Why has Skype from Aus to UK become such a pain?

[200bhp]

For the last 8 months we've been Skyping the in-laws each week around 9 on a Friday evening. Until very recently it worked perfectly but recently its got really bad and often impossible.

We've both done a speed test and we get 1.9 down/1.0 up with a 43ms ping. They get 10.0 down/1.8 up and 32ms ping. So on the face of it things seem fine but clearly its not.

Any ideas?

[motomk]

Its merge with MSN messenger???

[GrumpyTwig]

What's your ISP?

Had issues with Skype too and switched to Google Talk (Vtoc on iOS devices).


In the UK but the same applies and never found anything concrete but suspect traffic shaping by ISPs to be messing with it, it's possible the Skype traffic is being given a low QoS priority.

[200bhp]

We're with internode.

[james280779]

MSN buying skype out- never the same since. Forced upgrades that were anything but, signal always failing, now gt advertising flashing on the screen half the time which slows the signal, funnily enough the ads never fail but the call does when they flash up. This coupled with the upgrades to outlook makes me mad!

Going to be moving to an alternative.

[TAS1981]

Mostly just use Facetime now. Skype I find has always been rubbish. Most frustrating thing in the world. One day they'll sort it out. I think the pipeline between here and uk gets a lot of traffic at specific times though is the issue.

[uk_vette]

james280779 said:

MSN buying skype out- never the same since. Forced upgrades that were anything but, signal always failing, now gt advertising flashing on the screen half the time which slows the signal, funnily enough the ads never fail but the call does when they flash up. This coupled with the upgrades to outlook makes me mad!

Going to be moving to an alternative.

.
Use QQ international.

http://download.imqq.com/

1000 times better than Skype.
You also get a QQ email, with unlimited file size transfer.

vette

[200bhp]

Well I tried it again yesterday with a UKVPN - No help what so ever. Luckily the VPN provider was offering a 7 day free trial.

I even set the VPN to a Virgin Media server in Nottingham, just a few miles from where the in-laws live - They're on Virgin media too. My non-techy mind thought it would work perfectly like that but alas it was just the same, dropped the call after 15 minutes and struggled to get it back again.

As an aside, the VPN speed was excellent, allowing us to watch BBC iPlayer without waiting for it to buffer.

[5STM5]

We gave up with all the VOIP services other than Facetime. We use this and don't have any problems at all, I suppose it's one thing Apple have done properly.

[Chimune]

5STM5 said:

We gave up with all the VOIP services other than Facetime. We use this and don't have any problems at all, I suppose it's one thing Apple have done properly.

yes they are great at creating proper closed source mac-only applications. Locked in much?

[TAS1981]

Chimune said:

yes they are great at creating proper closed source mac-only applications. Locked in much?

Unnecessarily sarcastic response? No fanboy-technology-brand-specific-fundametalism here please.

If it works, it works. I find it easier too as the laptop is clumsier, Skype is rubbish (even on my iPhone), I can walk round with Facetime. No doubt there are other apps but as my folks have iPhones and limited techinical ability, it is a clear choice?

I am still on the iPhone 4 and don't intend on changing anytime soon. It's the only Apple product I have, locked in much? Not really.

[Chimune]

TAS1981 said:

Unnecessarily sarcastic response? No fanboy-technology-brand-specific-fundametalism here please.

yes sorry. I was in a grump last night. I think it came out in my post ! Apologies TAS1981

[TAS1981]

No drama.

I'm sure I used to care about such things as Apple Vs whoever too. At some point I think I just lost interest!

[200bhp]

I've just looked on our ISP (internode) account and there are some settings that I'm thinking of changing:

They have a "Network Firewall" which is currently switched on. Is there anything to be gained by turning it off?

ON = Increased protection against spreading network worms, viruses and email spam:
- Outgoing email must be sent via mail.internode.on.net or securemail.internode.on.net.
- Blocks vulnerable Windows network ports (135, 137, 138, 139, 445) inbound and outbound.

Increased protection against intrusion attempts to your broadband router or server:
- Blocks web, telnet, ssh and proxy ports (80, 443, 22, 23, 8080, 3128) inbound (to you) only.


OFF = No network firewall security:
- No ports are blocked.
- Email may be sent direct to remote email (SMTP) servers.

[Chimune]

200bhp said:

I've just looked on our ISP (internode) account and there are some settings that I'm thinking of changing:

They have a "Network Firewall" which is currently switched on. Is there anything to be gained by turning it off?

ON = Increased protection against spreading network worms, viruses and email spam:
- Outgoing email must be sent via mail.internode.on.net or securemail.internode.on.net.
- Blocks vulnerable Windows network ports (135, 137, 138, 139, 445) inbound and outbound.

Increased protection against intrusion attempts to your broadband router or server:
- Blocks web, telnet, ssh and proxy ports (80, 443, 22, 23, 8080, 3128) inbound (to you) only.


OFF = No network firewall security:
- No ports are blocked.
- Email may be sent direct to remote email (SMTP) servers.

nothing there should afect your skype performance - only protect you. dont change it.