Maintaining optimal performance of Wide Area Network (WAN) connections is crucial for both personal and business activities. With the multitude of factors affecting your WAN performance, having something in place to test the connection could provide a great deal of help. Automated, periodic speed tests, for example, can play a vital role in ensuring that your network runs smoothly and efficiently. We’re going to explore the benefits of such speed tests, review various use cases, and discuss the specific capabilities offered by Digi Remote Manager.
Why Automated, Periodic Speed Tests are Beneficial
- Consistent Performance Monitoring: Automated speed tests provide a continuous insight into your WAN connection’s performance. This helps in identifying patterns, such as peak usage times when the connection slows down, and periods of optimal performance.
- Early Detection of Issues: Regular speed tests can detect issues early on, such as degradation in speed, latency spikes, or intermittent connectivity problems. This allows for prompt troubleshooting before minor issues escalate into major disruptions.
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) Compliance: For businesses, ensuring that internet service providers (ISPs) meet their promised SLAs is critical. Periodic speed tests offer empirical data to hold ISPs accountable and ensure they deliver the agreed-upon service quality.
- Capacity Planning and Network Management: Understanding your network’s performance trends helps in planning for future capacity needs. Whether it’s upgrading your plan, adding redundancy, or changing providers, data from regular speed tests supports informed decision-making.
- Enhanced User Experience: Consistent network performance directly impacts user experience. For businesses, this means smoother operations, better customer service, and higher productivity. For home users, it means uninterrupted streaming, gaming, and browsing.
- Historical Data Analysis: Automated speed tests generate a history of performance data. Analyzing this data helps in understanding long-term trends and making strategic decisions about network infrastructure investments.
Use Cases for Automated, Periodic Speed Tests
- Small to Medium Enterprises: Businesses can use automated speed tests to ensure their network supports critical applications like VoIP, cloud services, and video conferencing. Regular testing helps in maintaining the quality of these services, leading to higher productivity and customer satisfaction.
- Internet Service Providers (ISPs): ISPs can leverage automated speed tests to monitor the quality of service across their network. This helps in proactive maintenance, reducing downtime, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
- Educational Institutions: Schools and universities with digital learning platforms can benefit from regular speed tests to ensure that their infrastructure can handle the demands of online education, including video streaming, virtual classrooms, and digital resource access.
- Remote Work Environments: As remote work becomes more prevalent, companies need to ensure that employees have reliable internet connections. Automated speed tests can help in assessing and improving the remote work infrastructure.
- Smart Homes: For smart homes with numerous connected devices, automated speed tests help ensure that the network can handle multiple devices simultaneously, providing a seamless experience for all users.
Digi Remote Manager and “Data Service Request” Setting
Digi Remote Manager is a comprehensive cloud management system designed to simplify the management of devices and networks. One of its key features is the “Data Service Request” setting, which allows users to automate periodic speed tests.
Here’s how it works:
- Creating a Schedule: The “Data Service Request” setting enables users to set up a schedule for speed tests. This can be tailored to specific needs, such as testing during peak hours, off-peak hours, or at regular intervals throughout the day.
- Automated Testing: Once the schedule is set, the system will automatically conduct speed tests based on the predefined criteria. This removes the need for manual testing and ensures consistency in data collection.
- Viewing History: Users can view the history of these tests on a dedicated page within the Remote Manager. This historical data is crucial for analyzing trends, identifying issues, and making informed decisions about network management.
- Customizable Alerts: The system can also be configured to send alerts if the speed tests reveal performance issues. This proactive approach helps in addressing problems before they affect end-users.
Note that using this feature will incur some additional data usage. The more frequent the tests, the higher the usage. We recommend using caution when setting a speed test schedule. For example, set a schedule for one day and then review your data usage from that day. This should give you a general idea of how much data you may want to dedicate to speed tests. For details on how to track data usage on your Digi router, check out our detailed article on Digi Intelliflow.