Your internet connection makes a difference
When using DesignSmart the speed of your internet connection can have a big impact on how responsive the system is. Many programs like email programs and web browsers do not pull down much data from the internet so they can seem fast and responsive even when you have a poor internet connection. Because of the volume of data DesignSmart has to transfer over the internet, it is important to have the fastest internet connection possible.
When discussing internet speeds there are two important components that make up your overall internet speed:
a.Your download speeds - which is how fast does data is downloaded to your computer (this speed is much more important than the upload speed)
b.Your ping speed - this is how long it takes for electronic signal to go from your computer to a server and return
Let's measure your download speed
An easy way to measure your download speed is to do the following.
Step 1 Go to Fast.com
Step 2 After the initial speed test is finished click on the Show more info button
In the screen below the big number is your download speed. You should have at least a 40 Mbps, but the higher number the better.
Under Latency you'll see a number for updated and loaded. Both numbers should be under 40 ms, but the lower the number the better.
If your internet connection doesn't meet these minimums, then you should consider improving your internet speed plan or moving to another internet provider.
Why is your ping speed important?
While the internet speed is helpful, there is another measurement that can sometimes be even more helpful and that is your ping speed (also called latency). Your ping speed measures the time it takes for an electronic signal to go from your computer to a server. The ping test against your DesignSmart server can also indicate if there are other technical issues between your computer and the DesignSmart server.
In the image above the latency numbers (latency and ping mean the same thing) reflect how long it takes for data to get from your computer to the server doing the speed test. Usually this server will be near your home or office. In the screen shot above you can see that the server that was used for the test was in Boston.
A ping test against your DesignSmart server can often be more helpful than knowing your download speed because it shows how long it takes for data to get from your computer to the DesignSmart server. And if there are problems with the internet connection between your computer and the DesignSmart server it will indicate how many test data packets were "lost".
Measuring your ping speed
Determining your ping speed is a bit more complicated than measuring your download speed and if we think it needs to be done we'll do a screen share with you to do this. But if you are technical adventurous and would like to try doing this on your own, then here are the steps.
| Step 1 | Determine the address of your DesignSmart server. You can see this in the URL bar where you type web addresses. In the example below, the server address is prod05.thesmartdesigner.com |
On a Windows Computer
| Step 2 | Open a Command Prompt window and type in the following: ping [the address of your DesignSmart server] -t |
| In the example below the command entered was: ping prod05.thesmartdesigner.com -t |
| After you see about a dozen lines enter Control + C to stop the ping |
The ping speeds varied from 21ms to 63 ms with the average speed was an acceptable 25 ms
On a Mac Computer
| Step 2 | Bring up your Spotlight search feature and enter Terminal and type in the following in the terminal window: ping [the address of your DesignSmart server] |
| In the example below the command entered was: ping prod05.thesmartdesigner.com |
| After you see about a dozen lines enter Control + C to stop the ping |
| The ping speeds varied from 36 to 40 but the average speed was an acceptable 37 ms. Unfortunately the Mac Os won't show the average speed but you can estimate it. And it will indiate if there is any packet loss. |
