Problem with Skype and Wireless Networks

Question

Level 1

0 points

Problem with Skype and Wireless Networks

I have been having a problem with Airport for about 10 months. Long winded explanation follows.

Initially file transfers over wireless networks were extremely slow but this seems to have been that 10.5.2 update problem. There is a remaining issue when I use Skype on my Mac (details below) connected to a wireless network the incoming and outgoing audio drop out for 1 - 3 seconds at irregular but frequent intervals (approx every 5 - 10 seconds). This is regardless of the wireless network I am on - and that is dozens of them all over the world. Note it is voice only calls, not video. Apple has replaced the Airport card and the mother board; the OS has been reinstalled; test accounts set up but nothing fixes the problem.

At one point I had temporary relief by switching off 'Configure IPv6' in System Preferences/Network/Airport/TCP/IP. This worked for a month or so but now the problem is back as before.

All other aspects of wireless activity are fine. Wireless firmware is 1.4.4.

I have worn out my welcome with the usually sensational help desk. Any suggestions out there in Mac Land?

MBP 17" 2.4 GHZ, Mac OS X (10.5.5), Intel Core Duo with 4GB 667 MHZ DDRS SDRAM

Posted on Oct 13, 2008 9:58 PM

Reply

Answer 1

gvn Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 15, 2008 4:51 PM in response to gvn

Further to the earlier post, Skype works fine when connected to the network via an ethernet cable.

Reply

Answer 2

borbye

Level 1

9 points

Oct 20, 2008 4:13 AM in response to gvn

You are not alone. The following copied from Skype Forums:

+My problem is this; I can have Skype active for as long as I want, and when I make a call (or revieve) it works fine, both audio and video, skype to skype calls and skype out. But ONLY for a while.+

+Sometimes after 30sec, sometimes after 3-5 or even 20 min, but ALWAYS, skype just show me "call ended". Then I realize my internet connection is down. It doesn't matter which type of internet connection I am using, have tried a USB HSDPA modem, wireless connection, or ethernet connection at different locations (like work, school, friends etc). It's the same.+

+As skype doesn't crashes, I get no crash log. My internet connection doesn't exactly crash either, it just stops working. So no logs their either.+

My answer:

New member
Posts: 1

Hi all.

This is a serious problem that has also plagued me for a long time. I am a very frequent traveller which means I am logging onto many different networks using wifi or cable. I have tried to work with some of the IT guys in different locations and have come to following conclusions:

1) This problem does not affect windows users(!) They use Skype on same networks with no problems. It does also not affect Parallels running Win XP on the same mac...

2) At least part of the problem has to do with DNS or the way the mac is navigating through the internet. Using external DNS seems to speed up the connection but does not solve the problem of Skype quality decreasing and Skype finally becoming unresponsive. For more info see opendns.com.

3) Part of the problem seems to be that the server at location is using outdated or noncompatible software that does not work well with Macs. It seems like it does not understand the way my Mac is using DNS. My mac works perfect in many places but is absolutely unusable at the places that have this problem.

4) I have not been able to google further info. The problem does not seem to be very wellknown.

5) At home using Airport everything works perfect.

I really hope someone is smarter than me....

Reply

Answer 3

gvn Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 24, 2008 12:02 AM in response to borbye

Hi there

Been a hectic week here getting this problem resolved. It is all OK now. Here is what we found and how it was done.

When Airport was playing up we set up an unlimited ping of the wireless router in the office. This is what it showed:

PING 10.10.10.1 (10.10.10.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=1929.885 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=929.788 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=2.633 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=1.845 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=1.941 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=255 time=1922.656 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=255 time=922.724 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=255 time=2.012 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=255 time=1.974 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=255 time=2.283 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=10 ttl=255 time=1918.448 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=11 ttl=255 time=919.372 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=12 ttl=255 time=2.609 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=13 ttl=255 time=2.037 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=14 ttl=255 time=2.259 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=15 ttl=255 time=1921.022 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=16 ttl=255 time=920.825 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=17 ttl=255 time=2.416 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=18 ttl=255 time=2.063 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=19 ttl=255 time=1.954 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=20 ttl=255 time=1917.649 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=21 ttl=255 time=917.617 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=22 ttl=255 time=2.018 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=23 ttl=255 time=2.057 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=24 ttl=255 time=2.106 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=25 ttl=255 time=1916.329 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=26 ttl=255 time=916.347 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=27 ttl=255 time=2.020 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=28 ttl=255 time=2.151 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=29 ttl=255 time=2.005 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=30 ttl=255 time=1915.818 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=31 ttl=255 time=915.821 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=32 ttl=255 time=2.091 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=33 ttl=255 time=2.061 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=34 ttl=255 time=2.064 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=35 ttl=255 time=1911.739 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=36 ttl=255 time=911.753 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=37 ttl=255 time=1.923 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=38 ttl=255 time=2.788 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=39 ttl=255 time=1.911 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=40 ttl=255 time=1907.626 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=41 ttl=255 time=907.528 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq=42 ttl=255 time=1.847 ms
64 bytes from 10.10.10.1: icmp_seq

and so on.

After discussion with tech support they said the Airpot card had to be replaced. This was done with admirable expediency and I got the MBP back in 36 hours. On testing it the same problem was still there. Identical pattern on the ping test, the fault was not the hardware.

Once more a call to Apple and another tech. This time we booted from the OS 10.5 install disk and ran the ping test. I ran it for a few hours without seeing the fault, it worked fine. The problem had to be in the operating system.

After backing up all the data I zeroed the drive and did a clean install of the OS. Bingo! Problem gone.

So after 10 months, two airport cards and a mother board, the issue was in fact something corrupt deep in the OS.

So to anyone having similar problems with Airport, run a ping test as described above. If you see that kind of pattern, try a clean install before going down the hardware road.

Reply

Answer 4

borbye

Level 1

9 points

Oct 29, 2008 2:46 PM in response to gvn

Well for me I might have found the solution. Seems to be Parallels that is interferring with my internet. I have Parallels installed and in my systemprefs ->network I found a couple of extra connections called Parallels Guest and Parallels NAT. These are used when Parallels is using the macs internet through a socalled shared connection.

I added a new location with only my primary internetconnection and voila everything worked perfect on Skype. With this location ParalIels wont obviously not be able to connect to the internet.

(I wont tell you how much time I have spent getting to this solution...)

PS: GVN, did you have Parallels installed before you made a clean install? ...and after?

Reply