Need IT help. Internet slow at work.

[/pine]

Most legit speed test sites do not require a typical download...it should run in the browser...if the system is behind a firewall it may not allow the up/down speed test to run...

double check the links in search results for speed test sites...

 

[KubotainNH]

As mentioned, try one of the many speedtests, find one that works. The good ones let you change the server you are testing to, start close by and work your way out. It's possible the bottle neck is in one particular hop 100 miles away. If it is showing slow in the closest city then try wired. Wireless routers that are using the same frequency will slow each other down. You have to figure out if the issue is inside the building or outside. Also try different times of day, you may be sharing bandwidth with a bunch of people in the vicinity you are in.

 

[N80]

Speed test numbers from the office: Download=16.9 mbps, upload=17.3 mbps. Number from home: download=24.6 mbps.

My subjective assessment was right, work is slower than home. Considerably. So it is good to have objective numbers to give them. And regardless of what the reason, it is ridiculous to be trying to get work done at those speeds and hopefully they will get it figured out. Again, thanks for all the help guys.

 

[cqaigy2]

You need to start at the modem...regardless of the type of connection...Not a router...If the modem is a combination modem/router....turn off the radio...!

one malware etc. infected node (computer etc.) could possibly be robbing most of the available bandwidth from the entire network...

IMO the first objective to resolving the issue is...see what the available bandwidth is...i.e., disconnect all nodes (anything that uses the network) and test the bandwidth at the modem...if the bandwidth is satisfactory with what is being paid for...turn the radio on (boot the wireless)...check the bandwidth with only one computer connected via Wi-Fi...if the bandwidth is satisfactory...it is only a matter of elimination to find the bandwidth hogging node...

Like this.

In lieu of actually have the ability to monitor each of the connected nodes utilization.

 

[RNeumann]

Most would love those upload speeds at work. It’s my guess work has you throttled to that speed. A quick call to IT with those speeds will confirm. The other thing to do is ask someone in another department to run a speedtest as well. It sounds like the issue isn’t internet speed- as that’s faster than prob 80% of folks in the USA.

 

[MossRoad]

Who provides your internet access? I doubt you have a modem at a medical office with 25 employees. The first place your service comes in, you should have a switch, router or firewall. Tell your IT guys that you want them to run speed tests through each of your wireless access points, each of your hardwired points, and then at the point of service entry. Then tell them to isolate the entire office from that entry point and run the speed test again. Then start adding segments of the office back in until the speed dumps again.

I've seen two people streaming video on powerful laptops take down a 500 computer operation to a crawl.

The next time you see your network running slow, just walk around and ask anyone if they're on the internet. Ask them one-by-one to close their browsers, then test the speed again. You may be surprised that its just someone watching Martha Stewart making a dinner.

Or just have someone run the speed test while you walk around and power-down each computer, one-by-one.

You may have a virus, malware, etc... but I'd try finding the web surfers first.

Or, your medical software-to-server communications could be the cause.

There's a bunch of tools out there that you can use to sniff the network.

But, in reality, in a medical office owned by a corporation, I'd be really surprised if each and every one of your computers aren't locked down to a specific port in a vlan on a managed switch. HIPPA laws are pretty strict and I.T. is famous for having a young someone at the top pulling a "look what I learned in school" and locking down your sytems to the point of being useless and you not being able to troubleshoot squat with the exception of turning off each machine and seeing if the problem goes away.

By the way, I'm not a PC doctor, I just played one for 25+ years until I decided I hated computers since they lost all their moving parts, and switched careers back to machinery maintenance.

Get back on your tractor. :laughing:

 

[MAX28HST]

What EMR package (Epic, Cerner, Meditech, etc) you running?

 

[rox]

I think what I would do is, instruct everyone to power down their computers & laptops at the close of business. Then I would ask the IT dept to come over after hours and check your system. You can't very well have your entire doctors office shut down off the internet during the day, but at night you can. In this way the IT dept can check simply the access points with nobody on the network, as mentioned they will probably start with the router. Wiring is very important. There is a lot of junk cable from China being used. Your access points should be hard wired back to the router.
Here are 3 links for you to read on network cable
What Kind of Ethernet (Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a) Cable Should I Use?

Why are the so many price differences in CAT 5 ethernet cable?

Data Cables at Blue Jeans Cable

Ask the IT guys to examine the cables being used in your office for markings of the manufacturer.

The installer cannot make tight turns and kink the cables when installing for example. A 25 person doctors office is not that large square footage wise, IT should be able to figure this out, cabling is only one point of failure and it may not be that but the links I provided above should show you how important it is. Best of luck to you and don't give up! It's to annoying to have slow internet, I bet you can work this and get it resolved.

 

[N80]

What EMR package (Epic, Cerner, Meditech, etc) you running?

It is called Athena. We were on NextGen before that and Cerner PowerChart prior to that. NextGen and Cerner were run through a Citrix server (whatever that means) so in addition to being some of the worst software of any type I have ever seen, they were also slow, especially NextGen. I don't think the patients/healthcare consumers out there can even conceive of how primitive and poorly designed most EHRs are. I've been working with them a while now and continue to be shocked at how bad they are at virtually every task. If NextGen or Cerner were consumer products like Photoshop or a web browser or something like eBay or Amazon, they would not sell a single copy. I'm talking about things like no live scrolling, text boxes in which you cannot cut, copy, paste or format. I'm talking about things like cursor placement that will only work in one spot in a text or dialog box. Those are just the little things. Don't get me started. But for all you folks out there who think your doctor looks unhappy, frustrated, ready to quit or go postal......don't worry, it isn't you, its his computer and the fact that with the EHR the government and insurance companies not only expect you to use it, they expect you, the doctor, to be the data entry clerk in formats that they dictate and that are a nightmare to use.

Having said that, after three weeks of running Athena in Google Chrome, it is light years better than these other two. Still a long way from perfect and still a long way from what an EHR should be (again, think Amazon) it is a light at the end of a dark long tunnel and a real breath of fresh air. There have been quite a few aspects of it that try to put some additional clerical tasks on the clinical staff but when I refuse to do them they have worked around it, which has also been refreshing.

 

[rox]

I'm sure you have very tight security, but.... As I suggested above at night instructing everyone to power down IT can see who is still on the network, I don't know where you are located if other close by commercial neighbors are on your network using your wireless access. This is a remote possibility but thought I would throw it out there. The network should be checked once every legitimate employee has powered down for the night. Maybe you have unauthorized people on your network, I doubt it but it's a possibility.