Bandwidth

Now that you are on the broadband network you are no doubt interested to know "just how fast is it?"

We're interested too, and you can help us. We want to understand connection speed issues in order to optimize our network and deliver the speed expected for your service plan.

Please bear in mind that the speed of your internet connection depends upon the capability of the ISP network as well as the performance of the internet beyond the office. Within our network, distance from a cell-extender pole, foliage, weather and the positioning of your antenna will effect your connection speed. The global internet traffic and system factors also influence measured bandwidth.


The most convenient way to measure your connection speed is to use one of the several free bandwidth meter tools available on the internet. One of them, speedtest.net, is quick and easy to use. Just click here to use it.

Others download a file to your computer from their server and measure how much time it takes for you to receive it. They can also reverse this process to measure your upload speed.

Remember, there are two components in the measurement — the speed of the network and the speed of the internet between the office server and the originating server. Thus, the connection speed measurement is useful for comparison purposes but may not be absolutely precise.


 

You can monitor the performance of the network by performing a simple "ping" test.

This test sends a small packet of data from your PC to the office server. Follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Start Menu on your PC and find the Command Prompt. This application can usually be found under Programs/Accessories.
  2. When you open the Command Prompt you'll see a black screen with white letters. To the right of the > you'll see a blinking cursor where you will begin typing.
  3. Type ping www.cnn.com (exactly) and then press the Enter key. (cnn.com is arbitrary)
  4. Your computer will send 32 bytes of data to the office, four times, and display an average round trip time..
  5. You should expect the average to be between 30 and 60 ms.