My Broadband Speed

There are hundreds of speed test apps available online. One we recommend is speed.ivertecbroadband.ie by Ookla as they also have an app for Android and iPhone.

While this is great for quickly showing off how fast your connection is to your friends, speed tests can be misleading.

Speed tests work by downloading a file from a server to determine how quickly the file is received. Your PC or smartphone displays this in real-time using a bar or a chart to show your max download speed. The same applies to calculate the Upload but in reverse, the file you downloaded is now being sent back to speedtest.net servers.

As mentioned above Speed Tests work by downloading a file from a server to see how fast the connection is by measuring how quickly the file is received. There are multiple servers that you can test to, the closest being the preferred option.

This is where the problem lies. A speed test server is stored on another company’s network. If that network can only handle a small amount of connections at one time due to bandwidth constraints, then your speed test will be slow. You might have full speeds at your property but the test itself is slow.

Another issue with speed tests is the device itself. If your PC or laptop is slow, then your Speed Test may be slow. The Speed test tries to show you a real time result of the speed and can only go as fast as your device lets it.

The final issue with Speed tests is how they are performed. If you are testing over Wi-Fi and you are too far from your router, then your results will be low. A speed test beside the router could show 100Mb but a speed test taken when you have one bar of Wi-Fi reception could show as low as 1Mb or 10Mb.

1) Tests that are completed over Wi-Fi (e.g. Smartphone) are not an accurate measure of the speed of your broadband service.

2) Before you run a speed test online, disconnect the cable connected to the WAN port on your Wi-Fi router. Connect this same cable to your laptop/PC. In some cases, this cable needs to be plugged into your Wi-Fi router to establish an internet connection. If this is the case, disconnect any other device that is connected to your router with a cable e.g. TV box or PC. Turn off the Wi-Fi antenna so only you are connected to the router via a cable connection.

3) If you have performed some cabled speed tests to multiple servers and find your broadband is running too slow, please contact our technical support staff by emailing support@ivertec.ie or calling our office and a member of our technical support team will get in contact with you.

4) Ensure no other devices on your network are online while you are running a speed test as they may affect the results.

5) Ensure that the laptop/PC is not running any applications that may be downloading/uploading data (E.g. check Windows Updates, disable Anti-Virus updates, etc.)

Do you ever wonder why Internet Speeds are always advertised as up to values? The reason for this is that users are part of a shared infrastructure and therefore using a contended service.

A contended network means that you (the user) are sharing the internet network with all the other users in the area. Now this doesn’t mean that your connection will drop to a snail’s pace when the kids are off from school and using up all the bandwidth. This only happens on badly managed networks…at Ivertec this isn’t an issue.

You may ask, why do we have to share our speeds? The answer is, shared networks are everywhere you look. The road you drive on is there for everyone to use and you can drive as fast as you are allowed. If the roads are busy than you may have to travel slower than you like.

That’s why speeds vary in the evening time during peak usage. When everyone is on the road at the same time we call it rush hour traffic, and your journey is far slower than a quiet time of the day.

Maxing out your connection means that you are using up all of the speed that is available to you. This is dependent on the plan on which you have subscribed to. For example, if you have subscribed to the WiFibre 30 plan, the maximum speed your connection can reach is 30 Mbps. You can “max out” your connection by using only a couple of devices if they are requesting too much data at the one time. If two people in your home are streaming Netflix in Ultra HD this may be “maxing out” your connection because Ultra HD Netflix could use between 20-25Mb when you may not realise it.

No. You can download as much data as you want. However, to best manage our network, we do operate with a daily fair usage policy to ensure that all of our customers are receiving an equal level of service which will produce consistent fast speeds. You can find out more about our daily fair usage policy by clicking here.

General Information on Broadband Speeds.

At point of sale we’ll provide you with an estimate of the maximum download speeds your chosen broadband service will deliver. This information will also be displayed in the welcome email we send you.

Due to many factors the Maximum Download Speed provided at point of sale and confirmed in the welcome email may not always be available, however the speeds you could expect to receive most of the time when accessing the service (Normally Available) are set out in the table below.

They are based on a percentage of the Maximum Download Speed we’ve quoted in your order confirmation email. These speeds are also based upon a direct cabled connection from your device to your modem I.E not over Wi-Fi.

The information we provide regarding your broadband speeds is in some instances provided to Ivertec by our wholesale network providers. From time to time, details provided by our wholesale providers will vary.

If you experience any continuous or regularly recurring discrepancy between the actual speed seen on your broadband connection and the performance percentages suggested above, please contact the Ivertec Technical Support Team.