Fix common internet issues

Slow, dropping out, or nothing at all? Work through these checks in order, most problems are sorted within a few minutes.

Before anything else, it's worth ruling out the simple stuff. Work through these in order, they're listed from quickest to most involved.

1. Power cycle everything

The single most effective fix. Turn off your modem (and your nbn® or OptiComm connection box if you have one) at the wall, wait 60 seconds, turn back on, and wait up to 5 minutes. Full steps: how to power cycle your modem.

2. Check for an outage

If your connection is completely down, it may not be your equipment. Check the Outages page for known issues affecting your area or service.

3. Test on a cable

Plug a laptop directly into the modem with an Ethernet cable. If the wired connection is fine but Wi-Fi is slow or dropping, it's a Wi-Fi issue, see Understanding Wi-Fi for placement and interference tips.

4. Run a speed test

Compare your actual speed against your plan on a wired connection. Run a speed test. Wi-Fi results are normally lower than your plan speed, especially far from the modem.

5. Check your cables and filters

Make sure every cable is firmly plugged in at both ends.
On FTTN and FTTB connections (which run over the phone line), connect the modem to the first/main phone socket where possible.
Look for damaged or kinked cables and swap them if you can.

Slow only in the evening? Speeds can dip during the busy 7pm to 11pm period. We publish typical evening speeds on our network page so you know what to expect.

Still not right?

If you've worked through these and it's still not behaving, we'll dig into it with you. Log a fault in My Account, or call 1300 899 174.