Testing network connectivity and performance

If you have network performance issues while connecting to Skytap, try one or more of the following tests:

• Checking bandwidth and latency with Speedtest
• Checking latency with a ping test
• Checking the network traffic path

Run all tests from the same computer and network where the performance issue occurs.

To connect to a VM from a browser, your network connection should be able to sustain the following:

• Download speed – 1.2 Mbps for each concurrent browser session with a VM.

  To use audio-enabled VMs, we recommend at least 1.5 Mbps for each audio-enabled VM browser session.

• Latency – 150ms or less.

Checking bandwidth and latency with Speedtest

Verify connectivity between your physical location and the Skytap servers using the Speedtest tool at http://speedtest.skytap.com. For instructions, see Testing bandwidth and latency with Speedtest.

The Speedtest results indicate upload and download speeds, as well as the latency from your location to the selected region.

Checking latency with a ping test

If the Speedtest tool is unavailable, or to verify your network latency, ping Skytap regions from the OS command line. This provides the best indication of the latency between your location and the Skytap region. For VM desktop access, the latency should be 150ms or less.

To check latency with a ping test

1. Open an OS command line. The steps vary, depending on your local machine OS:
   • In Windows, click Start > Run. Type cmd, and then click OK.
   • In macOS (Mac OS X) and Linux Ubuntu, click Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
2. In the command line, enter

    ping <regional ping test hostname>
   

   Replace <regional ping test hostname> with the correct test hostname for your region (see Regional test hostnames).

   For example, to test against US-West, type ping pingtest-uswest.skytap.com and press Enter.

Checking the network traffic path

If other tests indicate a potential problem or issue (such as lack of available download speed, or a high latency), run a traceroute test to Skytap from the command line of the local machine. A traceroute test displays the path and transit times between nodes for network traffic. It can identify where the issue is occurring.

To check the network traffic path

1. Open the command line.
2. Use a traceroute command to trace your connection from the local network to the Skytap regional server. The command varies, depending on the OS and region:

   • In Windows, type tracert <regional ping test hostname> and press Enter. Replace <regional ping test hostname> with the correct test hostname for your region (see Regional test hostnames).

     For example, to test against US-West, type tracert pingtest-uswest.skytap.com and press Enter.

   • In Linux or macOS (Mac OS X), type traceroute <regional ping test hostname> and press Enter. Replace <regional ping test hostname> with the correct test hostname for your region (see Regional test hostnames).

     For example, to test against US-West, type traceroute pingtest-uswest.skytap.com and press Enter.

     You may need to install Traceroute on the Linux machine. To install traceroute in Ubuntu, type:

       ubuntu$ sudo apt-get install traceroute
     

     Different Linux distributions may require a different command.

Regional test hostnames

Use the following ping test hostnames to check latency and the network traffic path. Each hostname tests connectivity to a different region.

Region	Ping test hostname
APAC-2	pingtest-apac2.skytap.com
AU-Sydney-I-1	pingtest-au-sydney-i-1.skytap.com
CAN-Toronto	pingtest-cantoronto.skytap.com
CN-HongKong-M-1	pingtest-cn-hongkong-m-1.skytap.com
DE-Frankfurt-I-1	pingtest-de-frankfurt-i-1.skytap.com
EMEA	pingtest-emea.skytap.com
IE-Dublin-M-1	pingtest-ie-dublin-m-1.skytap.com
IN-Pune-M-1	pingtest-in-pune-m-1.skytap.com
NL-Amsterdam-M-1	pingtest-nl-amsterdam-m-1.skytap.com
SG-Singapore-M-1	pingtest-sg-singapore-m-1.skytap.com
UK-London-M-1	pingtest-uk-london-m-1.skytap.com
US-Central	pingtest-uscentral.skytap.com
US-East-2	pingtest-useast2.skytap.com
US-Texas-M-1	pingtest-us-texas-m-1.skytap.com
US-Virginia-M-1	pingtest-us-virginia-m-1.skytap.com
US-West	pingtest-uswest.skytap.com

Related link: Understanding regions.

Resolving network performance issues

If the tests indicate issues with low bandwidth or high latency on your network, see:

• My network has low bandwidth. What can I do?
• My network has high latency to Skytap. What can I do?

Contact Support

If testing indicates trouble with Skytap, or is unspecific, open a support ticket at https://support.skytap.com/. Include the following:

• Any information received during your tests.
• The date and time that the trouble occurred.
• Any actions you were performing while the trouble occurred.

• The IP address you’re connected to Skytap from.

  Locate your IP address at https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=ip.