Networking

The first step in troubleshooting for internet slowness is to rule out your own computer. Check your system for any spyware and run your anti-virus software.

If you have access to another browser on your computer, try that and see if it makes a difference. If you have access to a second computer, give that a try. Note the differences, if any, on the steps you are trying.

Once you have ruled out your system. Do the following:

1. Write down the site you are trying to go to (including the URL and the date and time you try).
2. Check your network performance using an off-campus speedtest and note the download and upload speeds you get.
3. Go to some "on-campus" web sites such as www.scu.edu. Note how long it takes to load the page. This can indicate if the problem is localized to SCU or not.
4. Do the same thing for several well-known "off-campus" sites such as www.yahoo.com, www.google.com, www.cnn.com, or www.ibm.com. Remember to note the time it takes to load the pages. These are generally known, well performing sites and if they work well, it indicates that the problem is likely related to the original site you were trying to reach.
5. If you have an alternate web browser, try accessing the site with it. Some problem may be unique to a particular browser. Some sites require a particular browser for best results.

If you are still experiencing a problem, contact the Technology Help Desk. All the information you noted will be helpful to us to try to track down, isolate, and fix the problem. It is especially helpful to have the date, time, and web address of site for each time you experienced the problem. If you do see a difference between "on-campus" and "off-campus" locations, please let us know which is slower.