Every winter, broadband issues become more common. Cold weather, damp conditions and longer evenings indoors all put extra pressure on home and business networks. While your provider can always help, many winter-related problems can be fixed quickly with a few simple checks — saving time, frustration, and unnecessary engineer visits.
Here are the key things customers should look at before picking up the phone.
1. Check Your Router’s Location
Winter often means rearranged furniture, heaters, and decorations — and the router sometimes gets tucked away by mistake.
A router hidden behind a radiator, stacked under coats, or pushed into a cold cupboard can lose signal strength.
Best practice:
Keep the router high up, in the open, and away from heat sources and metal objects.
2. Look for Loose Cables (Especially After Cleaning or Decorating)
Festive lights, vacuuming, and moving things around can knock cables loose.
A slightly displaced power cable or WAN cable can cause intermittent drops.
Check:
- Power cable firmly plugged in
- Broadband cable clipped in fully
- No kinks or damage
3. Check for Cold or Damp Near the Router
Winter moisture can affect sockets, cables, and even the router itself.
If the router is near a draughty window or damp wall, performance can suffer.
4. Reboot the Router (Properly)
It’s simple, but it works.
Turn the router off, wait 30 seconds, and turn it back on. A proper reboot clears temporary glitches and resets the connection.
5. Run a Speed Test on a Wired Device
Wi-Fi slows down more in winter as more people are home streaming, gaming and working remotely.
To understand whether it’s a Wi-Fi issue or a broadband issue, test with a device plugged directly into the router.
If the wired speed is fine, the broadband is working — the issue is likely Wi-Fi.
6. Check for Overloaded Wi-Fi
More family members at home, more devices running, and more streaming can overload older routers.
Ask yourself:
- Are lots of devices connected?
- Does it get worse in the evening?
- Is someone gaming while another streams in HD?
This can make Wi-Fi unstable even if the broadband is working perfectly.
7. Check If Your Provider Has Reported a Fault
In bad weather, local cabinets and lines can be affected. Providers often list known faults and estimated fix times online.
A quick check can save a call.
8. Use a Mobile Hotspot as a Temporary Backup
If your broadband is down completely, most smartphones can share their mobile data.
This can keep you online long enough to continue work or message support.
When to Call Support
After doing these checks, support should be contacted if:
- There’s no broadband light on the router
- Wired speeds are still very low
- The connection drops every few minutes
- The issue continues after a full reboot
- You suspect damage to cables or sockets
KTGL Is Here to Help
Winter broadband problems are common, but most are fixed quickly with simple checks.
If you still need help after trying the steps above, just get in touch — we’ll diagnose the issue and get you back up and running as soon as possible.
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ktgl.co.uk 
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