Improving Skype Audio in Windows

Posted by on 01/14 at 12:51 PM Permalink

Skype is arguably the most popular Web telephony service out there. Using Skype, you can easily make calls from one PC to another, or from a PC to telephone—anywhere in the world.

One common complaint about Skype is that the quality of the calls varies widely. If you’ve used Skype for any length of time, you know what I’m talking about: echoes, sound delays, the sound dropping out, and even calls being dropped. There are a number of simple changes that you can make to both your system settings and the settings of your Skype client software to improve the audio quality of your Skype calls.

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http://www.geeks.com/techtips/2007/techtips-14Jan07.htm

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    Posted by Homer Lindsey  on  01/15  at  07:13 AM

  1. Opening all the ports, as your article says is a terrible idea. Then to say that it will not put your computer or network at risk of attack, what world are you living in. Lets get real, “all port”, “no risk”, poor advise…

    2. Posted by Andrew  on  01/15  at  08:20 AM

  2. Not a bad article. But you missed an important enhancement for Skype: QOS.

    If you are making Skype calls from a Corporate environment or a public AP, then QOS is irrelevant. But for people who use Skype at home, it is a huge deal.

    Virtually all home users these days have a Router at home (wireless or not). This is designed to split the signal among the computers in your home network. But, a router typically will handle all traffic in the same manner and will NOT let you use 100% of the bandwidth in one computer.

    The solution is QOS (Quality Of Service). Most new routers support this. A lot of ‘older’ G routers support QOS too although you will have to upgrade to the latest Firmware available (check manufacturers’ websites).

    QOS allows you to tell the Router to maximize bandwidth and minimize delays on certain ports and/or applications and/or computers.

    That way, when you use Skype, your Router will give that traffic much higher priority than any other traffic that goes through your network. The result is that more bandwidth is made available for Skype at any given time which results in better quality calls.

    It is really quite simple. The Linksys WRT54G & GS models are the most popular of the Wireless routers and they have QOS built-in. There are also many 3-rd part firmwares for these devices to improve QOS for Voip (Voice over IP) if you are a little more technical.

    But overall, using QOS is a matter of logging into your router and changing a couple of settings. And presto, you have better Skype calls smile

    Enjoy!!

    3. Posted by Joan Szechtman  on  01/15  at  08:59 AM

  3. I followed the instructions to set the sound on my laptop (Windows XP, media edition) and found I only made it worse. The best results were to let Skype adjust the sound (quite good, actually). The biggest issue I’ve had is when I call to a public phone that there’s often a few seconds delay before the person can hear me. Either that, or the people I call are really impatient.

    4. Posted by Jack Seals  on  01/15  at  09:49 AM

  4. It would be helpful, and desirable, for your articles to have a print option that would preclude having to print all the advertisements.
    I print and save many of the articles for immediate and future reference. Thanks.

    ( Jack check this link http://www.geeks.com/techtips/techtip-viewall.asp PDF’s are posted as quick as we can get them up! )

    5. Posted by Randy Harrison  on  01/16  at  11:44 AM

  5. I have two older laptops that I will probably dispose of. I was wondering if there was any way to savage the monitors and use them as stand alones. Is this possible? My application would be to intgrate them into my home security system or intercom system.

    6. Posted by Ann  on  01/16  at  02:27 PM

  6. Those tips were great for Windows users. Can you offer any tips for those of us on Macs? Also, does Geeks.com have any Mac-compatible VoIP phones that can be used for Skype calls? I need one for my work computer, but the only ones I have seen require the Windows OS.

    7. Posted by seo services provider  on  03/07  at  07:52 AM

  7. Skype is arguably the most popular Web telephony service out there… One common complaint is that the quality of the calls varies widely. There are a number of simple changes that you can make to both your system settings and the settings of your Skype client software to improve the audio quality of your Skype calls.

    8. Posted by luxury home plans  on  03/25  at  03:52 AM

  8. One common complaint about Skype is that the quality of the calls varies widely. If you’ve used Skype for any length of time, you know what I’m talking about: echoes, sound delays, the sound dropping out, and even calls being dropped

    9. Posted by Home Security Surveillance  on  05/19  at  05:21 PM

  9. Thank you so much! I’ve been having issues with Skype for a few days now

    10. Posted by Dave Tug  on  08/18  at  06:07 AM

  10. great article, thanks for the link.

    11. Posted by Andhika Krishanadna  on  08/25  at  07:52 PM

  11. Thanks for sharing, I’ve been having problems with skype’s sound quality and also the calls keep dropping, perhaps due to network problems. But overall skype is the leader in the industry.

    12. Posted by zara clothing  on  12/25  at  08:18 PM

  12. Thanks for the tops! this definitely helped out my phone calls to spain

    13. Posted by larry  on  02/01  at  02:36 AM

  13. this is one post which helped me greatly. i have been trying to improve the quality of the audio but was unsuccessful till not. thanks for the great share. regards. 

    14. Posted by life coaching courses  on  03/29  at  05:01 AM

  14. There are a number of simple changes that you can make to both your system settings and the settings of your Skype client software to improve the audio quality of your Skype calls.

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