Why Internet Speed Monitoring is Critical for IT Performance
Recent enhancements to eG Enterprise have added functionality to allow you to proactively test your internet speed with synthetic monitoring (“robot” tests that simulate real user activity).
Using the new functionality you can proactively monitor internet speeds 24×7 from any location.
The performance and quality of an Internet connection plays a major role in any IT environment. Use cases for this new functionality include:
- Troubleshooting when internet speed from a branch office is low, when users are experiencing slowness during access and content downloads.
- Assessing whether internet speeds vary over time, and whether you are actually getting the speeds promised by your ISP.
- For organizations relying on Microsoft 365, other SaaS services and cloud services, the quality of their internet connection has become even more important than before for ensuring acceptable user experience.
Internet Speed Testing with Ookla Integration
eG Enterprise now integrates with the Ookla Speedtest – the global broadband speed test. Ookla Speedtest is a free tool that measures the quality and performance of an Internet connection.
Speedtest measures the speed between a device and a test server using the device’s internet connection. It performs tests over a custom protocol over TCP sockets.
Speed tests measure your current connection’s maximum speed – how fast your device can upload and download information – by accessing nearby test servers.
eG Enterprise integrates with the Ookla Speedtest CLI (Command Line Interface) for monitoring Internet Connection speed repeatedly and automatically at a frequency that can be configured.
Figure 1 shows the layer view in eG Enterprise of the results of the Speedtest tests. Key metrics that are monitored include:
- Latency of network ping
- Jitter of network ping
- Packet loss of network ping
- Download speed
- Download latency
- Download jitter
- Upload speed
- Upload latency
- Upload jitter
What is Network Jitter & Why It Matters
Jitter is the variation in how long data packets take to travel across a network connection. Instead of arriving at consistent intervals, packets may come early or late, creating timing instability. High jitter can cause noticeable problems in real-time applications such as video calls, voice over IP, and online gaming, where smooth, evenly timed data delivery is essential. Common causes include network congestion, Wi-Fi interference, overloaded routers, or unstable internet connections.
From the layer model shown in Figure 1, IT teams can use the detailed diagnostics icon to drill down into details of the test including the ISP and test server data (as shown in Figure 2).
Download Speed Test: Monitoring Internet Performance
eG Enterprise also provides a basic default test to monitor internet connections – the “Download Speed Test”. This downloads a file from a pre-configured web site URL and measures connection availability and speed. The Download Speed Test can be executed by a Windows or Linux/Unix agent. It should be noted that this test does not depend on any 3rd party libraries but it does not provide results regarding Network ping/jitter and Upload speed. Figure 3 shows the simple configuration required for this test.
Once configured eG Enterprise will proactively test the download speed regularly and alert you to any performance issues affecting the internet connection (see Figure 4)
Download Speed Test vs Ookla Speedtest: Key Differences
eG Enterprise customers can choose to use both test or just one. The following comparison table is provided to help you make that choice.
| Download Speed Test | Ookla Internet Speedtest |
| Easy to set up; no 3rd party dependency | Requires CLI to be downloaded and installed on agent system. |
| Reports availability, download time and speed only. | Reports download speed, latency and jitter. Also reports these metrics using network ping. |
| Usually unmanaged and unknown | Usually fully managed, although BYOD may be found |
| Does not measure upload speed. | Reports upload speed, latency and jitter as well. |
| Requires no special ports to be used. The target server is selected during test configuration. | TCP port 8080 is used for communication. ICMP is used to discover the closest server. |
Using Speed Tests for Troubleshooting Network Issues
Both speed tests are supported as part of eG Enterprise’s Remote Control Actions. This means that an IT administrator or a helpdesk operator with appropriate privileges can run the tests as required to investigate internet performance on a remote system such as a user’s laptop endpoint. Figure 5 shows the results of the Ookla internet speed test reported by a VM agent running on a physical laptop.
Internet Speed Reporting & Performance Analytics
eG Enterprise now also includes built-in ready-to-go reports that allow IT administrators to overview internet speed performance over timescales of their choosing. These visually attractive reports mean that your internet speed monitoring can be used for management reporting as well as trend analysis and future planning. See Figures 6 & 7 for example reports.
Best Practices for Internet Speed Monitoring in Enterprises
Best Practices for Enterprise Internet Speed Monitoring include:
-
Monitor Continuously, Not Reactively
Run scheduled synthetic internet speed tests throughout the day instead of relying on user complaints. Continuous monitoring helps identify intermittent slowdowns, ISP congestion, and bandwidth degradation early.
-
Measure More Than Bandwidth
Track:
- Download/upload speed
- Latency
- Jitter
- Packet loss
Bandwidth alone does not reflect user experience.
-
Test from Multiple Locations
Monitor branch offices, datacenters, cloud regions, and remote-user locations separately. Performance issues are often geographic or ISP-specific.
-
Use Synthetic and Real User Monitoring Together
Combine active speed tests with real-user experience metrics to correlate network performance with application responsiveness.
-
Establish Baselines and Thresholds
Define normal performance ranges for each site and configure alerts for deviations, not just outages. AIOps-enabled solution such as eG Enterprise will automatically baseline internet speed and alerting is provided out-of-the-box.
-
Correlate Network Metrics with Infrastructure Data
Internet slowdowns may actually originate from:
- Firewall saturation
- WAN optimization devices
- DNS failures
- Packet-per-second limits
- VPN bottlenecks
Consider integrating your internet speed monitoring within a unified observability product that can determine the root-cause of internet issues rather than standalone tools that can only tell you that you have a problem.
-
Track Trends Over Time
Historical reporting helps identify recurring congestion patterns, ISP degradation, and capacity planning requirements.
-
Monitor Cloud and SaaS Connectivity Separately
Test connectivity to critical services such as Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Zoom
Internet speed to a generic server or cloud service may not reflect SaaS performance. -
Automate Alerting and Root Cause Analysis
Use monitoring platforms that correlate internet metrics with application and infrastructure telemetry to reduce troubleshooting time.
-
Validate ISP SLAs
Regular testing provides evidence when internet providers fail to meet contracted bandwidth or latency commitments.
Tools such as eG Enterprise Internet Speed Monitoring use synthetic testing and integrated analytics to proactively identify connectivity problems before they affect users.
Business Impact: User Experience, SaaS Performance & Productivity
Effective internet speed monitoring improves user experience by detecting latency, packet loss, and bandwidth issues before they disrupt work. It ensures consistent SaaS application performance, reduces downtime, accelerates troubleshooting, and supports employee productivity. Proactive monitoring also helps organizations validate ISP service levels and maintain reliable connectivity for remote and hybrid work environments.
Frequently Asked Questions
| 1. | What is internet speed monitoring? |
Internet speed monitoring is the continuous measurement of network performance between a user or system and the internet. It tracks metrics such as download and upload speed, latency, jitter, and packet loss over time.
Unlike a one-off speed test, it is typically automated and run at regular intervals or via synthetic transactions to provide a trend-based view of connectivity quality.
This helps identify issues like ISP degradation, congestion, routing inefficiencies, or last-mile connectivity problems before they impact users or applications, enabling proactive troubleshooting and performance optimisation.
| 2. | How do you measure internet speed accurately? |
Accuracy improves when tests are run repeatedly over time and from multiple locations. Synthetic monitoring tools are often used to simulate real user traffic and provide consistent, trend-based results rather than one-off snapshots.
For best results, measurements should avoid peak congestion bias, isolate background traffic, and standardise test parameters such as file size and protocol.
| 3. | What is jitter and how does it affect performance? |
Jitter is the variation in the delay of packet delivery over a network. Instead of data packets arriving at consistent intervals, they arrive unevenly due to congestion, routing changes, or network instability.
High jitter negatively impacts real-time applications like video conferencing, VoIP calls, and online gaming. It causes choppy audio, frozen video, lag, and inconsistent user experience because time-sensitive data cannot be processed smoothly.
| 4. | What is the difference between latency and packet loss? |
Latency is the time it takes for data to travel from source to destination, usually measured in milliseconds. High latency causes delays and sluggish response times.
Packet loss occurs when data packets fail to reach their destination due to congestion, errors, or network failures. This leads to retransmissions, reduced throughput, and degraded application performance such as stuttering calls or incomplete downloads.
| 5. | How often should internet speed be tested? |
Internet speed should be tested continuously or at regular intervals rather than as a one-off check. For enterprises, automated synthetic tests every few minutes or hourly provide the best visibility.
Frequent testing helps detect intermittent issues, ISP congestion, and performance degradation early, ensuring consistent application and user experience.
| 6. | What tools can monitor internet performance in real-time? |
Real-time internet performance is typically monitored using network observability and synthetic testing tools that continuously track metrics like latency, jitter, packet loss, and throughput. A modern observability platform such as eG Enterrprise from eG Innovations will provide this functionality.
| 7. | How does internet speed impact SaaS applications? |
Internet speed directly affects SaaS application responsiveness and usability. Because SaaS applications are hosted in the cloud, poor network speed or high latency can render critical business tools unusable. Low bandwidth or high latency leads to slow page loads, delayed transactions, and poor real-time collaboration experiences. Packet loss or jitter can cause session timeouts, sync issues, and interruptions in services like video conferencing or cloud-based workflows, reducing overall productivity and user satisfaction.
eG Enterprise is an Observability solution for Modern IT. Monitor digital workspaces,
web applications, SaaS services, cloud and containers from a single pane of glass.
eG Enterprise is an Observability solution for Modern IT. Monitor digital workspaces,
web applications, SaaS services, cloud and containers from a single pane of glass.
