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Audio quality issues

Started by TylerSD, August 05, 2016, 10:25:09 AM

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TylerSD

For the past few weeks, multiple different people I've spoken to have mentioned the audio has gone choppy during our call and they have trouble hearing me.  It usually gets better after a few seconds, and perhaps only 1 or 2 times a call.  It's not reported to me every call, but on enough calls that it's a problem (this is for my business).  Everything sounds fine on my end; only they hear the choppiness.

I did have the GV-firmware issue that many people have had recently, and I successfully fixed that 1-2 months ago.  The timing of that and this new issue may be related, or just a coincidence.  I've been using GV/Obi for many years now and have had a few issues over the years but don't recall this specific issue.

I use Obi100, connected directly into my router (Apple AirPort Time Capsule).  The LED light is a solid green on the Obi. 

How can I troubleshoot and fix this?

Thanks!
Tyler

drgeoff


TylerSD

Test results (all positive) from the tool attached.

drgeoff

Your upload speed is high enough to support a good quality VoIP connection, provided you do not have much other data going to the internet at the same time.

Could anything else be making, probably intermittently, that proviso pertinent?

TylerSD

Hmm...my Mac does auto back-ups to the Time Capsule multiple times a day, I presume over wifi.  Might this be relevant?  If so, I guess I could see about scheduling these to certain times I am less likely to be on the phone (right now, it backs up hourly if there are updates).

TylerSD

Been checking since, and it does not appear that my Mac is in the middle of a back-up when I encounter audio issues, so I don't think that's it.

I believe the issue tends to be at the beginning of the call...

Anyone have any other suggestions please?

SteveInWA

Despite your previous internet quality test, it's possible that your connection is intermittently bad.  Who is your internet service provider?

If there is some repeatable pattern to this, such as calls to/from a particular phone number or location, that might help. 

Which internet telephone service provider are you using?  You mentioned the Google Voice firmware issue, but you didn't specifically say if these calls are over Google Voice (technically, Google Chat)?

On some GV calls, GV will (re)negotiate the CODECs being used between carriers, during the first few seconds of the call.  In those cases, it's possible to hear degraded sound.

TylerSD

Thanks, Steve.

Yes, it's a Google Voice number.

ISP is AT&T Uverse.  I had some internet issues when I moved in (mostly interference with wifi), but things have been fairly stable the past 3-6 months.  Plus, I don't think wifi interference would impact this, since Obi is connected directly into router.  In any case, my wifi is usually connected at 5 ghz.

If it's the issue of CODECs that you mentioned, is there a way to improve this?

SteveInWA

No, CODEC negotiation is something that happens between the various intermediate telephone or "transit" carriers involved in each call, and it isn't something that end users can influence.

If you do have a crappy quality call, log into your Google Voice account on your desktop web browser, find the call in your History tab, and flag it for poor quality.  Google performs statistical analysis on these user reports to identify problems with its transit carriers.

I still suggest running the Visualware VoIP quality test right after calls that have the issue, to try to determine if your ISP connection is the issue.  Be sure to select the G.711 CODEC in that test, and pick several different endpoints to simulate a connection.