Skype

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Skype

Postby Fogdude » Wed Jun 15, 2016 3:40 pm

Lately, for a week or so, I've been having consistent problems with Skype connections. I use Windows 10 & have a dual core, 1.8GHz laptop, 8GB RAM, 750GB HDD. I run on a 1Gbit Ethernet hard wired connection, through a 1Gbit 8 port NetGear Ethernet Switch (because I need that many ports) that connects to a 1Gbit NetGear router that connects to the Comcast (XFinity) router that has the ports set for pass-through so I can use my NetGear Router, which I vastly prefer.

Until this past week, I've never had any problems with Skype connections, but lately, I am plagued with continual connection drops, hiccups, freezes & interruptions, with Skype popping up that stupid box telling me the connection was dropped, though it's still connected & we're still talking & video is working. Almost every time I have the remote user share their screen, Skype turns off both our cameras, though the call quality says we both have very fast machines & a fast Internet connection. After a couple of seconds the box goes away & the conversation continues, but this happens every minute or so. It's made Skype's usefulness almost nonexistent, when it was really great for years before.

I've reset both my Comcast MODEM/Router & my own router & though there was a momentary improvement, the problem persisted. I also use a VPN, so I disconnected the VPN & the problems seemed greatly diminished, which led me to believe it was the VPN, but after hanging up & reconnecting, the problem returned, even without the VPN, though not as bad as before. I then fired up the VPN again, but selected a server closer to the remote user, though slower for me. The behavior was the same as without the VPN, so it's not just the VPN.

I also reset my Skype supernode list by deleting the shared.xml file, which is recommended when these kinds of issues arise. This had no effect except I did see that the number of relays (in Call Technical Info) is always 2, now, instead of the 4 or 5 it typically was before these problems started.

Speaking of Call Technical Quality, the details showed that the transfer rates were abysmally low (under 200Kbps for download & under 30Kbps for upload) when before these problems began, I typically saw rates between 300-500Kbps for both up & download. Number of lost packets was almost nonexistent, yet there were still snags & hesitations in both audio & video.

My suspicion is that Skype is doing some internal adjusting & it's messing with connections. I have no way to prove this, but I can find no other plausible explanation. The Call Technical Info says the call is just fine & everything is working fine, except for the transfer rates.

Anyone else having issues like this?


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Re: Skype

Postby Pip » Wed Jun 15, 2016 6:57 pm

Yes, I've been having problems galore since yesterday when skype wanted a plug-in update installed. It won't even make a call now.

Doing to much catch up at present to troubleshoot it ATM.
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Re: Skype

Postby ctaulbee » Wed Jun 15, 2016 7:05 pm

It's always been a bit of a pain for me, for the most part it has worked well until the "darkside" took it over now it seems plagued with constant updates and issues, I rarely use it anymore.

The ads are particularly annoying to me.
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Re: Skype

Postby Fogdude » Wed Jun 15, 2016 7:34 pm

ctaulbee wrote:It's always been a bit of a pain for me, for the most part it has worked well until the "darkside" took it over now it seems plagued with constant updates and issues, I rarely use it anymore.

The ads are particularly annoying to me.


Yeah, the ads suck, but I paid for a premium account to use for my main stuff, so they aren't an issue. I have several accounts. I've found it's best to have a separate account for each device. I had my father get set up that way, too.

Skype is determined to be completely integrated into Windows & now their updates are shipped out with Windows updates, though 'new' versions are still released like they always were. There was a warning about that on a couple of updates.

I use it almost every day & often several times a day as I do all the tech support for my entire extended family & friends, so I've become quite dependent on it.

A year or so ago, I was hosting up to 5 people at a time, all over the country, in a group Skype call, with no problems at all. Now I can barely even share screens with one other person & can't get through a single conversation without some kind of interruption.

I'm just hoping my suspicions are real & that they're just doing some fine tuning & it will eventually settle out.
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Re: Skype

Postby Fogdude » Wed Jun 15, 2016 8:52 pm

Well, I did some research & one of the most common suggestions I found was to get a Logitech C-920 Pro webcam. It's specifically engineered to be optimized for Skype. It does true HD & also does the packet building itself, instead of having Windows do it under software control, so it's faster & release a LOT of system resources while delivering better performance & video.

I got mine today. The picture is phenomenal & the sound is fine. I still use my earphones, so my wife doesn't have to listen to all the screaming, but it also has built-in speakers, if that's a factor.

I tried it out on a couple of people & had no issues whatsoever. Better picture, better performance.

It's also reasonably priced at $59.95 on Amazon. I have a Prime account, so it was here 2 days after I ordered it.

If You're having Skype issues, I can't see how this would be money wasted. I did have to make Skype use the new camera twice. For some reason, it kept wanting to set itself back to my built-in webcam on my laptop, but once I got it to stick, it was great!
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Re: Skype

Postby ctaulbee » Wed Jun 15, 2016 9:13 pm

I don't even do video, just voice, don't have cam installed and it still has issues, see the rub there lol, no excuse from my view for them not being able to handle simple voice calls.
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Re: Skype

Postby Fogdude » Wed Jun 15, 2016 9:57 pm

ctaulbee wrote:I don't even do video, just voice, don't have cam installed and it still has issues, see the rub there lol, no excuse from my view for them not being able to handle simple voice calls.


Well, that's true, except that this webcam has it's own microphone & still does all the processing & packet construction internally, so that affects bot audio & video.

I just did two more video calls. In once case they had a Logitech C120. In the other case, they had the same camera I just got for myself (because I bought hat camera for them as a gift months ago.) Both calls were MUCH better than anything I've ever had & video is totally awesome. No problems at all & the call where we had matching cameras was like being there. I'm sold. I'm tempted get them for friends as gifts, now.
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Re: Skype

Postby chouette » Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:01 am

Fogdude wrote:I'm tempted get them for friends as gifts, now.


Nice, need my address for shipping buddy? :LOL
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Re: Skype

Postby Fogdude » Thu Jun 16, 2016 11:16 am

chouette wrote:
Fogdude wrote:I'm tempted get them for friends as gifts, now.


Nice, need my address for shipping buddy? :LOL


Actually, I'd do it if you weren't in Canada. The Customs crap is insurmountable! Once again, that one bites you. :sorry
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Re: Skype

Postby chouette » Thu Jun 16, 2016 11:32 am

Fogdude wrote:
chouette wrote:
Fogdude wrote:I'm tempted get them for friends as gifts, now.


Nice, need my address for shipping buddy? :LOL


Actually, I'd do it if you weren't in Canada. The Customs crap is insurmountable! Once again, that one bites you. :sorry


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Re: Skype

Postby Pip » Thu Jun 16, 2016 1:59 pm

Fogdude wrote:
chouette wrote:
Fogdude wrote:I'm tempted get them for friends as gifts, now.


Nice, need my address for shipping buddy? :LOL


Actually, I'd do it if you weren't in Canada. The Customs crap is insurmountable! Once again, that one bites you. :sorry


What about the UK foggy? :LOL
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Re: Skype

Postby Fogdude » Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:05 pm

Pip wrote:
Fogdude wrote:
chouette wrote:
Fogdude wrote:I'm tempted get them for friends as gifts, now.


Nice, need my address for shipping buddy? :LOL


Actually, I'd do it if you weren't in Canada. The Customs crap is insurmountable! Once again, that one bites you. :sorry


What about the UK foggy? :LOL


:LOL :LOL :LOL I knew I was gonna start a sh-tstorm with that one! Sorry, buddy. Non-US is not an option.
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Re: Skype

Postby ctaulbee » Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:25 pm

You can just drive one over to me, give you a reason to get out of Texas for a little while...

:guilty
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Re: Skype

Postby Fogdude » Thu Jun 16, 2016 6:37 pm

ctaulbee wrote:You can just drive one over to me, give you a reason to get out of Texas for a little while...

:guilty


I'd be willing, but for personal reasons, I can't be away for more than a couple of hours. You can always PM me your shipping address. :D
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Re: Skype

Postby chouette » Fri Jun 17, 2016 2:59 am

Fogdude wrote:
ctaulbee wrote:You can just drive one over to me, give you a reason to get out of Texas for a little while...

:guilty


I'd be willing, but for personal reasons, I can't be away for more than a couple of hours. You can always PM me your shipping address. :D


Well, I see favoritism here, hmmmmm :LOL
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Re: Skype

Postby Fogdude » Fri Jun 17, 2016 11:38 am

chouette wrote:
Fogdude wrote:
ctaulbee wrote:You can just drive one over to me, give you a reason to get out of Texas for a little while...

:guilty


I'd be willing, but for personal reasons, I can't be away for more than a couple of hours. You can always PM me your shipping address. :D


Well, I see favoritism here, hmmmmm :LOL


That was my sucking up to the Boss, Chewy. That's not favoritism. It's survival. And he's (as far as I know) in the CONUS. :D

Let me refine my earlier statement! I said 'friends' & family. I should have included 'with whom I regularly Skype & perform assistance & support.' OK?
8}
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Re: Skype

Postby Pip » Fri Jun 17, 2016 12:33 pm

That's a good way to get on the good side of a new admin! :LOL :LOL :LOL
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Re: Skype

Postby Fogdude » Fri Jul 01, 2016 9:37 pm

Just a little update on Skype:

For years I have used, & depended on, Skype's free, unlimited, file transfer feature. Several weeks ago, I & several of my friends & relatives noticed that small files, like JPGs & small executables that we were trying to send each other were reported as sent, at the sending end, but never got to the recipient. The intended recipient never even gets a notification of anything being sent to them, nothing, period. This also turned out to be the case on video messages recorded by Skype & sent to the recipient. Same thing, no notification, no file sent, though Skype goes through the entire process & even shows the video as sent successfully. Initially, I assumed it was just a glitch & told everyone to just wait, it would surely be fixed in an update. 4 updates later & no fix, however, Skype now tells you, if you try to send a file > 300MB, that this is no longer supported & that, for a better file sharing experience, you should start using OneDrive. Now, this implies that anything less than 300MB will still transfer, right? Nope. NOTHING transfers anymore, though Skype always says it does.

It appears MicroSoft has done it again. Assuming everyone uses their OneDrive cloud service, they have blithely begun piping everything you send through it. They have apparently abandoned the phenomenally functional, reliable & fast old Skype transfer protocol & instead switched everything over to OneDrive.

For those of us, like myself & my friends & family, who REMOVE OneDRive from our Win10 systems, because of its pervasively intrusive nature & the fact that MicroSoft, while telling us they are deleting content after 30 days, are doing what the NSA has been doing & building their own massive content database, using our private information, file transfer through Skype is no longer possible.

So, if you don't have OneDrive installed & functioning, AT BOTH ENDS, then nothing you try to send over Skype will ever get to the other end.

At least, for now, normal Skype sessions still work, though I expect they're working on a way to to pipe them through OneDrive, as well. When that happens, I'll no longer be a Skype user.
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Re: Skype

Postby ctaulbee » Fri Jul 01, 2016 9:43 pm

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Re: Skype

Postby Fogdude » Fri Jul 01, 2016 9:45 pm

ctaulbee wrote:Image


Yeah, yeah, yeah... :Loser
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Re: Skype

Postby chouette » Sat Jul 02, 2016 1:47 am

Although I rarely use Skype, I think it's sad and frightening how MicroSoft can dictate how we will be doing things... their way. I'm like you (and many others) Fog, I refuse to use OneDrive and although I have never removed it, I know it's something I will probably never use. Well, not in the near future anyway and it would have to be for a darn good reason.

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