shared with Café next door Problem: TeleMates received a report from a customer that they were experiencing slow Internet speeds and drop outs in WIFI connection. Solution: TeleMates assisted the customer to update the password for their WIFI connection. Later that day the coffee shop next door complained they no longer had Internet access and their customers could not access the Internet. The office boss was not aware that the front desk secretary had shared the WIFI password with the next door café. All the staff and customers were obtaining free access to Internet and slowing down the office connection. Example 3: Modem Technology update Problem: TeleMates received a call from a customer relating to their Internet speed. They wanted to upgrade their ADSL 2+ connection to something faster. Solution: Upon investigation of the age of the modem model we found it was over 4 years old. The technology built into the modem from 4 years ago has changed significantly. The modem had also been in full operation non-stop since it was purchased. The customer upgraded to a TeleMates pre-configured Netcomm modem and found that the internet speed improved by 30%

16 Example 4: Bedroom phone interfering with Internet connection Problem: TeleMates received a call from a customer who was concerned that their Internet connection occasionally drops out when they are on a telephone call in the upstairs bedroom. Solution: An investigation into the set-up of the phones lines found that the upstairs telephone did not have the required In-line filter. The Internet connection no longer dropped out after the customer purchased an additional Netcomm filter from TeleMates. Example 5: Telephone Line noise after rain. Problem: TeleMates received a call from a customer who was experiencing slow Internet connection speeds. The customer thought the Internet connection was not appropriate for their speed requirements. They were considering their options for purchasing a faster and more expensive connection. Whilst the TeleMates representative spoke with the customer on the phone, they noticed a slight crackle on the telephone line. This crackle was caused by recent rain activity which got into the telephone cabling and interfered with the signal quality of the Internet connection. The customer also advised they had ignored the interference for several months. Solution: A network technician was organized by TeleMates to repair the telephone line as all telephone line connections are covered for fault repair costs. After the telephone line was repaired, the customer reported receiving much faster Internet connection speeds. Example 6: Modem updated to faster WIFI speed. Problem: TeleMates assisted a customer who advised she experienced slow Internet connection speeds when she performed certain work related tasks over the Internet using. The customer thought the problem existed with the Internet connection. Solution: TeleMates assisted the customer by performing special speed tests over the phone. A simple speed test on a desktop computer showed much faster connection speeds. We discovered the customer was using an older modem with older WIFI technology. A replacement Pre-configured Netcomm modem was organised for the customer with built in Wireless N Technology for WIFI speed.