Things that can affect your Internet Speed

[Technical Support]

If you are noticing PDS Live running slowly on your computer or a delay when entering information or changing screens, it could be due to your internet speed. We recommend that you have a download speed of at least 450Kbps and an upload speed of at least 256Kbps. You can test this by using this free site www.speakeasy.net/speedtest to determine your upload and download speeds. Keep in mind that your internet speed can fluctuate during the day.

Things that affect internet speed:
1. Bandwidth usage at your computer. If you have other web based applications running this will limit the internet bandwidth you have available for each application. Think of the internet connection to your computer as a tube, if you are using that tube to listen to music or download email then you only have part of the tube available for transmitting PDS Live data from your computer to our server.
2. ISP Overload. Beyond the walls of your work environment, you are sharing the bandwidth with a block of customers who use the same Internet Service Provider (ISP). You will notice a slower internet speed during higher volumes of usage during specific times of the day. The different ISPs have different resources to accommodate the overloaded times thus helping their customers.
3. Too much internet monitoring software installed, particularly Spyware
4. Background Peer-to-Peer applications (Limewire, BitTorrent, Kontiki)
5. Windows updates downloading in the background
6. The quality of your line
7. The distance to the local exchange
8. Your equipment at home (Computer, Modem/Router, Configuration, Firewall)
9. Insufficient RAM - Add some more and your whole computing experience will typically improve
10. Underpowered CPU in our PC - Might be time to upgrade
11. An unstable Windows Installation
12. The capacity of the servers begin used to test the Line Speed

If you have questions about your internet speed, call your ISP and see what can be done to improve your connection.