Hi,
I can't hold Skype video calls for more than 10 seconds to 3 minutes before the call drops. I've noticed that when the call drops, everything else dies as well--I can't access webpages, and pings time out. This "time out" period lasts for about 10 seconds. And these drops are chronic--once Skype "reestablishes" the connection, it's only a handful of seconds/minutes until the same thing happens again. I've always just been happy to do voice-only calls until now, but I've got a few Skype interviews coming up in the next few weeks, so understandably this is making me a bit nervous.
I've got a ~30down/30up FIOS plan with Verizon, and an Actiontec MI424WR Rev. I. I'm connected through a laptop via wifi, and my wifi setup is a TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 router connected via LAN to the Actiontec in the basement, and a Netgear N300 extender on the first floor. I am typically on the second floor. There is typically 1 device connected to the extender (me), 1 device connected to the TP-LINK (the extender), 4-5 devices connected to the Actiontec's wifi, and two set top boxes and a phone line as part of the FIOS package.
Here are some additional details, and what I've attempted to do in troubleshooting:
1) Basic speedtests run fine. 30/30 on wifi in the basement, 30/30 connected to the modem, and maybe ~25/25 on the 2nd floor connected to the extender.
2) I can download games from Steam at uninterrupted 2-3MBps down, no crashing or speed drops or anything.
3) Similarly, 1080p streams just fine on YouTube.
4) In theory, then, my wifi should be plenty fine to maintain a Skype video call.
5) I've tried temporarily raising the plan to a 50/50, where on the 2nd floor I got ~40/40. No dice, Skype video calls still dropped. Same frequency and severity.
6) I've tried disabling uPnP, allowing direct connections to contacts only (in Skype settings), and ensuring ports were open on both ends of the call.
7) It bears mentioning that this is not the call recipient's fault; he does other Skype video calls just fine.
8) My calls with him are MD, USA to ON, Canada.
9) I've played games with him where I've directly connected to his IP, and the latency is fine, so I think that precludes a routing problem.
10) I've tested this on 3 laptops, all with different network cards. Same problem. And might as well add that yes, I've made sure the drivers were up to date.
11) I've tried adjusting the channels for wifi broadcasting for each of the devices, just in case there was some interference from neighbours.
12) I've tried connecting to the Actiontec's wifi, no luck there.
13) I've tried bringing my laptop literally 2 ft away from the Netgear, the TP link, and the Actiontec, connected to each when there. Same problems.
14) I've tried updating the Actiontec's firmware.
15) I tried to mess with the Actiontec port configuration. LAN is fine, but WAN is connected at 10 half-duplex, despite trying to manually set it to 100 full.
16) I should note that this also happens with Google Hangouts video calls. Perhaps not as drastically (more time between drops, and quicker to bounce back), but I don't want to say that for sure, since it could just be my imagination.
-I have NOT tried to mess with QoS settings
-I have NOT tried this directly connected to the modem
-I have NOT done a factory reset on the Actiontec
From what I understand, the Rev. I doesn't have the tiny NAT table problems, so it couldn't be a P2P issue, though the way a Skype call drop takes the whole internet with it for a few seconds sort of feels like the problem is happening at the router level. Maybe it's the duplex thing mentioned above?
The next two steps are potentially a Skype test with a wired connection to the modem, and a factory reset. Both are extremely inconvenient, however, due to placement of the Actiontec, so I just wanted to check to see if this problem raised immediate "aha!" flags for anyone.
Thanks if you've read this far, and if you have any suggestions to offer. I know this is a long post, but I just wanted to make it clear what I have and haven't tried.
↧