Bandwidth is a measure of how much data your connection can transfer at one time. A lack of bandwidth can negatively affect the sound quality of your Penguin service. The number of computers at the same location and on the same network as your phones, as well as multiple concurrent phone calls, can impact the availability of bandwidth. Each phone requires 60 kbps of download speed and 60 kbps of upload speed in addition to the needs of each computer on the same network.

Review the information below to determine if you have enough bandwidth for your needs. If you do not have enough bandwidth, a Penguin technical support representative can help you review potential solutions.

Things to Remember

• Your Internet connection will generally have more download speed than upload speed.
• Computers and other devices connected to the Internet will lower your available bandwidth. Streaming and downloading both use large amounts of bandwidth.
• If you are using close to the full capacity of your connection, traffic will bottleneck. This can result in latency, which will directly affect call quality. A good rule is to plan to use 85% of your Internet connection’s advertised ability.

Test Your Connection

Run this Speed Test to determine the bandwidth of your connection.

NOTE: Latest versions of Adobe Flash Player and Java may be required to run the speed test in some browsers.

The speed test will report latency, download speed, and upload speed. Divide the lower of the two numbers by 85, which is the amount (in kilobits per second or kbps) that each call will consume in both upload and download bandwidth. The result will tell you the number of concurrent calls your connection can support. To allow for quality and in the presence of extra features such as Busy Lamp Field, it is safer to assume that each phone you are using will need nearly 100 kbps of upstream and downstream bandwidth delivered consistently to and from your Internet service provider.

NOTE: The upload and download speeds that your Internet service provider delivers vary over the course of time depending on many factors, such as the type of connection that you have and network congestion in your market area.

Analyze the Speed Test Results

Latency
The lower the latency is measured in milliseconds, the faster your connection is able to send and receive information to the server that you are testing. Running the Speed Test to different servers can give you an idea of how quick and consistent your connection is at the time. Analyzing your connection's latency at various parts of the day help you to understand what level of consistency your Internet service is experiencing.

Upload and Download Bandwidth
Typically Measured in Mbps (Megabits per second) the upload and download speed let you know how much data you can work with. Download bandwidth represents how much data your connection can facilitate from your Internet service provider to your location. When you are hearing conversations your phone is downloading small pieces of information and playing the audio back to you in real time. Upload bandwidth is in the opposite direction. Technically you are uploading your voice and conversation to your Internet service provider who then delivers the information to the proper destination. The upload bandwidth represents how much data you are able to send out from your location at a given time.