Fibre broadband seems to be incredibly slow

[#1]

Hi,
I was wondering if someone could give me some advice regarding slow fibre broadband?
Our estimates/current line speed are showing as the following:
Phone exchange:
DURHAM
Estimated line speed:
40Mb (Download speed could vary depending on line conditions. Estimates are the maximum speeds that your phone line can support. These speeds are dependent on the package you choose.) - Checked on 2014-08-13 14:27:47
Current line speed:
40 Mb
But our download/upload speeds are incredibly slow when I use a broadband speed checker: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3893773541
This is the display from the configuration page for the router when I've logged in to check the settings:
WLAN Enable: Yes
Interface Enabled: Yes
Power Reduction Enabled: No
Physical Address: 30:91:8f:00:d7:19
Network Name (SSID): PlusnetWireless00D719
Interface Type: 802.11b/g/n
Actual Speed [Mbps]: 6.5
Band: 2.4GHz

It doesn't seem to be an intermittent problem and it doesn't disappear with restarting the system, it's always slow, which I'm pretty disappointed with since we upgraded to fibre broadband in order to take advantage of the faster service it's supposed to provide.
Thanks,
Hannah

[#2]

Hi there Hannah,
Sorry to hear the speeds aren't quite up to the mark of what you're expecting.
Cheers for the information you've posted, that reveals the speed test was done over WiFi so we just need to ascertain if the problem lies at that level (i.e between the router and the devices connecting to the wireless network) or with the actual broadband connection itself (the other bit which uses the line between the router and exchange).
Checks from here don't show any issues with the latter.
With that in mind can you run a speed test for us at http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/ whilst connecting to the router using an ethernet cable?

[#3]

Hi,
Thanks for the quick reply.
Plugged in with the ethernet the download/upload speeds are much quicker:
Download speed (Mbps) : 38.06
Upload speed (Mbps) : 12.82
Ping latency (ms) : 21.52
Does this mean its a wifi issue?

[#4]

Looks that way, run a few more tests on ethernet compared to wifi to see if the thernet tests stay around the 38 meg mark, I also got a different modem to the one that plusnet supplied, one that has a 5ghz band as our baby monitor played holy hell with the wifi signal on 2.4ghz band.

[#5]

Repeating the test shows that it is sticking around the 38mbps mark.
I've just had a quick look at the PlusNet broadband troubleshooter and the only thing it suggests for wifi issues is to check the drivers on the computer is compatible with Wireless-N, which my computer (a Mac desktop, running iOS X 10.9.3) according to its systems report should be compatible with? (Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n)

[#6]

Hi Hannah,
Most WiFi issues are actually due to interference from other networks in the same vicinity which are using the same frequencies as yours.
So rather than focus on drivers straight away I'd use a WiFi scanner app (installing one on your phone is probably the easiest way, there are variants for iPhone and Android).
Do that to see if your router is using a "busy channel" then follow the steps in section 3 of this help page:
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/wireless_broadband/wireless_signal.shtml
Hope that helps!