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<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Troubleshooting Internet connections |
If you're having problems connecting for online rowing, please see the next section. For all other connection problems please follow the steps below.
If you have never connected RowPro to the Internet from this location:
•If you're connecting from home, check the basics as set out in the Connecting from home sub-topic.
•If you're connecting from work, school or gym, check the basics as set out in the Connecting from work, school or gym sub-topic
If you have previously connected RowPro from this location but can't connect now:
•Open your web browser and see if you can connect to your default home page. If not, this means your Internet connection is down.
•If you're using a wireless connection, check your wireless connection is OK and the signal strength is good. If not this means you need to get your wireless going again or change to a wired connection.
If you still can't connect please contact assist@digitalrowing.com for free assistance.
If you're having problems connecting via Set up a Row | Online, look at the online rowing connection quality indicator at the bottom left of the black Charts frame on the RowPro in-row display.
•If the online rowing connection quality indicator is red, that means either the Online Rowing Server is down, or there is a firewall between your computer and the Internet that is blocking RowPro from accessing the Internet on UDP Port 9300. If you cannot check or change the firewall, you will need assistance from your work, school or gym's IT support team.
•If RowPro does connect via Set up a Row | Online but does not connect via Oarbits, this means your computer is accessing the Internet via a Proxy Server, and you’ll need to configure RowPro correctly for your Proxy Server.
If you still can't connect please contact assist@digitalrowing.com for free assistance.
During online rows, RowPro shows a connection quality indicator for each participant with the following states:
Icon |
Meaning |
Technical Description |
|---|---|---|
Green |
Excellent |
All packets received with low latency |
Yellow |
Good |
All packets received, one or more with higher latency |
Orange |
Marginal |
One or more packets lost and resent |
Red |
Poor |
Send buffer overflow resulting in packets discarded |
Red+x |
Disconnected |
Connection lost |
If you or someone else in your Online Rowing session is having problems with the quality or reliability of your Internet connection during an Online Rowing session, you will see this reflected in the Connection Quality Indicator.
It's likely that the source of any problems you see are local, i.e. within the building or network you're in. Here's a list of likely suspects you should consider when investigating connection quality or reliability problems:
•Low signal strength - Ideally you should see Excellent or Very Good signal strength when you mouse over your wireless connection indicator on your computer screen. If you see only Good, Fair or Poor, you should take steps to improve this, otherwise you're likely to suffer problems while you row, along the lines described below. To remedy low signal strength, you can move your wireless access point nearer to where you row, or get a more powerful wireless access point.
•Signal blocking - If you have low signal strength, this may be because there is a dense or metal object directly between your computer and the wireless access point. In this case you either need to move your computer, move your access point, or move the blocking object. Walking around with your computer while you watch the wireless connection indicator is a good way to determine if you have a problem with objects blocking the signal.
•Interference from microwave ovens - It's very likely you will have connection problems while your microwave oven is running. You can test this by rowing a solo online row and watching your RowPro connection quality indicator while someone starts the microwave. If you see problems, make sure others don't use the microwave while you row. You might like to tape a note on the door of the oven!
•Interference from cordless phones - It's also very likely you will have connection problems if someone gets on a cordless phone while you're rowing. You can test this by rowing a solo online session and watching your RowPro connection quality indicator while someone makes a phone call. If you see problems, make sure others don't use the phone or only use a wired phone while you row, or else stop using wireless for your Internet connection while you row online.
•Interference from neighbors wireless - You may have ongoing issues with your wireless connection quality if there are other wireless access points besides your own visible in your list of available wireless networks. If you can't find ways to resolve this, you may have to move to a wired connection, either LAN / Ethernet or Modem.
•Competition with other wireless users - If there are others using your wireless access point, for example your partner or children, then anything they do will affect your wireless performance and may affect your connection quality. For example if someone clicks to view a small video on a web page, immediately your wireless access point is working very hard to supply the video to them, and your RowPro connection is likely to suffer. If you can't find ways to resolve this, you may have to move to a wired connection, either LAN / Ethernet or Modem.
The bottom line for wireless connections is that there are other devices that use the same wireless spectrum as your computer, and problems are quite common.
Remember each time you have a connection quality problem rowing online, this also affects all the other participants in your online rowing session. Our advice is don't struggle on with connection quality problems, take steps to resolve them.
If you need assistance with working out what to do, please contact us at assist@digitalrowing.com.
•Bandwidth contention - The cheaper your broadband plan, the more it is likely to 'collapse' to a very low bandwidth at times when traffic is high. This can mean your connection is not even as good as a standard dial-up connection at times. If you are using a wired connection in your building, and then connecting to the Internet via DSL, and you're having ongoing connection quality problems while rowing online, try connecting via a different method like tethering to your smart-phone for a while just to see if the problem goes away. If so, you'll need to consider either always using tethering or signing up to a more robust DSL connection plan. It pays to shop around.
Again, remember each time you have a connection quality problem rowing online, this also affects all the other participants in your online rowing session. Our advice is don't struggle on with connection quality problems, take steps to resolve them.
If you need assistance with working out what to do, please contact us at assist@digitalrowing.com.
The humble phone line is actually a very good connection for RowPro unless the phone line is noisy.
•Noisy line - If you can hear noise or crackling on your phone line, then you're likely to have connection quality problems if you row online via a modem on your phone line. If you're out in the country, this is very likely due to interference from electric fences, and tends to be worse during and after rain. If you can't get your phone company to resolve the noise problem, you'll need to find another way to connect. Note that DSL works very well over all but the noisiest phone lines, so switching to DSL may be an option.
•Slow connection - If you use an old modem, or there is any noise or problems when you first connect, the modems at each end of the line may decide to connect at low speed. You can check the connection speed by mousing over the modem connection icon in your Task Tray at the bottom right of your computer screen. You may be able to get a faster connection if you disconnect and try again. If not, then see the remedies for noisy line above.
•Rain fade - Satellite connections are subject to rain fade, so you'll need to bear that in mind when planning your online rowing. If you suffer excessive problems with rain fade, it may pay to ask your satellite service provider to check and optimize or fix your satellite dish and receiver set-up. Once this is operating at its best, you're pretty much stuck with any residual rain fade problems unless you can switch to another connection type.
•Round-trip delay - Satellites are so far away that the signal takes longer than usual to travel from your computer to the Online Rowing Server and back. It's likely you will never see green in the RowPro connection quality indicator. This is not a problem and RowPro can work fine with a yellow connection.
RowPro has a number of mechanisms built in to enable it to manage connection problems in a way that makes the best of the situation and reflects when in the online row the problem occurs. For example:
•Before and during check-in - RowPro will tell you the connection is lost and you'll need to reconnect.
•Between Prepare to Start and Start - RowPro will automatically withdraw you from the row and you will not be able to rejoin it. This is a critical stage of the online row and if you lose your connection now you can't recover.
•During rowing - While you are rowing online, RowPro will automatically keep trying to reconnect, and if it is successful in doing so, it puts you right back into the online row. While you're disconnected, your boat keeps going at the last known pace and stroke rate, so your position may be adjusted automatically when RowPro reconnects.
•After rowing - Same as during check-in.