NetBeez enables IT teams to troubleshoot work from home issues. Every day, remote users experience network and application issues that impact their productivity. A client centric network monitoring tool like NetBeez collects network diagnostic information and generates synthetic traffic to capture end-user experience. This visibility allows IT support to improve remote end-user experience and employee productivity.
The Problem with Work From Home Users
Troubleshooting work from home issues remotely can be messy. Without client based monitoring tools, the technician needs to rely on remote desktop, email exchange, and other inefficient methods to collect diagnostic data. This method is slow and limited. The data is not continuous, lacking historical context. Moreover, both the technician and the remote need to be involved in the process. As a result, this option increases support costs and reduces employee productivity.
The Solution with NetBeez Remote Worker Agent
The NetBeez remote worker agent is a lightweight software client for Windows or Mac that continuously runs a set of network and application level tests. The tests, defined by the NetBeez dashboard administrator, verify connectivity and performance to internal and external applications, including SaaS and VoIP systems. This method enables IT teams to easily detect and troubleshoot network issues.
The Remote Worker Dashboard
Let’s see in action how the Remote Worker Agent (RWA) works. When the agent runs on a laptop or desktop, it appears on the dashboard under the Agents tab. The Agents tab displays all the RWAs in a list of thumbnails format. Each agent entry reports key data about the host, network connections, PC resources (CPU/RAM/Disk), and tests statuses. See below the screenshot of an agent details view.
On the top section of the agent details view we find host information such as the client’s operating system’s version, hostname, and the logged in user. This information helps the technician to match an agent entry to a real user when working on a support ticket.
On the right side of the top section we also find the ISP Name, which reveals the remote user’s internet service provider.
Below the dashboard reports the client’s interfaces and their status. This area is key to see if the user connects to the Internet via a wireless or wired link. Based on the interface information, we decide how to troubleshoot performance issues. We can also see if the user has a VPN interface, and its status. In the following screenshot you can see that the user is wirelessly connected.
Lastly we have the tests and Alerts Log section. Here we can see what synthetic tests the client is running and their statuses. Each test is represented by a cell. The color of the cell is green when no alerts are triggered. It turns orange if the client is experiencing performance issues, like packet loss or slow HTTP loading. It turns red for failures, like no response from a remote host, a DNS or web server.
In the following screenshot we can see that the agent is only experiencing performance issues with MS Teams. All the other tests, including the gateway test, are green. This indicates a localized network problem with Teams.
The alert log section provides context about the alerts triggered. Each entry includes information about the destination host or service and the condition that triggered the alert. Alerts clear automatically when the triggering condition is no longer valid.
How to Troubleshoot a Remote Worker Network Issue
Let’s see how we use the NetBeez dashboard when troubleshooting a network problem experienced by a remote user. Let’s take a simple example. The support ticket we received states that a remote user is having audio issues during virtual meetings.
- The first thing is go to the Agents tab and locate the corresponding agent by using the username or machine name.
- When the agent is identified, the first thing is check how the user is connected, if wired or wirelessly. Based on that, the next steps will differ.
- We also check if there are any open or recently closed alerts. It’s important to note what type of alert is, and to what tests it relates to amongst ping, DNS, and HTTP. Ping tests signal problems at the network layer, DNS at the infrastructure and configuration layer, and HTTP at the application layer.
What to do if the user connects via Wi-Fi
If the remote user is connected via wireless, then we go to the Wireless tab within the agent details view and we review the wireless metrics. Here we find key Wi-Fi metrics to understand if the wireless connection of the remote user is good or causing problems.
Signal Strength
We first check the Wi-Fi signal strength value and trend.
We compare the remote user’s signal strength against the following scoring table.
| Signal Strength | Score | Notes |
| -30 dBm | EXCELLENT | Extremely strong signal, usually very close to the access point. |
| -50 dBm to -60 dBm | GOOD | Strong signal, ideal for most WiFi activities, providing fast and reliable connections. |
| -60 dBm to -70 dBm | FAIR | Still suitable for browsing and streaming, though performance might slightly degrade. |
| -70 dBm to -80 dBm | POOR | Will start experiencing slower speeds and increased latency, especially in congested environments. |
| -80+ dBm | BAD | Slow speeds, higher latency, and frequent disconnects. |
Signal strength could tell us if the user has a good connection, or if they are distant from the access point(s). It doesn’t tell us if there are interference issues with other wireless devices or networks.
To verify if the remote user’s wireless connection is experiencing interference, we need to check two different metrics based on the client operating system.
Link Quality
Windows reports link quality to monitor wireless interference. Here we report how the NetBeez dashboard reports such metrics along with its score table.
| Link Quality | Score | Notes |
| 90-100% | EXCELLENT | Very reliable connection with high throughput and minimal interference. |
| 70-89% | GOOD | Reliable connection with good performance, suitable for most activities. |
| 50-69% | FAIR | Moderate connection, possibly affected by interference or distance. |
| 50% or less | POOR | Weak connection, likely to experience slow speeds, higher latency, and potential disconnections. |
Noise
Mac clients report the Noise value as a measure of interference. This metric is particularly valuable for wireless engineers because it’s a more objective measure of interference. Let’s review that in the NetBeez dashboard along with its scoring table.
| Noise | Score | Notes |
| -90 dBm to -100 dBm | EXCELLENT | Extremely low noise levels, ideal for WiFi performance. |
| -80 dBm to -90 dBm | GOOD | Low noise, still conducive to good WiFi performance. |
| -70 dBm to -80 dBm | FAIR | Moderate noise can start to affect WiFi performance, especially in crowded environments. |
| -60 dBm to -70 dBm | BAD | High noise levels, likely to cause noticeable degradation in network performance. |
| -60 dBm or more | TERRIBLE | Very high noise, severely impacting WiFi performance, leading to frequent disconnects, slower speeds, and increased errors. |
The user is connects via wire or has good WiFi
We get to this point if the remote user has excellent to good wifi or is connected to the network via an Ethernet cable, or docking station. In this step, we check two tests that could unveil a network problem: path analysis and network speed test.
Path Analysis
Path analysis is a network test that, similarly to traceroute, discovers the network topology. This test is better than traceroute because it plots all the available paths to reach an application. The following screenshot shows the path to a cloud-based video call system. Path analysis marks in red intermediate node that have high latency. Nodes with high latency could introduce packet loss and application performance degradation, a possible root cause for the support ticket we just analyzed.
Another test that NetBeez agents can run is a speed test, which measures the download and upload speed available for the remote client. In the following screenshot you can see that the client has on average 600 Mbps for download and 400 Mbps for upload. These values provide enough speed for the majority of remote users. NetBeez by default triggers a speed test alert when the download falls below 25 Mbps and the upload below 3 Mbps. Those speeds are indicated as minimum speeds for standard videoconferencing tools.
A note about VPN interfaces
Some remote users may have VPN interfaces that are used to connect to internal applications. NetBeez provides a VPN monitoring target that measures performance across the VPN tunnel. It’s possible to troubleshoot if the VPN is causing performance issues by comparing the status of this target with other targets.
If only the VPN target is triggering alerts, then it’s most likely a VPN issue. See the below screenshot as an example. However, if the VPN along other targets are triggering alerts, then it’s not likely caused by the VPN connection.
A note about PC resources
NetBeez also reports the use of PC resources such as CPU, memory, and disk utilization. These metrics can be overlapped on top of test data when a test is selected (e.g. ping or DNS), as shown in the below screenshot. This helps troubleshoot if the lack of PC resources is slowing down the end-user experience to applications. Generally this is possible when the CPU utilization is constantly above 80-90%.
Conclusion on troubleshooting work from home issues
In summary, NetBeez gives IT teams the missing visibility they need to troubleshoot work-from-home issues quickly and objectively without endless screen shares, back-and-forth emails, or guesswork.
By continuously collecting endpoint diagnostics and running synthetic tests across Wi-Fi, ISP, VPN, and application paths, the Remote Worker Agent helps pinpoint whether the root cause lives in the home network, the last-mile provider, the corporate tunnel, or the application itself. The result is faster resolution, lower support effort, and a more consistent end-user experience that keeps remote employees productive.
