Instructions

Instructions

About this site:

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Community Broadband Map is to provide a mechanism for understanding various aspects of Internet access methods available in the town of Blacksburg and surrounding areas (and theoretically anywhere else in the world.) The site generates a map of internet speeds based as reported by users like you. This application utilizes the familiar Google Maps product (http://maps.google.com) as its mapping engine.

Underlying technology

Web browser compatibility requirements for this site are the same as all Google Maps-based sites.
Supported browsers are as follows:

Firefox 0.8 or higher

IE 6.0 or higher

Safari 1.2.4 or higher

Netscape 7.1 or higher

Mozilla 1.4 or higher

Opera 8.02 or higher

More information (external link to Google Maps site)

As is the case with all Google Maps-based sites, the Community Broadband Map makes extensive use of Javascript to display the map. We've also added several features of our own that depend on Javascript to streamline the transfer of information between our testing application, the map, and the data entry form. Your browser must have Javascript enabled to display the page properly; check your browser settings to ensure it is enabled first if something doesn't work.

Additionally, we use a Java applet to perform the actual speed test between your computer and our testing server on the Virginia Tech campus. More information about this applet, an open-source tool called "NDT", may be found here. Your browser must have Java enabled to perform the speed test; otherwise, when the testing window appears, the testing application will show up as a blank gray rectangle.

Security

We keep the amount of personally identifiable information we collect to a minimum. The only "required" fields are latitude/longitude (entered by clicking on the map), and download/upload speed (generated by our NDT speed testing application); beyond that, the amount of information you wish to provide is entirely at your discretion. The location name field is optional, but is really there for your convenience - so you, and subsequent users of the map, will be able to associate a map marker with a "real" location. ZIP code is optional as well.

Uses of the data

The Community Broadband Map was developed as a research tool. Data submitted by users of the site and collected and maintained by us and may be used by us in support of teaching, research and outreach. Through the interface of the map, a representation of the data is made available to the public.

Map navigation:

The map is a standard “Google Map,” so if you’re familiar with the navigation of Google Maps pages, you already have all the skills you need to interact with the map on this site. If not, it’s extremely simple- here is what you need to know.

To pan (move around on the map), simply click anywhere and drag until your desired location is in the center of the map. You can also use the directional arrows in the upper left-hand corner of the map to move around by preset increments.
To zoom, you can use the (+) and (-) buttons above and below the slider (the vertical line with the tic marks), or else you can click and drag the position indicator along the slider.

Getting information about an existing marker:

To obtain information about a map marker, click on it. The info window will appear. Click on the [X] in the upper right-hand corner of an info window to get rid of it.

Testing your connection speed:

We use a modified version of the open-source Network Diagnostic Tool (NDT) originally developed by Richard Carlson and available for download (including source code) at http://e2epi.internet2.edu/ndt/. The client component of NDT is downloaded by the user in the form of a Java Applet when the user clicks the "Run Speed Test" button on the main page. The server component of NDT runs on a server on the Virginia Tech campus. The closer you are to Virginia Tech (in terms of network hops) the more accurately your speed test will reflect the performance of your connection to your ISP (as opposed to other bottlenecks elsewhere along the end-to-end path). To test your speed, simply click on the "Run Speed Test" button. A new window will appear (you may have to disable pop-up blocking for ecorridors.vt.edu to allow this), and the NDT applet will load. NDT is a signed applet, so you will need to review the credentials we have provided and elect to "trust" the applet to run on your machine. To run the test, click the "Start" button in the applet. If there are other users ahead of you in the queue, you will be informed of your wait time. Once the test runs, the applet will determine your downloading ("downstream") and uploading ("upstream") speed, as well as the slowest link on the end-to-end path between you and Virginia Tech, and several other potentially useful pieces of descriptive information about your connection. In order to add your test results to the map, be sure to click the "Return to Map" button below the applet. This will transfer the download and upload results back to the form to the right of the map on the main window. More detailed information on the workings and interpretation of the results of NDT may be found here.

Adding your information to the map:

Marking Your Location (latitude/longitude)

To make it as easy as possible for you to add your location to our database, we’ve integrated the map with a data entry form. When you click once on any location on the map, a new marker will appear and the latitude and longitude will automatically appear in the appropriate boxes in the form. There’s no need to type or copy/paste any information. If you want to change your location, you can click again on the marker you just created to remove it from the map and clear out your form fields. When you click somewhere else, a new marker will be created and the new location will appear in the form fields as before.

Service Provider

This is pretty self-explanatory – just enter the name of the company that provides your last-mile Internet connection.

Reporting Cost per month

How much do you pay for your Internet connection? What kind of performance are you getting for your money? This site will allow you to see how your provider compares with others. To allow comparison across providers, however, we need to separate out the portion of your monthly bill that covers your Internet connectivity. For example, if you get your Internet service through your cable TV provider, you’d want to enter in the amount from your monthly cable bill that is designated for Internet service, not the total amount of your bill, which “bundles” other services, like cable TV, in with the cost of your Internet. If you leave this blank, it will be recorded as "Unknown".

Other connection attributes

To help you and us compare "apples to apples," we've added fields to allow users to indicate several distinguishing features of their connection: its access technology (e.g., cable modem, DSL, etc.), and its service type (e.g., business, residential, etc.). We've also provided a field to give users the opportunity to provide their own appraisal of whether their connection is adequate for their current needs.

Return to the Map