Proctur U again!

[teacher2]

Hey everyone I apologize if this is a rant but was curious if anyone else have had this problem and how they resolved it.

Saturday, I attempted to take my PreCalculus final. My internet worked great until I logged onto ProcturU. I attempted to go through verification but kept having "internet issues" I could hear my proctor laughing and talking in Spanish and the video was playing. However they would not let me take my exam due to "internet connection issues". However, when I closed their window my internet was perfect!

Today, I attempted for the second time to take my final. Internet working fast and perfect. I repeat the steps of verification. Problems again! The proctor had to take picture of me and my id then he kept closing the support request on the chat box so I could not ask questions. Finally get through that and he puts the quiz password in. I start the exam and the questions wouldn't load! I tried to tell my proctor but he shut off the support request on the chat box again! the questions began to load very slowly so I plugged away. The timer was at 1 hr and 28 min and I had only got through question 10. I was nearly crying by now as the questions were not loading fast enough yet the timer ticked on. The proctor came back on said there was connection issues and he could not reset the exam or add the time. Then he transferred to another tech. But this one did not respond to any of my requests. So long story short I ended up calling Straighterline and explaining the situation. The lady there closed out my final and redid it so I can take again. At this point I shut the final down and the procturU window.

My question is what is wrong here? I have perfect internet (obviously because I am posting this thread) except when ProctorU is using it! Is this their server? What's going on?

[jsd]

can you go to Speedtest.net by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test and run the test to see what your internet speeds are? the video might be too taxing for your connection. The exam questions/website aren't fed through ProctorU, so it wouldn't be their servers causing this. But if you're bogged down by the ProctorU service itself, that could be an issue.

[teacher2]

Everything was working fine. I was listening to music on YouTube, working math problems on Straighterline before I logged onto ProcturU and then everything started moving at a snails pace.

[jsd]

What were your speed test results?

ProctorU is a lot more taxing then YouTube. You have two HD video feeds (webcam feed, desktop feed) plus audio, and then some.

[teacher2]

download 3.8 upload .21

[jsd]

Download looks good, but your upload speed is likely the issue. It doesn't meet ProctorU's minimum requirements.

For upload, they recommend 1 Mbps, but have a minimum of .384 Mbps, and you're far enough under that bare minimum to really make a difference.

(Download is good, they recommend 1.5 Mbps)

[teacher2]

Ok. I apologize then. I have taken tests with them before (always with some type of issue) but this last two attempts have been chaotic and my SL membership is up on tuesday so I guess I was freaking out. I live in a rural area so this is good internet for us! Also we have a a internet monopoly in my area so looks like I will be talking with them.

[jsd]

I feel you! The internet monopolies are ridiculous, and corporate consolidation is making it worse. Hope you get an easy resolution.

[teacher2]

I feel you! The internet monopolies are ridiculous, and corporate consolidation is making it worse. Hope you get an easy resolution.

Appreciate your help!

[High_Order1]

I have taken around five tests through them. Four on an old laptop with Vista, one on a new one with win 10 and all the bells and whistles. All using my cell phone hotspot. I just checked; 37.79 down and .82 up.

I only had trouble with my initial setup on each computer. They had a lot more trouble with the new one than the old one. BEst bet is to set up a session with them to get the bugs worked out. Make sure all your software is up to date, and your computer isn't trying to do things like check for updates or optimize your hard drive.

Them continuing to turn your chat window off is a little strange, though.

Hoping next time things go better for you!