Trying to find out why my internet connection is not stable/slow

We are here to help get your internet back up to par, SGTSP2022.

Here is more information on how to optimize your internet and get the most out of your speeds.

There are many factors that affect the speed of your internet:

• The more devices that you have connected, the slower the speeds are going to be.
• The newer devices run faster than older devices on your internet.
• The proper modem environment, materials like walls and doors and devices being to far from the gateway all affect the speed.

We suggest that you plug your gateway directly into an outlet because a surge protector can cause loss of speeds, random reboots, and loss of service.

Also, we recommend that you use our Smart Home Manager Tool. This will let you run health diagnostics, manage your network and devices, and manage parental controls.

Let us know if this helps.

Marc, AT&T Community Specialist

I do have the modem plugged into an outlet and I also downloaded the smart home app because the technician suggested I do so. Still having problems.

We're here to help keep you connected, SGTSP2022!

We suggest using our Smart Home Manager application, and opening the Network Health Check tool. This will check if there are any connection issues that are present on your network, and show you how to resolve them.

If everything looks fine, don't worry, we are still wanting to assist. Let's meet in a Direct Message to discuss your service. Please check your Direct Message Inbox, which is the chat icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the Forums page.

We hope to hear from you!

Donovan, AT&T Community Specialist

Still having issues so I will message

Apparently I wasn't supposed to open a new thread (apologies I suppose) but I'm new to this so I will continue here. Still having issues with this. Currently have a download speed of 8.1 on an internet 18 plan, this does not happen normally and yeah it's bad. I think the modem might be dying or malfunctioning as the broadband light went off, leaving just the power light on and then 15 mins later, the broadband light came back on. Already reset and unplugged/plugged back in the modem several times and still the same results. I think the modem might need to be replaced because I've had it for four years and a technician came out here last month and replaced the line, when he was done, he checked it over and he said it was fixed so I don't believe this is a line issue. I'm just trying to eliminate all the possible things it could be (lines, modem dying, etc.) Any help is appreciated thank you. Again apologies as I'm fairly new at posting here.

Update: I went to the website for the modem and wifi settings and did a broadband connection restart just to try anything and the speed jumped back up to about 16.1 which is normal. Don't know if it will last but if not I will let you all know if any more help is needed. Thank you.

Okay now it's back down to like 5.0 download so I have no idea what the deal is here. If anyone needs me to post any data or anything that might help I will do my best thanks. It seems that when I go to the 192.168 website I can restart the connection which brings the speed up to about 16.1 for about five minutes but then speed tests have the connect dropping as low as 5.0 right after that if that's any useful information, I don't know?

It's frustrating to experience a sudden drop in your internet connection's stability and speed, especially when you've had a reliable connection in the past. It's odd that the technician last year attributed the issue to the number of devices connected, especially if you've had a similar setup without problems before. The possibility of your modem aging and causing these issues does seem plausible, even if it still manages to establish a connection. Sometimes, wear and tear might not be immediately evident from a basic connectivity check.

Considering you've had the modem for over 3 years, it's not unreasonable to suspect that it could be a contributing factor to your current problems. It might be helpful to provide some additional information, such as recent internet speed test results, which could shed light on whether your plan's promised speeds are actually being delivered. This data could assist in diagnosing whether the issue is primarily related to the modem's hardware, or if there might be external factors influencing your connection quality. Stay persistent in your pursuit of a solution – stable and fast internet is crucial in today's digital age, and you deserve the service you're paying for.

The age of a modem doesn't affect its ability to be replaced. It is very possible that the modem isn't the issue though; 18Mbps is...fine, but not ideal these days. Many more people now using streaming, for instance. HD streams usually demand 5-8Mbps, and now that more people use 4K TVs the bandwidth demand goes up exponentially. Security/doorbell cameras are also now more popular, and also have upgraded their video quality/bandwidth demand. It's not just about the number of devices you have, it's about what kind of strain those devices might be putting on your overall available bandwidth.