Start With a Speed Test
Before doing anything else, run a speed test — twice. Once wirelessly and once with your device connected directly to your router via an ethernet cable. The difference tells you immediately where the problem is.
- Wired speed ≈ plan speed, Wi-Fi is slow: the issue is your Wi-Fi setup
- Both wired and Wi-Fi are slow: the issue is between your router and the ISP
- Speeds are fine but browsing feels slow: the issue may be DNS or a specific service
1. Your Router
The router is the most common source of slow speeds. An older router may cap wireless speeds at 100–150 Mbps even on a 500 Mbps fibre plan.
- Restart your router (unplug for 30 seconds, then plug back in)
- Check if your router supports Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) — older routers top out at Wi-Fi 5
- Ensure the router's firmware is up to date
- Connect via ethernet to isolate whether the router's Wi-Fi is the bottleneck
2. Router Placement
Wi-Fi signal degrades with distance and physical obstacles. Concrete walls, metal surfaces, and large appliances all reduce signal strength significantly.
- Place the router in a central location, elevated, in the open
- Avoid placing it on the floor, inside cabinets, or behind the TV
- In larger homes, consider a mesh Wi-Fi system (see our Wi-Fi improvement guide)
3. Cable and Connection Quality
Damaged, old, or incorrectly terminated ethernet cables cause intermittent speed drops and high latency spikes. In apartments, the cable running from the building's fibre termination point to your router may be several years old.
- Replace any ethernet cables older than 5 years with Cat6 or Cat6A
- Ensure the fibre termination box (ONT) is not dusty or overheating
- Try a direct connection from the ONT to your device to rule out the router entirely
4. Network Congestion — Building and ISP Level
In large residential buildings, the internal network infrastructure (switches, uplinks) is shared by all residents. During peak evening hours, this shared infrastructure can become saturated, reducing speeds for everyone.
If your speeds are consistently low only during evenings, document the results with a speed test and contact your ISP — this is a network capacity issue they are responsible for investigating.
5. Device-Level Issues
Sometimes the bottleneck is the device itself, not the network.
- Background apps doing updates or backups (Windows Update, iCloud, Google Photos)
- Malware or unwanted software consuming bandwidth
- An old Wi-Fi adapter in the device capping speeds at 150 Mbps or less
- Too many browser tabs with active content (video, live feeds)
6. DNS Speed
DNS (Domain Name System) translates website addresses into IP addresses. A slow DNS server makes every new page load feel sluggish even if your raw bandwidth is fast. Your ISP's default DNS servers are not always the fastest.
Try switching your router's DNS to:
- 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare — fastest globally)
- 8.8.8.8 (Google — fast and reliable)
7. ISP Throttling
Some ISPs reduce speeds for specific services (streaming platforms, P2P) or after a monthly data threshold. In the UAE, both e& and Du offer fixed-speed fibre plans without hard data caps on home broadband, so throttling is less common than in other markets — but it is worth confirming your plan terms if speeds consistently drop at the same time each month.
When to Contact Your ISP
Contact your provider when:
- Your wired speed test consistently shows less than 70–80% of your plan speed
- You experience regular outages or reconnections
- Your ping is unusually high (over 50 ms) consistently
- Evening speeds are significantly lower than daytime speeds
Take screenshots of your speed test results at different times of day before calling — it provides concrete evidence and speeds up the support process.