Hatrack River Forum: Help with skype (mayfly)

This is topic Help with skype (mayfly) in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=051683

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

I'm using skype to communicate with some colleagues in the states. Its working but the sound is very copy. This seems to be because my local UDP connection is bad. Does any have any suggestions about what might cause this and how to fix it?

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

Are there no hatrack computer gurus around today?

Posted by Earendil18 (Member # 3180) on :

Are you on a wireless network? Type cmd into the run box under Start menu. In cmd type "ping [ROUTER'S IP ADDRESS HERE] -t" and check to make sure you're getting times of around 25ms or less.

Try this even if it isn't wireless. See what you get.

Are you sure it's the local UDP connection? Could it be just a bad soundcard? Unshielded signals near your audio cable? Bad drivers? My friend used Skype on Linux and Windows, and the Windows sounded much much better.

Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :

What do you mean by the sound being "copy?"

I've never heard that word used that way. The wife and I use skype all the time, I hope we can be of help.

Posted by Earendil18 (Member # 3180) on :

I think it's related to the phrase "cop out" somehow.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

I think she meant "choppy." I say this because Skype frequently is.

Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :

Slow connection, high latency, competing traffic can all cause choppy sound on Skype, I believe.

have you been through this?
http://www.skype.com/help/guides/callquality/

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Earendil18:
Are you on a wireless network? Type cmd into the run box under Start menu. In cmd type "ping [ROUTER'S IP ADDRESS HERE] -t" and check to make sure you're getting times of around 25ms or less.

Try this even if it isn't wireless. See what you get.

Are you sure it's the local UDP connection? Could it be just a bad soundcard? Unshielded signals near your audio cable? Bad drivers? My friend used Skype on Linux and Windows, and the Windows sounded much much better.

I'm sure that the local UDP connection is bad. I'm having skype display technical information and it reports that the local UDP connection is bad. On the other end, they get a report that the remote UDP is bad. I'm not sure that's what is causing my sound to be choppy.

I tried pinging my proxie server and got time up to 600 ms, perhaps this is the problem.

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

I am on a wireless network. How do I find the IP addess of the router?

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

quote:
Originally posted by BlackBlade:
What do you mean by the sound being "copy?"

I've never heard that word used that way. The wife and I use skype all the time, I hope we can be of help.

rivka's right. I meant "choppy". I have no idea how the word copy got in there. I'm sure it was some insidious plot related to the great zyzzyva conspiracy since it could not possibly have been my error.

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

quote:
I am on a wireless network. How do I find the IP addess of the router?

If you have windows, choose "Run" from the Start menu and enter "cmd." When the command box appears, type IPconfig and hit enter. Something like this will appear:

code:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.18.5.32
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 172.18.5.1

The router's address is probably the one next to "default gateway" under a heading that will include the word "wireless."

If you're not in Windows, I can't help.

Edit: Unfortunately, a 600 ms ping time anywhere in your connection to skype will make the sound choppy (in my experience, unusable). Unless you personally control the network segment with the long ping rate, you're probably out of luck with this service provider.

[ January 25, 2008, 09:15 AM: Message edited by: Dagonee ]

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

Thanks Dag, I just pinged by router. Most of the times are under 25 ms but I'm occasionally getting times much much greater than that.

I wonder if I could fix the UDP thing if it would solve the problem.

Does anyone no how to open a UDP connection from the command window?

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

Does the router's IP address start with 192?

Also, do you know how to get to the router's settings? It's usually through a web connection to the default gateway's IP address, but this can change.

Posted by Earendil18 (Member # 3180) on :

Another thing, my antenna is reallllly finicky about that kind of thing, try orienting while you're pinging the router to find the best times.

"<1ms" is what you want to aim for.

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dagonee:
Does the router's IP address start with 192?

Also, do you know how to get to the router's settings? It's usually through a web connection to the default gateway's IP address, but this can change.

Yes the router's IP does start with 192. But I'd don't know how to change ther router's settings.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
Originally posted by The Rabbit:
I'm sure it was some insidious plot related to the great zyzzyva conspiracy

Oh, no! I though we killed that thing in 1999! It's like a hydra!

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Ah, they don't mean bad as in broken, as I was reading it, they mean bad as in insufficiently performant. That, in this case, is probably just a property of your network situation. There is likely no fix, absent getting your internet provider involved.

Oh, is this your wireless router, or someone else's (your university's, whatever) wireless router?

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

The zyzzyva conspiracy is worse than a hydra. Its like plague of weevil. Notice how the word "evil" is embedded right in its the common name.

Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :

quote:
Originally posted by fugu13:
Oh, is this your wireless router, or someone else's (your university's, whatever) wireless router?

It the Universities wireless router. I've been trying to find out if the Universities proxy allows UDP connections but can't seem to find anyone who can answer the question.