Skype issues - can you help

[Fiddlemesticks]

I have recently started using Skype to chat to my dad in Oz. However first time i used it it was loud and clear. Ever since then its been basically unusable.

My dad's voice and image come through splintered, dragging, breaking up, and he says the connection my end is being lost as well (i.e other user disconnected).

Its all very annoying and would be great if anyone can help.

I am having these issue whether using it on wireless or lan cable.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[xiphias]

Does it vary with time of day? Sounds to me like you've got some sort of loss on the line. A connection to Australia won't be the greatest in the world. Who's your ISP?

[Fiddlemesticks]

No i think its a fairly constant issue.

BT are my ISP. Been ok so far on general internet stuff.

Its very strange, and not the least annoying!

[mattley]

Bookmark some australian websites that generally perform well. If you can browse these OK while this is happening, then BT are probably taffic shaping. If you can't the pipe between BT's network and austrlia is clogged up.

[GreenV8S]

I use Skype to talk to NZ from time to time without any noticeable problems. Maybe you're suffering from contention at one end or the other?

[ofcorsa]

sometimes your ISP will throttle certain ports if they have particular high usage, i know talk talk particulary dont like filesharing or online gaming as the hog bandwidth.

Maybe BT are restricing traffic as they dont like people using VOIP

*tin foil hat on smiley*

[kevin63]

Try pressing the Ctrl and the + button at the same time to see if that turns up the volume.

[deva link]

What's it like with voice only?

I use it with colleagues around the UK quite a bit and to all but one of them (all on BT) it's fine. The dodgy one is on NTL cable.

Try MSN Messenger - that works fine to the dodgy colleague!

What sort of machines are you on? I think it's really XP only now, and it's quite demanding on the processor, even with voice only my 2Gb Centrino laptop is soon ramping up its fan speed. I imagine with video the loading must be hefty.

Edited by deva link on Tuesday 6th June 16:57