The performance of your computer(s) can influence the speed you receive when using the internet. Plug your computer in to the router to see the true speed you are getting. Computers can lose speed when they are connected wirelessly.

Microfilter. A microfilter looks like this: It looks like a telephone adapter with two sockets. You can differentiate it from a simple telephone adapted because there is usually “ADSL” written on the microfilter.

You will get more accurate results for this speed check if you switch off any equipment in your home that uses the Internet; This could be a computer in another room, your TV box, a games console, other computers, or an Internet radio.

To see if the problem lies here, connect your computer directly to your router with the Ethernet cable supplied with your router and run the speed test again. Check if there is any difference in result.

If you see a difference between the speed test results from using the master socket and an extension cable, then the internal phone wiring needs to be improved or avoided for broadband use. What is a master phone socket?

The main phone master socket in your house, this is where the phone line enters your house. Where possible it is always recommended to have your router connected to the master socket as this will provide you the best possible speed.

WiFi is a wireless network through which you can use the internet. It uses radio signals to transfer data. Most computers possess a small light that indicates whether its wireless radios are currently active.

This is the box within your computer screen where all the information and content from the Internet is displayed for example the TalkTalk website is viewed within a browser window.

What is a master phone socket? Your telephone line can come into your house in a number of different ways. Most commonly, the telephone line comes out of the ground outside your property and goes into a grey box and then through your wall, or it comes from a telephone pole in your road and into your loft, or up through your floor.

Filters on all connections. Ensure that all telephone sockets have a filter attached, including any unused lines or phone lines connected to a TV set-top box (such as a Sky box).