A speed test measures one big burst. Live audio is a small, steady stream going up, from your venue to InterScribe, every second, for hours. A connection can score well on a speed test and still drop pieces of that stream.
The three things that matter
- Upload: your audio goes up, not down. Most internet plans upload far less than they download, and everyone in the building shares it.
- Jitter: pieces of audio arrive unevenly: pauses, then a rush.
- Packet loss: pieces never arrive. A little is hidden; more becomes missing words.
Move the slider to see what your listeners would get.
Measure your connection
Test from the computer that sends the sound or interprets, on the network you will use on the day, at the same time of day if you can.
- STEP 1Run the connection check
Open the connection check and select Run the check. It measures the delay and jitter to InterScribe for 20 seconds, and tests every path live audio can take. In the Operator Console, it is under Help, Sound breaking up?; in the Interpreter Booth, under Check your network first: before you enter; on a browser agent, under Check this network. See The connection check.
- STEP 2Test your speedSelect Test your speed, next to it. It measures download, upload, delay and jitter. Look at upload first.
For a second opinion, the connection check's result offers Independent live-audio test, which runs the live-audio part again on a partner's test page with a short-lived test key. It joins an empty test room and starts nothing in your sessions.
How InterScribe judges a connection
- In the Console, the connection badge shows the round trip from this computer to InterScribe: Good under 300 ms, Fair under 800 ms, Slow under 2,000 ms, Poor above. See The connection badge.
- In the Console and the Booth, a link that drops three times within 15 minutes is shown as unstable. It stops counting as unstable after 10 minutes without a drop.
- In the Booth, the Connection test shows delay to us, sound lost and jitter. Good for interpreting means a delay under 150 ms and less than 1% sound lost. Fair: it may drop now and then means under 300 ms and less than 3%. Anything more reads Weak: a cable or another network would help.
What to change
General advice about your network, not an InterScribe setting.
- STEP 1Cable the computerConnect the computer that sends the sound with a network cable. It is the best single fix.
- STEP 2Stop other uploadsPause cloud backups, video calls and updates on that computer and, if you can, on the same network.
- STEP 3Turn off the VPNA VPN can send everything through another country.
- STEP 4Plug into powerBattery saving slows Wi-Fi and the processor.
- STEP 5Ask for uploadIf you talk to your internet provider, ask about upload, not download.