| Broadband Internet Speed Tests
 From time to time we find that clients may have call quality problems. The most common cause of this is limited bandwidth provided to you by your Internet Service Providers (ISP). We have found that more and more ISPs are now offering entry level broadband plans with limited speed. These plans are often called 'Lite' or 'Basic' and they severely affect the quality of your digital phone connection and your entire Internet browsing experience.
If you are on one of these entry level packages you may have just enough speed to support a VoIP telephone call but not enough to enjoy the crystal clear quality of our service. If you are unsure which package you are on, or how much bandwidth you have, perform a speed test below to determine how fast your connection is. If prompted, please use the city closest to you when testing for a more accurate speed. You may also want to multiple tests from various locations to get a more accurate average.
Once you have run the test you should see your Download and Upload speed results. The lowest speed will be the limiting factor in your call quality. Here is what you could expect if either of your speeds are too low:
- Upload speed too low -> Your voice will not be clear to people you call
- Download speed too low -> Your callers voice will not be clear to you
- Latency -> The time delay between when audio is sent and received
We recommend a minimum of 128Kb/s for both upload and download speed for voice lines, and a minimum of 400KB/s if you have enabled the fax option. The more speed the better especially when you have addition things using your Internet connection like PCs, notebooks, game systems, etc. Using these things in conjunction with your digital phone service can affect call quality so we recommend you upgrade to a more generous bandwidth plan from your ISP.
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