So you are getting ready to set up and run your first moderated study, yay!
To make sure your sessions run smoothly, we recommend the following steps before your first session.
- Make sure your connection can connect to the Moderated Session Our moderated product requires access to specific ports. Please make sure to check with your IT team that the following ports and domains have been whitelisted to make sure you can connect to your session.
- Make sure that your internet connection is strong enough to run a session. You can test your internet speed on speedtest.net. We recommend at least 25-30 mbps for download and at least 10-12 mbps for upload speeds.
- Make sure your computer can handle running a session. Chrome can at times use a lot of memory, which can slow your computer down. If you are noticing any lagging issues, please make sure to close any unneeded programs, or, when in doubt restart your computer.
- Before your first session, please make sure to run a practice session with a co-worker outside your work network. This will make sure that your network is not blocking access to the software and your headset and camera work with Chrome. Keep in mind, that participants also need to have access to these ports. So whenever possible we would recommend them doing the session on a personal computer or not on a work computer connected to the internet via a VPN.
If you are having any issues, please make sure to take the following test which can help isolate where the issues might be: https://tokbox.com/developer/tools/precall/
Troubleshooting Checklist
- Try a different WiFi network, or if on a cell phone switch off WiFi and use your cell phones 4G connection.
- Make sure you running the latest version of Google Chrome chrome://settings/help
- Make sure your computer has a working speaker and microphone. For the best experience, we highly recommend wearing a headset with a built-in microphone.
- If it’s a mobile study, make sure the participant on the mobile device is connected to a fast WiFi connection as the first preference, or if not on at least a 4G cell connection with full signal bars. We recommend the participant remain in one location for the duration of the study to avoid potential dropouts.
- Close any unnecessary software. Any software that is running consumes computer memory. In the case of a computer with limited resources, this could be an issue.
- class="intercom-interblocks-align-left"> Avoid having more than a couple of browser tabs open. Browser tabs (especially in Chrome) consume a lot of resources. It is important to keep open tabs to a minimum.
- Turn off the camera. Screen sharing accompanied with camera and audio can be quite demanding for some computers. If a camera is not needed during a session, turning it off might help with computer performance or in cases of low bandwidth.
- Leave the session and come back. Rejoining the session could solve some issues.
- Restart your computer. Restarting your computer can fix a variety of inexplicable issues and free up memory, thus improving performance.
- Try to improve your internet connection. There are a few things the user can do when the issue seems to be with their internet connection.