Addressing Internet Slowdown

Most people will experience the same network performance before and after the Circle device has been connected to the home Wi-Fi. However, it may be that Circle's presence on your network has reduced its overall speed.

To help you troubleshoot any potential Internet slow down issues, we've made this helpful guide to address and resolve potential problem areas. You can use the walkthrough immediately below, or you can keep scrolling to find tips and tricks for maintaining performance on your home network.

Check for router-specific issues

You might encounter slowdown issues if your router is incompatible with Circle or if specific changes need to be made for Circle and your router to work well together.

Check out our "Is my router or extender compatible with my Circle device?" article to see if your router has known compatibility issues with Circle.
Check our router-specific troubleshooting steps in the Networking and Compatibility Help section of our support site. Make sure to identify your router manufacturer and model then search this website.
If you have Circle Home Plus, try enabling compatibility mode.

Reboot Circle

From the Circle app's home screen, go to Menu >> Manage.
Tap Reboot Circle. While your Circle device is rebooting, you will be unable to use the Circle app.
If you are unable to access reboot option in the app, power your Circle device off, and then back on, manually. See "How to turn Circle Home Plus on and off" for more detail here.

Reboot your router

IMPORTANT: The process below is typical for rebooting routers, but we recommend that you consult your router documentation to determine the recommended reboot process from the manufacturer.

Remove the power cable from the back of your router. Wait 10 seconds and re-insert the cable.
Wait 30-60 seconds for the router to completely turn back on and broadcast the Wi-Fi network.
Wait for the light on the back of your Circle device to turn solid before trying again.

Circle hardware specifications

The Circle with Disney (1st generation) device uses a standard 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port and a 802.11 b/g/n wireless card that is limited to "Wireless N" speeds over 2.4GHz. If you're paying for "gigabit" Internet service, or for speeds greater than 100 Mbps, you may experience slow internet speeds as a result.
Circle Home Plus uses an upgraded gigabit Ethernet port and a 802.11 b/g/n wireless card that is limited to "Wireless N" speeds over 2.4GHz. Unlike Circle Home, this model can handle gigabit internet speeds over Ethernet and should not inhibit the speed in your home.

Place Circle near your router

Circle operates by interacting directly with your router rather than the various devices in your home. Because of this, the Circle device's connection with your router is very important for performance.

If your Circle device is physically far from your router, in another room, or otherwise positioned in a way that may prevent a strong connection between your Circle device and your router, move your Circle device closer (within five feet).

Use the Ethernet cable

In addition to bringing the Circle device closer to your router, you can also strengthen the connection between your Circle device and your router by connecting them via the Ethernet cable that came with your Circle device.

Plug one end of the Ethernet cable into the back of your Circle device. You will find the port for the plug beneath the rubber flap. Then, insert the other end into the router.
Reboot both your Circle device and router to solidify the Ethernet connection.

Ensure Circle is on the right network

If you have two routers or multiple networks, you'll want to make sure Circle is connected to the right one.

Connect Circle to the main Wi-Fi network that your devices connect to.
Make sure the device is physically close to the router that is broadcasting out that Wi-Fi network.
The easiest way to get Circle on the right network is by plugging it in with Ethernet. An alternative is to reset and set up again.
For Ethernet connections, we recommend plugging Circle into a port labeled "LAN" on your main router and not another router or switch (or the "WAN" port).
If you're using extenders, access points, or mesh nodes you might try disabling these temporarily to see if the issue goes away. If it does, make sure Circle isn't managing these devices or connected to their network instead of your main router's.
Finally, make sure all other routers in your home are either in access point or bridge mode since Circle can only manage one router at a time.

Don't assign networking gear to profiles

If you're still seeing significant slowdown when your Circle device is on, check your devices list for any network gear that might need to be set to "Unmanaged." Circle may not function properly if it's trying to manage an extender or access point as if it were an iPad.

As a general rule, make sure you only assign devices that you recognize to managed profiles -- that is, to profiles with a filter level set to Adult, Teen, Kid, or Pre-K. If your network gear appears in the Circle app, we recommend setting that to "Unmanaged" so that Circle doesn't interfere with that device or others.

You can check your router or modem for the MAC address and manufacturer and see those listed in the Circle app for easy identification. For more on setting devices to be Unmanaged, see here.

Set any other devices you don't care about monitoring to be "Unmanaged"

If you're seeing slowdown on a device that you don't care about your Circle device monitoring, like your own, or a smart TV, we recommend setting it to "Unmanaged" as well.

In the Circle app, open the Devices list by tapping Devices on the Home screen.
Tap the name of the device you would like to change to open the Device Settings screen.
Tap Assigned to.
Check the box next to Unmanaged.

With more than 50+ plus managed devices and a lot of traffic, you might start to see some issues connecting to the Circle or some slowdown in the app. Make sure to remove any old devices that are no longer on your network, and set any devices to "Unmanaged" that you don't care about filtering or managing.

Device specific slowdown

Only seeing slowdown on a particular device? Check to make sure of the following for this device.

You've identified and assigned the device correctly.
No profile settings like a Time Limit or Filter setting are causing this issue.
Does the issue just occur on Data? Make sure your data plan is good and you're not being limited.
Update the device completely and reboot.
Disable Circle or Circle Go and see if the issue goes away. If it does not you may need to talk with your manufacturer, ISP or carrier.
Remove any VPNs or device management on the device that were recently added.
Remove the device from Circle and add it to a new test profile.

Make sure it's not something else!

Let's face it: Networking can be complicated.

Sometimes when setting up Circle, folks will make another change to their network. This might cause an issue with connectivity. You can always determine if Circle is involved by disabling Circle temporarily (Menu >> Settings >> Disable) or powering off the device. For devices managed by the kid app, you can disable by removing the Circle app. Reinstall it afterwards by following this guide.

If Circle is disabled and the issue remains, you might need to check that your network equipment is online, set up correctly, and rebooted recently.

Still having trouble?

Check out this additional resources: