Why is the sound quality in VOIP so bad at the other end

Question

I have been using Skype for a few months use mostly for landline calls and am trying others but ultimately the same kind of poor quality results .... The thing is Why is the voice quality received at my laptop is so good each time .... I thought that this was the overall quality of the conversation I was having but I was wrong .. unfortunately! .... I have an internet connection via 3G Wireless Modem - Huewai E220 ..... My connection is sometimes as slow as dial up but have 4 or 5 bars up for reception .... Would this have anything to do with the quality at the other end ?? ... will scratch my head some more!

Answer 1

For starters, you're using Skype. Of course it will be bad. You need an actual VoIP carrier if you want quality. Check out http://voip-reviewer.com

I got their top provider for about $9 - $11 per month - sound quality has been perfect.

Hope that helps and sorry you're having problems!

Answer 2

Since you said you use Skype, anything could be the cause of the sound quality problem

First Skype is just software, of couse you can get USB Skype headsets and handsets, they may even have a USB connection to connect to a landline of a house, and that of course is all hardware, but it all is based on software, software can get buggy, the more software you install on a computer can interfere with other software, and the OS itself can glitch up, also, it could be because of a bad internet connection (or too many computers connected to that internet connection, or high bandwadth usage), the hardware in the computer could be outdated, or just not good enough for VoIP phone connections, and you would think that since it's voice, and that could fit through a phone line, so could a Skype connection, but since that is all converted to digital, and may be tagging along more than just voice packets, even broadband connections can be to slow for VoIP

I have Time Warner digital phone, and the box that converts the cable connection to a phone connection is a VoIP modem, and I don't have any audio quality problems, but keep in mind, my VoIP connection isn't going through a router, to a computer, through computer software, then to additional hardware, it's just an add on to a cable modem, which bypasses all those software/hardware glitches

Answer 3

First you need a very good internet connection. Check your connection speed at www.speedtest.net and see if you can get at least 300kbps download and 300kbps upload if not then you might get choppy reception from time to time.

Secondly try another voip provider and see if it improves the quality, sometimes what works with one place doesn't work in another. I use Onesuite.com prepaid phone card and voip service and it works fine with my 384kbps connection speed at home.

Answer 4

I have been using Skype for years and for the most part it generally works Good.

For some reason, people tend to blame the VoiP service provider for their bad voice connections.  For the most part, VoIP has little to do with the VoIP provider and more to do with your Internet connection, your VoIP equipment and how it is all configured.

Good VoIP quality isn't just as simple as finding the right provider.  You are partly responsible for the call quality.  Unfortunately, the VoIP provider can't control your Internet connection, or the data bottlenecks that occur around the country, or the world for that matter.

In your case, your equipment and Internet connections sounds like part of the problem.  If your connections is bottlenecked and slowing down to almost dial-up speed, then Skype is not the problem .  Before changing VoIP providers, fix your connection issues.

You may have wireless issues.  Prove this out by turning off wireless connections and connect to your PC using direct Ethernet cable connection to your PC's Ethernet card.  This will verify wireless issues.

Also, while testing Skype, make sure you are not downloading files, surfing, or playing Internet games at the same time.  All these activities compete for your Internet bandwidth.

Make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest version of Skype.  Skype's latest version 3.8 (just out recently) has vastly improved audio quality over it's predecessors.

Also, I configure Skype on it's own private port, rather than using the defaults of ports 80 and 443.  I pick something like port 39xxx (but any hhigh number will do).  Do this through Skypes Tools --> Options --> Advanced --> Connection.  Then set the "Use Port" to the port of your choice (39xxx, or whatever).  The trick here is that you must manually configure your Router to "Port Forward" , or Trigger Forward, the port you set Skype to.  In my case it's 39xxx.  This will guarantee a good VoIP port for your Skype calls.

Also, be sure your PC firewall is not blocking Skype either.  If using Windows XP you can view it's settings and which applications are allowed Intenet access.  Any VoIP softphone installed should be on the list of allowed applications to access Internet.

Answer 5

A major factor about sound quality on skype is your internet speed.If you don't have a sturdy speed above 700mbps then the sound will be choppy and echoing.