Case Study: Utah State University achieves consistent global distance-learning performance with Shunra PerformanceSuite

Distance Learning & Performance for Global Students With Shunra PerformanceSuite

Utah State University had built a leading-edge distance learning system to deliver real-time video, voice and multimedia to a global student body, but worried that real-world network impairments (from 56K modems to T1/T3 links) would degrade the remote student experience. Recreating diverse network conditions in the lab—especially packet loss observed during early demos—was daunting and would have required costly, time-consuming field tests up to 300 miles away.

The university adopted Shunra PerformanceSuite to capture and replay real-world network characteristics in the lab, emulating packet loss, latency and bandwidth constraints so developers could assess performance from the end-user perspective and fix issues before deployment. The tool was simple to set up, avoided the need for remote field tests, and delivered the confidence Utah State needed that students across varied networks would receive a consistent, high-quality learning experience.

Utah State University