There are several reasons why a site may be experiencing slowness.
Below is an excerpt from the Gannon Online Requirements lesson hosted in the Practice Lab:
Cable Hi-speed - This is shared technology in an area, not a one-to-one Internet connection. If your site is in an area that has heavy Internet usage in the afternoon, you may notice the connection speed is faster in the morning than in the afternoon. A real-world example of this is if you notice your connection speed slowing down when school is out if your site is in a neighborhood community.
DSL - This is one to one Internet connection, but the speed per computer is going to be dependent on how many computers are accessing the Internet at one time. For example, I have DSL, but if all three of our computers at home are accessing the Internet at one time, my speed can drop from 2.1 mbs to 500K depending on what the others are doing. Most companies that offer DSL offer pricing options. Typically the cheaper your monthly rate, the slower the connectivity.
T-1 - This is typically used on campus or shared between businesses. This type of Internet speed is used by the group of sites that may have corporate sponsorship. For example, Corporation A sponsors 26 sites in the local area. The sites share an Internet plan with Corporation A. This means that each site is allowed to use a portion of the Internet bandwidth that is coming into Corporation A.
Select the type of Internet you are using.
Select the state where you are currently located.
Enter your EFIN.
Click Start Test.
After you click Start Test, you will see the results screen. The minimum speed recommendation is 800 kilobytes. If your Internet speed is not meeting the minimum required speed, you may consider using Classic Mode. Classic Mode turns off entry-level calculations and allows you to move through the program faster. The Classic Mode feature turns off the auto-calculation feature. The preparer will need to select Save Return to manually refresh the data in the tax return.
There are a few questions you should ask at your facility, such as:
What type of Internet Connection do you have?
Do you run backups of the system?
If so, around what time?
Is the Internet connection a shared connection?
What are the peak times at your facility?
This information applies to all Online software.