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Internet Connection Issues

WebPT products are cloud-based—in other words—WebPT’s products are delivered on-demand over the internet, so that you can access them any time, anywhere, from any device with an internet connection. In this article, we’ll cover what happens when the internet affects your ability to access WebPT products, and how the WebPT Support Team can help. 

The internet is an intricate web of computers sending data to other computers, and sometimes that data gets lost on the way from one computer to another. When data gets lost, you may experience internet slowness, and sometimes information entered into areas of WebPT products may not save appropriately. 

When you experience slowness or data loss, the WebPT Member Support Team needs information to diagnose your issue and recommend appropriate solutions. 

The problems that lead to slowness and data loss are unique to each computer that experiences these issues. For this reason, we need you to run some tests on your computer and take screenshots of the results, so the WebPT Member Support Team can identify the path data takes to travel from your computer through the internet.

To take a screenshot:  

  • On a Windows computer, press CTRL+PrtScn on your keyboard at the same time
  • On a Mac computer, press Shift+Command+3

Internet Connection Tests for Windows Operating Systems

Perform a Ping Test

A ping test determines if your device can connect to a specific website. When you start the test, your device sends a message to the website you specify, and measures the time it takes for data to travel from your device to the specified website, and back. 

  1. To open the Command Prompt Window in your Windows Search Bar, type cmd to search for the Command Prompt Window and Press Enter.
  2. Type “ Ping auth.webpt.com” into the Command Prompt Window. Be sure to include a space after the word Ping.
  3. Press Enter on your keyboard. 

Gather the Results

After the test runs, take a screenshot to include with your email to the WebPT Support Team. Your results will resemble the image below:  

A)  Packet Loss - This line shows the number of packets of data sent and received in the test. The optimal result is 0% loss.
B)  Round Trip Time - This line shows the time it took for the packets to be sent from—and returned to—your device. The optimal result is a time less than 100 milliseconds (ms).

Perform a Traceroute Test

A Traceroute test identifies the physical path that the data from your computer takes on its way through the internet. When data leaves your computer, it moves through several different pieces of hardware before the trip is complete, similar to a bus making stops along a route. In this case, we don’t want any passengers to get off the bus. 

  1. To open the Command Prompt Window in your Windows Search Bar, type cmd to search for the Command Prompt Window and Press Enter.
  2. Type “tracert auth.webpt.com” into the Command Prompt Window. Be sure to include the space.
  3. Press Enter on your Keyboard.

Gather the Results

After the test runs, you’ll see your device is tracing the route to the data’s end destination, in this case WebPT.com.

These results will take longer to generate than the ping test, and when completed you’ll see “Trace Complete” under the results. When your Traceroute is complete, take a screenshot of the results to include with your email to the WebPT Support Team. Your results will resemble the image below:

Each line is a “hop”, the physical location your data passed through on its way to its destination.

a) The hops are listed in chronological order 
b) This is the amount of time it took for data packets sent to that hop to return to your device
c) This is the IP Address of the device associated with that hop

Perform a Path Ping Test

A PathPing is a test similar to a traceroute. It will map out the data’s journey from your device to the end destination and send data packets to each hop. The PathPing will measure the amount of time it takes for the data to travel to each hop and back, and identifies if all of the data sent is received. 

  1. To open the Command Prompt Window in your Windows Search Bar, type cmd to search for the Command Prompt Window and press Enter on your keyboard.
  2. Type “pathping -n Auth.webpt.com” into the Command Prompt Window. Be sure to include the spaces.
  3. Press Enter on your Keyboard.

Gather the Results

After the test runs, you’ll see that your computer is tracing a route and “Computing Statistics” for a certain length of time. When you see “Trace Complete” at the bottom, take a screenshot to include with your email to the WebPT Support Team. Your results will resemble the image below:

Reference Column Definition
A Hop The physical locations your data passed through from your computer to its end destination
B RTT The amount of time it took for data to travel from your computer, to this hop, and back
C Source To Here Lost/Sent The number of packets of data sent, and the number of packets that did not make it to the end destination
D This Node/Link Lost/Sent The number of packets of data lost between two particular hops
E Address The Internet Protocol (IP) Address of each hop along your data’s journey

Internet Connection Tests for Mac Operating Systems

Network troubleshooting tools on Mac Operating Systems such as Monterey, Big Sur, and Catalina are limited in their ability to collect certain pieces of information. You will not be able to perform all of the same tests as Windows users, such as a Pathping, and as a result, you will not be able to collect as much data. Therefore, there are some scenarios where you may need to contact an IT professional for further assistance.

Perform a Ping Test

A ping test determines if your device can connect to a specific website. When the test starts, your device sends a message to the website you specify, and measures the time it takes for data to travel from your device to the specified website, and back.

  1. Click the magnifying glass to open the Spotlight Search feature.
  2. Type Terminal into the Spotlight Search bar.
  3. Type “ping auth.webpt.com” in the MacOS Terminal.
  4. Click Enter to begin the test.
  5. Wait about 30-40 seconds as the test runs, then press Control+C on your keyboard at the same time to complete the test.

Gather the Results

When the test is complete, you’ll see the total number of packets of data sent during the test, and the number of packets your computer received back. Take a screenshot to include with your email to the WebPT Support Team. Your results will resemble the image below: 

In the above image, you’ll see the test results at the bottom. These show that of the 28 packets of data the computer sent, 27 were received back, meaning that the 3.6% of the data transmitted was lost.

Perform a Traceroute Test

A Traceroute test identifies the physical path the data takes from your computer on its way through the internet. When data leaves your computer, it moves through several different pieces of hardware before the trip is complete, similar to a bus making stops along its route. In this case, we don’t want any passengers to get off the bus.

  1. Click the magnifying glass to open the Spotlight Search feature.

  2. Type Terminal into the Spotlight Search bar.

  3. Type “traceroute auth.webpt.com” in the MacOS Terminal. Be sure to include the space.

  4. Click Enter on your keyboard to begin the test.

Gather the Results

When the test is complete, you’ll see the name of your computer displayed under the results. Take a screenshot so that you can include it with your email to the WebPT Support Team. Your results will resemble the image below:

The results show all of the physical locations where the data packets were transferred between devices, and how long it takes for data to move from its origin to its end destination, and back. 

Contacting the WebPT Support Team

The WebPT Support Team is equipped to interpret the results of your tests and recommend solutions. When you reach out to support, describe the nature of the issue you’re experiencing in as much detail as possible, and be sure to include the screenshots you took! These screenshots will streamline this process, as without them, diagnosing the issue is impossible.

Further Reading - How the Internet Works

At its most basic form, the internet is an interconnected network of computers that communicate with each other. When computers need to communicate with each other, they take the input from the user (the email you wrote, the website you searched for, and the appointment or note you documented in WebPT) and break it down into smaller, easier to manage data packets. When the packets get to the recipient’s device, they are reassembled to look like your original input. 

When billions of devices are trying to transmit these data packets all at once, things become messy and data sometimes doesn’t make it to where it needs to go. The devices themselves and the processes they follow to send data to each other in an orderly manner make up the internet’s two key building blocks: hardware and protocols. 

Hardware

Hardware is all of the physical things that connect you to the internet. Your mobile phone, your computer, your Smart TV and even some cars connect to the internet. But there are other hardware components to be aware of as well: your modem and router, the cables that connect these devices to your Internet Service Provider (ISP), plus the servers, cell phone towers, and satellites your ISP uses.

Protocols

Protocols are a set of rules every piece of hardware must follow when sending data from one to another. Without these protocols, computers would just be screaming their messages into a sea of noise, never to be heard. With protocols in place, computers have a set of rules to follow to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. These protocols include things like what path the data will take when traveling through the internet and what format the data must be in for a particular piece of hardware. 

Each computer has its own identifier, called the Internet Protocol (IP) Address. The IP address lets other computers know exactly who is trying to send a message, and if they are authorized to do so. A group of computers that are authorized to communicate with one another is called a network. Your home, the office you work in, even the coffee shop you stopped at on the way to work are all their own network. 

When you consume or send anything over the internet, be it sending or receiving an email, saving a note in WebPT, or watching a video, the network your computer is connected to must communicate with several other networks for that data to make it to its final destination.

The Internet: Data Journey

When you search for something on the internet, or send an email, or when a system like Google Docs or WebPT autosaves, it happens so quickly that it may seem like the packets of data are going straight from your computer to its end destination. In reality, the data is making a very long—albeit very fast—journey through the internet. 

When you sign a note in WebPT, the note will first be broken down into small packets of data. These packets of data will then travel from your computer, then to your modem, then to the hardware your ISP uses. Your ISP will then route your data to the hardware we use here at WebPT. Then, your data will make its return trip back to your computer. All in under a second! 

Every time your data moves from one piece of hardware to another, it's called a hop. The ideal scenario is for all of those packets from our original message to make it back to our computer. When some of the packets don’t make it back, it’s called packet loss. When packet loss occurs, it means that some of what you entered in the note may not be saved, or you may experience slowness when loading web pages. 

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