If you are seeing lagging audio, choppy video, delays in the connection, or other call quality issues, this guide will walk you step by step to help diagnose the issue and resolve the problem.
Step 1. Pinpointing the Source of the Problem
There are 6 possible reasons the video or audio can be poor during the call. They are as follows:
- Internet Connection: having the ability to download and upload data at an appropriate level.
- Ability to have a webRTC call: this is the underlying technology of Blitzz
- High latency in the network. The delay between when information is sent and the response is received on the internet.
- Device Processing Ability: the ability of the device (computer/phone) to encrypt/decrypt video and audio data, and display it on the device.
- The actual camera or mic: if the camera or mic is of poor quality, that will be the limiting factor in how high of quality you will see.
- Browser or Operating System software: if a system's software is out of date, it is possible to be missing needed software patches to perform optimally.
Ways to pinpoint the issue based on the above:
- Test your network speed here - for an HD quality call, you'll want approximately 2mb/s up and down. While the minimum needed speed in 750kb/s, that isn't enough for an HD quality call.
- Test your device's ability to have a webRTC call: https://test.webrtc.org/ - run the automated tests found on this page, and see if any of the tests fail. Note: a warning isn't usually a problem.
- To the network latency, run https://test.webrtc.org/?test_filter=Network - Important: keep the page in the forefront on your device and let the test run till completion; 3-4 minutes.
- Quit other programs running on the computer: any program not needed for the call should be close to see if the problem persists. A quick way to ensure this is to close all the programs and then restart the device.
- Camera/Mic quality: usually only applicable on older devices, but if needed, go out and buy a 720p webcam for $20 online.
- Software updates: most devices and browsers nowadays have automatic updates, but they do need a restart to take effect. Restart the program or computer if you haven't in a while.
Once you've gone through these steps, try having another call. If you see no improvement, it might be the person you are connecting to. Try someone else, or have the other person follow the steps in this guide.
Step 2. Resolving the Pinpointed Issue
Based on the tests above, we can now step through and resolve the issue, going from easiest to hardest.
If you see poor results on the network speed tests (1-3 above) follow these steps:
- Plug into the modem with an ethernet cable instead of using wifi.
- Try a different network that you believe might be better than yours. Good quality networks can found in most public places, like Starbucks/McDonalds, the public library, etc. (Do not try wifi or MiFi hotspot devices. These can have issues or their own and shouldn't be trusted to fix network related issues).
- Call your internet service provider and let them know about the issue. If they tell you, your bandwidth is too low, you might need to upgrade the bandwidth connection. If they say it should be high enough, then the problem could be with your router or modem. You might need to get a new one if it's old.
If quitting other programs allowed you to have a good call, your computer might not be able to handle too many programs at once. Keep the applications running at one time on your computer to a minimum.
Common ways to upgrade system and browser software:
Step 3: Extenuating Situations
In rare cases, the above doesn't solve the problems you see and there are some other issues that can be diagnosed and resolved.
Firewall and Secure Networks
If you are using your corporate network, it's possible it is blocking access to websites or ports used by Blitzz to make a successful call. Try running this test first: https://networktest.blitzz.co
If any of the tests fail, you may need to talk to your IT team to 'whitelist' several services or ports Blitzz uses to optimize call quality.
To ensure you can make a successful call please ask your network admin 'whitelist' the ports listed here.