Overview


This support article will cover some of the basics about your internet connection and home setup to help you get the best from your home setup. It is just a starting point and we strongly recommend that if you have any issues or detailed questions that you reach out to a local reputable technology company or guru in your area for support and assistance. In addition, the information provided here is focused on ensuring that your setup will be able to work well with your Smith & Howard provided equipment and services and may not work well for locations with multiple people and other needs and requirements. 


Getting Connected


Connection Type

There are a lot of ways to get connected to the internet, below we have listed what the best/ fastest ways to get connected are from best to worst. This takes into account the speed, latency, and other issues that connection types can have.

    1. Fiber Internet (Google Fiber, AT&T Fiber, Comcast Fiber, etc)
    2. Cable Internet (Comcast Xfinity Cable, Cox, Spectrum, etc)
    3. DSL Internet (AT&T UVerse, EarthLink, etc)
    4. Mobile/ Wireless (Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, etc)


We do not recommend satellite or dial-up internet as the speeds and latency offered on these connection types at current do not meet our recommended minimum speeds. Also please know that with cable modem and DSL your speed at home is affected by how many people in your neighborhood are using the internet at that time as the connection for neighborhoods are shared and how many houses are in a given neighborhood can affect speeds. This is why on these connections we often see internet slowdowns on snow days, holidays, and after school. 


Finding an Internet Provider

There are a lot of internet providers available, but most only service particular areas sometimes as small as a condo building or neighborhood. To find providers in your location we recommend the services listed below. Also, speak with neighbors to get an idea of the speeds and quality of service in your area by each provider. A good provider in one area can be a bad one in a different building or neighborhood. 


https://broadbandnow.com/ 


https://www.highspeedinternet.com/ 


What Speed?


As a starting point our minimum recommendations for working from remote are:
  • Download Minimum: 35Mbps (Recommend 45 or greater)
  • Upload Minimum: 6Mbps (Recommend 10 or greater)
  • Ping/ Latency: 28 ms to www.google.com
  • Jitter: <60



Many providers focus on the download number only, however when working from home you will be sending almost as much work back as you are downloading so your upload speed is important. For video conference and phone calls over the internet your upload speed, ping, and jitter are critical. Look to find a service provider that offers a higher upload number. Also our download number assumes you will be the only user, if you will have more users then you will need to increase that number accordingly especially if the others will be watching videos, listening to music, or playing video games. Some providers or speed test provide additional information such as latency or Ping time and Jitter so we have provided some suggested numbers above.

My provider says my speed is good but my connection is slow!


There are many parts to your "connection speed". Unfortunately most providers are not upfront about this. Your connection to the internet is broken down into a few parts:
    1.  Your connection from your laptop/computer to your router/ modem over WiFi or via a network cable
    2. Your connection from your router/ modem to your internet providers servers/ system
    3. Your internet providers connection to the internet from their servers/ systems
    4. The connection the website/ service you are trying to reach has to the internet If any part of that is slow, then your "connection" is slow. Your internet service provider (ISP) often has all or some control of the first three parts but the only speed they advertise is the speed in #2. So if they connect too many people to the ISP's connection to the "internet" (in part 3) it is possible to have purchased a fast connection (to your house) but have slow internet speeds when working or browsing. The same issue can happen where you have problems in the WiFi or wiring in your house (or to your house) and so the internet for your device is slow. We recommend running the test below to find out your "true" internet speeds as the speed test on most sites only test the speed to your providers servers and not to the wider internet.
    5. How many other people are using your internet connection? With some services watching regular TV slows down your Internet (AT&T UVerse) or people watching streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc can impact your internet speeds. Finally, the number of devices connected to your WiFi, even when not in use, can slow down your connection. Many are doing updates or "checking in" regularly and can overwhelm your WiFi system.



    • To test your speed to the office
      • Click on Change Server 
      • Choose Tulix Systems, Atlanta, GA
      • Choose GO
    • To test your speed to GoFileRoom/ GoSystemTax/ Onvio/ PPC/ OneSource
      • Click on Change Server
      • Enter "St. Paul, MN"
      • Choose Century Link in St. Paul, MN
      • Choose GO


https://www.highspeedinternet.com/tools/speed-test -> This test gives you a lot of extra information and is good for providing to your ISP or other technical people



What router or WiFi should I get?

There are a lot of options out there. The best general advice we can give is that you need a router from the past two years and that connecting to your router using an ethernet cable is best. It is also important that you apply software updates to keep your router up to date. While WiFi is convenient and easier to use it comes with a lot of issues and pitfalls. We recommend that for best WiFi coverage and speed you do not use the WiFi or router provided by your ISP. They are often old even when "new" as they recycle them from past users. That said, some of the better router and WiFi companies we have found are:

    • Nest\ Google WiFi - https://store.google.com/us/product/nest_wifi 
      • Easy to use & setup
      • Requires smartphone & Google Account
      • Can add additional units to cover a larger area even outside
      • Full simple setup on your phone with easy management, auto updates, and child controls

    • ASUS - https://www.asus.com/us/ - Products -> Networking -> Wireless Routers
      • Good for use in same room or next room
      • Not good for more than 10 connected devices

    • Eero WiFi - https://eero.com/
      • Offer multiple packages at multiple price points
      • May require more devices to cover the whole house
      • Powered by Amazon, easy setup and configuration with child controls

    • Plume WiFi - https://www.plume.com/
      • Small, designer, intended to have one per large room
      • More expensive

    • AmpliFi WiFi - https://www.amplifi.com/
      • Higher speeds, more features
      • More technical setup, less aesthetic look, more expensive
      • Very powerful and useful for those that want to have more technical control

This list is in no way comprehensive or complete and as such we recommend that you speak to your local technology guru or reach out to some of the local tech companies that provide home services as they can assist with home WiFi, networking, and internet setups.


How do I know the problem is on my end and not the Firm or with my Firm laptop?


To verify the issue is not with your laptop we recommend you to do the following tests:


  1. Use the free internet connection in the lobby of the office building as it is not part of our network and is a good way to verify that WiFi and your laptop are working correctly
  2. Go to Starbucks, Thousand Hills Coffee or another similar location to verify that your laptop can connect and maintain a connection to their WiFi/ Internet


To verify the issue is not with the Firm's connection please do the following:


  1. Try changing your VPN connection: https://helpdesk.smith-howard.com/a/solutions/articles/5000052025 
  2. Try a test meeting with Zoom https://zoom.us/test with video turned on
  3. Try testing with CenturyLink https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/internet-speed-test.html


If none of these have issues then please contact the Help Desk, be sure to include screenshot of your speed test, tell us who your ISP is, and what home WiFi system you are using. However please be aware that if the issue is a problem with the way your provider connects to our ISP then there may be little to nothing we can do as we have no control over the speed of the connection between our ISP and yours.


Summary


If you feel that none of these items apply or you feel you need further assistance we recommend speaking to someone at a local Computer or Technology store as many offer in home services to assist you. The IT Department at Smith & Howard is unable to assist you with your home network setup, configuration, router, or how to fix issues beyond Firm issued equipment. Additionally, we can not communicate with your ISP on your behalf or join you in calling them. For best results we recommend that you have a qualified technical person come to your home, assess the situation, and make recommendations. Often without being at your home it is difficult to get a clear understanding of what devices are connecting, what may be causing issues, and the best way to resolve them.