Again, from Money Saving Expert:
Quick tips to boost your line's power
To maximise your phone line, you need to ensure you have the clearest connection possible. Sadly there's little that can be done about the quality of the line once it's outside your home (short of loads of digging and lawsuits), but there are ways to improve clarity indoors.
Here's what you should look at:
Check your microfilters. Your provider should give you adapters that split your voice and broadband signals. It's imperative these are plugged into every socket you use, not just the one you use for broadband.
If after plugging the filter in your regular phone line becomes noisier, try plugging in a second filter, or invest in better quality filters (you can find them available online for as little as £2).
Find the best socket. While the distance between your router and PC(s) should be kept to a minimum, it's worth trying multiple phone sockets to see if you can achieve a better result.
Keep your router close to the phone socket. Your modem/router should be as close to the phone socket as possible, as poor-quality phone wires supplied with your equipment can seriously impact speeds. If you must have a longer wire, invest in the best quality cabling you can, but keep it as short as possible.
Reposition your router
When using Wi-Fi, obviously the nearer you are to the router, the better your signal will be, and therefore the faster your broadband. Because Wi-Fi signals can't travel through big objects/thick walls, it's also crucial you have a clear path for the signals to travel to your laptop.
So where you place your router can make a massive difference to the speeds you get. Choose a central point to help the wireless signal reach all areas of your home (or the places where you are mostly likely to want to connect from).
Ideally, position it high up in the room, with no immediate obstacles around it. And, although they're not the best looking gadgets, don't be tempted to hide your router away in a cupboard.
Get a special widget to cut interference
An i-Plate is a bit of plastic which cuts off an unnecessary-yet-interference-prone wire in older phone sockets. i-Plates cost about £6 each at Amazon*, or BT customers should get one free just by phoning and asking.
It'll work with most BT-based landlines (whether with Sky, TalkTalk or BT), but it won't work for newer Openreach-branded sockets, or Virgin Media lines.
If you don't mind fiddling about with sockets yourself (at your own risk!) it's possible to achieve the same effect without the i-Plate. There's an online tutorial on how to do this, but do your research first.
More next week!