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Broadband Speed Tester - Troubleshooting

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If you’re having problems installing or using the Speed Tester, or if you’re not getting the results you were expecting, then follow our simple trouble shooting guide. Click here to download our Speed Tester.

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Installation is taking a long time

If your computer already has the .Net Framework then the installation should take around a minute. Installing the .Net Framework if you don’t already have it takes around 10 minutes itself.

You also need make sure that you install the Speed Tester on your local PC and not to a network drive.

I am getting a message "Cannot Connect: Unable to connect to the remote server"

This is an issue for users that have "ZoneAlarm" installed. You will need to open the ZoneAlarm application and then select the "Program Control" option on the left, then the "Programs" tab at the top. If you then choose "Allow" for both the "Trusted" and "Internet" zones, the Speed Tester program will also start to work:

My speed test result isn’t what I had expected

There are a few things that can affect the result of your speed test such as downloading and uploading data at the same time.

Make sure that you have closed any running programs or applications, and check your “task bar” at the bottom right of your screen to make sure that they’re not still running in the background.

Make sure that all other windows are closed and that you’re not downloading anything. Note that legal TV download services such as the BBC iPlayer, 4oD and Sky Anytime will continue to run in the background even once they appear to have been turned off and may not offer an option to completely disable the program. This will affect your Speed Tester result.

Using a wireless router instead of an ethernet cable will also degrade your connection so take this into account when running tests.

Click here for more information on improving the accuracy of the Speed Tester and other Frequently Asked Questions.

I’m not sure what package size I’m on

It is important that you select the correct package as this will determine the size of the file we send to your computer and will affect the download time and therefore your Speed Tester result.

I’m getting messages from my anti virus software

If you use anti virus software such as McAfee or Norton you might get a message telling you that the Speed Tester could be a virus or a malicious piece of software. You will need to tell your anti virus to proceed with the installation or the Speed Tester will not be installed.

The Speed Tester wants to connect to the internet

Your anti virus might also warn you that the Speed Tester is trying to access the internet. It needs to do this in order to run the test so you should tell your anti virus to “always allow” access, so that you won’t encounter the same problem the next time you run a speed test.

I’m getting an error message saying that the file is not a valid Win32 app

If you get this message, then there has been a problem with the download and the file should be downloaded again.

I’m getting a different error message when I try to install the Speed Tester

For our Speed Tester to run, your version of Windows needs to have the .Net framework v2.0 installed. If you’re trying to install it but can’t it could be that you don’t have it.

There is a link to the Microsoft website from where it can be downloaded for free in the installation pack, or you can download it by following this link: www.Microsoft.com

The majority of errors can be solved by ensuring that you have the latest .Net Framework installed and by updating to the latest version of the Speed Tester.

I’ve tried to install the Speed Tester but another file is trying to install itself

This happens if you have files in your temporary folder that are waiting to be installed. There are two ways of avoiding this problem; you can clear your temporary folder and then re-attempt to install the Speed Tester, or easier still, you can save the Speed Tester to your desktop and install it from there.

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