So you have a customer that has a Chromebook (YES people are finally clocking on to how good they are and have seen the LIGHT!) and you want do the normal checks on network connectivity and broadband speed connectivity, look no further as ive detailed below some of the tools available to you:
Built in tools:
The command prompt, though one of the most basic functions built into a device, is extremely effective in retrieving the information you need. To access the command prompt on a mac press the below highlighted keys together (Ctrl + Alt + T)
This then opens access to the command prompt screen as shown below. As you can see i have used the ping command to send traffic to 8.8.8.8(one of Googles Public DNS Servers), this task will:
Send a small packet of traffic from the Chromebook to the WiFi Access Point / Router and out onto the internet
The traffic will continue to be resolved out onto the internet until it reaches the server 8.8.8.8
Once it reaches this server it then begins its journey back down to the Chromebook and records whether any traffic was unsuccessful in reaching its destination (request timed out / packet loss) and the time it took to get down and back up again (time=*ms).
As you can see above this shows that numerous packets were sent backwards and forwards with 0% packet loss and an average ping 5ms. This shows a consistent network connection and is well within the recommended 100ms speed of use by Google.
Additional Tools Online:
Within the last few years a number of broadband speed test websites have entered the market but i would always recommend to use www.speedtest.net due to its consistent results and extremely fast response times. Below you will find an example of a recent test run directly from a Chromebook:
This speed test was run within a rural residential area utilising a line of sight connection, the Chromebook performs as normal via this connection providing a reliable user experience.
The second online tool i would recommend is https://speedof.me , this website allows you to monitor the fluctuation of the traffic test while it is being performed and provides a graph view of the download / upload results once completed:
So there we have it a hand full of tools readily available and most importantly free to use!
If you have come across any other useful built in features or online tools available on Chromebooks please include them in the comments below!
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