What can I do to raise the difficulty? It's been on a roller coaster, so I'm not sure what is going on. In fact, what should be the normal range to keep it synced? Does this have anything to do with my internet connection? If so, that would explain everything I suppose. But it's the only device currently constantly connected and being utilized 24/7 on a 50Mbps connection. I plan on moving it to a 150Mbps connection soon, so hopefully that helps.
First all you have to do to make sure you are in sync with the network is first get the latest block hash here, for example the hash for 251391:
https://chainz.cryptoid.info/bbp/To get it from the client, type 'getblockhash 251391'
And just ensure it agrees. If so, you are mining on the right chain.
As far as the current diff, its also listed on chainz: See how last block is .20? The network sets the difficulty (not the user).
The main way to know if you are mining is:
a) If you are PODC mining, you should get a daily payment equal to whats in the leaderboard
b) If you are RX mining, the pool will show you in the leaderboard in the pool