Your bill says 500 Mbps. Your real life says buffer wheel. Here's how to prove it and what to do.
Step 1 — Test correctly
Test from a wired connection if possible. Your Wi-Fi can't deliver gigabit even with the best router. To isolate the ISP, you have to remove your Wi-Fi from the equation.
- Plug a laptop into your router via Ethernet.
- Close other apps, pause downloads, kick devices off if you can.
- Run NetStartr three times in a row.
- Take the median number, not the best.
Step 2 — Use the plan-comparison feature
NetStartr's Am I getting what I pay for? slider shows your speed as a percentage of your advertised plan. Most ISPs deliver 75-95% under good conditions. Anything under 70% is worth a call.
Step 3 — Build the evidence
Test at three times: 8 AM, 1 PM and 9 PM. ISPs throttle and oversubscribe at peak hours. Three days of timestamped screenshots is enough to start a credible support case.
Step 4 — Call your ISP
Open the chat or call. Use the magic phrase: "I've been running speed tests on a wired connection at three times of day for three days, and I'm getting X% of my advertised speed. Can you open a ticket and send a technician?"
Most ISPs will:
- Reset your modem provisioning remotely (sometimes fixes it).
- Ship a new modem (often fixes it on cable plans).
- Send a tech if needed.
- Issue a partial credit if the underperformance has been going on a while.
Step 5 — Escalate if needed
If your ISP refuses to acknowledge the issue, in the U.S. you can file an FCC informal complaint, in the UK you can escalate to CISAS after 8 weeks. Your evidence pile makes both effortless.
Run a free NetStartr test now to start your evidence pile.