Appropriate Speeds?

[JimmyEarl]

This is turning into a contentious issue with my girlfriend.

We live in a large apartment building and pay for "300 Internet". Presume that's 300Mbs.

She is having a lot of trouble with all of her video calls - Zoom, Teams chiefly.

When I run speedtest.net I get speeds between 55 Mbps to 145 Mbps (more frequently in the 55 range) download and pretty consistently between 10.5 and 12 Mbps uploads. Two questions:

1) Shouldn't that be enough? She is getting lots of grief that no one can hear her, her video's breaking up, etc.

2) Intuitively, I understand why I'm paying for one speed but my "real" speed - by the time it makes it into the building's MDF and splits into the different IDF's throughout the building the speed gets stepped down, and the more users in the building the slower it is. But her boss isn't accepting that. (He claims he is getting full Gig speed whenever he runs speedtest. Now, he's not in our building, but still... He's her boss.) So how can I explain it?

Are there solutions that don't involve her moving? Or getting fired?

[BC_Programmer]

Her videos breaking up or losing audio would be rather unrelated to your download speed because that is data being *uploaded*.

It definitely has absolutely nothing to do with her bosses download speed. That is like if she complained about a 2 hour commute and he said that it only takes him 5 minutes to get home so stop lying.

Anywho, Usual rule is to not use more than half the upload bandwidth for a video/audio stream. That puts it at about 5.25mbps.

There should be settings to adjust regarding the quality of the video/audio being uploaded, those should be adjusted to 720p at 30fps.

[JimmyEarl]

Right... Intuitively I knew "Upload" was the piece, but her IT folks keep asking her her download speeds.

Is there a place where I can find that "rule" re: adjusting settings, etc.

(I like your metaphor, but if you showed up an hour 55 late for work every day, the boss would say something. And if you replied, "There's nowhere else to live!" he could point to the billboard on his roof that reads "If you lived here you'd be home by now." Or something. I don't know).

[BC_Programmer]

The "rule" is more applied sensibility. Upload and download speeds are variable, and will fluctuate based on the traffic on the drop node itself being used for Internet service. Relying on the quoted or even tested performance for a video/audio stream means if the capability drops below the necessary bitrate, the video upload will drop frames or audio. Halving the determined speed is mostly intended to ensure there is headroom.

Quick Edit: It also seems likely that the resolution settings might be determined by the software doing it's own speed test and for whatever reason it chose 1080p which the setup is capable of only in ideal conditions.

[JimmyEarl]

It also appears that you can't change resolution settings in MSFT Teams.

And since our big blowup this morning, I have yet to get above 12 Mbps on SpeedTest. The gods hate me.

[Lisa_maree]

Hi

How are you connecting to the router with network cables or wireless. I would try your Girlfriends laptop /computer with an Ethernet cable from the laptop to the router. If this isn't possible try and get as close to the router as possible with the best signal also leave your computer off when doing this test. Then try the MSFT Teams.
If it is improved or the problem is solved then it is a connection between the computer and the router. If it is wireless then using something like wireshark from here

https://www.wireshark.org/

This could help in finding if it is a signal,interference or poor signal are the problem.

Either way more detail of the modem router model and method of connection between the effected computer and the router would help.

[JimmyEarl]

Everything connects wirelessly - my PC, her PC, our phones, iPads, etc. So all tests/comparisons are wireless.

Bought a dongle and CAT5, so will see what's going on there.

She is literally in the same room, less than six feet from the router, it sits behind a cabinet and she sits to its side. (She complains about the blinking lights).

The router is about 6 months old, Netgear Nighthawk
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/cable-modems-routers/C7000.aspx

[Lisa_maree]

As the computer is so close I would be interested if the Cat5 cable makes a difference.

[JimmyEarl]

She has been convinced that it is because she has a four year old Surface.

She is also convinced that when she stops watching other people, but she has her camera on it's better.

That seems counterintuitive to me. ON Camera and ON Microphone both occupy the same Upload Speed space.

[JimmyEarl]

And can somebody just tell me - why isn't an Upload Speed of 11 Mbps cutting it? Everyone she talks to keeps telling her she "has" to have Gig connection to pull off Zoom, BlueJean, Skype, Teams.

(Plugged directly into modem the speeds are about the same)

[Pratchett]

Which speed tester are you using. Have you tried a different one? Maybe your speed tester is inaccurate? You should only need a basic 5Mbps broadband speed to get a good reliable zoom chat

[rjbinney]

Similar issues. 8-12Mbs upload, buffering, no one could hear. Cut the cable and paid for a fiber connection. My DL is slower, but my UL is in the 60-90 range.