Moving home? Five steps to optimise broadband in your new home

If you’re moving home, you’ll know there’s a huge amount to think about – from packing and organising removals, to letting everyone know your new address. If you have broadband, it’s also worth taking a few moments to make sure it will work at its fastest in your new home.

If you’ve ordered a new broadband connection, it can take up to ten days for your broadband line speed to settle at what will be your optimum speed in your new home – but in the meantime, it’s worth thinking through this checklist:

1. Reduce interference

Interference on your broadband line is similar to when you put a mobile phone near a speaker and it makes a static noise – radio and electrical devices have a similar effect on a broadband line and can stop it working properly.

You can reduce interference by making sure your new home has the most up-to-date master phone socket possible – particularly if your new home uses extension wiring. If you’re a BT Broadband customer, you can also fit a BT Broadband Accelerator to reduce interference on your line.

2. Use microfilters

Any equipment like phones, faxes and digital TV boxes can introduce interference to your broadband line, but fitting ADSL microfilters to all the sockets in your home will reduce this. You can get microfilters from most High Street electrical shops.

3. Use the main phone socket

Your broadband service works best when there’s the shortest possible distance between the BT phone exchange and your broadband router, so make sure you plug your broadband router into the main phone socket in your new home.

4. Using wireless?

If you’re using wireless broadband in your new home, make sure you place your broadband router away from barriers that may block the signal, including thick walls or ceilings, large metallic surfaces such as radiators, mirrors and refrigerators. Wireless works best when there’s a clear space to your computer, so bear this in mind when arranging your furniture!

If you’re moving to a large property, it’s worth checking whether you’re using the latest wireless technology – a wireless router that uses ‘N’ technology will give you a stronger, more reliable signal throughout your new home.

5. Use the right PC and software

If you have an old computer, this can affect your internet experience even if you have a fast broadband speed.

And if you have a newer computer that runs slowly, it may make your internet experience feel slower. You can help avoid this with regular maintenance of your computer, for example by regularly running virus scans, deleting cookies and clearing your browser history.

Check you have the latest version of your internet browser software installed – older versions might not be able to handle all of the types of content on newer websites, and can cause pages to download slowly.

Have you recently moved home? Do you have any tips for other movers to help them get their broadband set up quickly? Let us know below.

Get moving quickly and easily