I'm so sick of all the Facetime problems...please help!!!

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I'm so sick of all the Facetime problems...please help!!!

I've had Facetime problems since day one and Apple has been unable to help me. I see tons of people posting here with similar problems and no solution. What is it with Facetime and why doesn't it work reliably? Why is Apple either unwilling to acknowledge this isssue and/or unable to fix the problem? There are way too many people with the same problem for it to be coincidence. My issue is that my phone will drop the wifi connection while on Facetime and it literally happens every single time I try to use it. I mostly facetime with my girlfriend and hers does the same thing. It's not like it happens at a specific time (1 minute into the conversation or whatever) but it happens all the time and it makes the facetime experience absolutely miserable for both of us. During the span of 1/2 hr of attempting to use Facetime, we easily get disconnected 6-10 times and it happens on both ends. We're both on iphone 4s (AT&T for my and Verizon for her), I use an Apple Time Capsule and I'm pretty sure she uses a Netgear router (I could be mistaken about that though). Either way, they're good routers that work reliably at all other times.

Anyway, I can run Slingplayer over my wifi network for hours and never lose the connection so why is it that it only drops when I'm using Facetime? My phone is not dropping the wifi connection any other time except for when I use Facetime so what is it about Facetime that could be causing this problem? It's at the point where I don't even want to use it anymore because I get so aggravated that I can't have a decent conversation with my girlfried without freezing, audio dropouts and disconnects. I love the idea of using Facetime but my experience is being completely ruined by these problems.

iPhone 4, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Sep 27, 2011 3:36 PM

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Answer 1

psywzrd Author

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Oct 19, 2011 5:42 PM in response to psywzrd

Anyone? I've seen tons of reports of problems with facetime so someone has to have some input here.

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Answer 2

Oct 26, 2011 8:34 AM in response to psywzrd

Hi psywzrd

I have exactly the same problem as you...

My issue is that my phone will drop the wifi connection while on Facetime and it literally happens every single time I try to use it, between 1-5 min call duration each time. How annoying!!!

Wifi basically drops out completely and almost looks like a reboot to me (ie. wifi comes back on automatically after a while, although the modem lights do not turn colour as in reboot) - by that time of course Face Time call has ended.... (it works perfectly, both video and sound when initially connected, no lag whatsoever).

I am using NETGEAR Wireless ADSL2+ Modem Router DG834G - firmware up-to-date. Using iPhone 4S 16GB white. Apparently my other friends use iPhone 4 / iPod and they never experienced this problem. Oh and btw, my iPhone 4S wifi connection never dropped before and works perfectly checking email / Safari / other apps etc. I am in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

I also came across this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4245

I am using Win 7 on my Acer laptop and Avira Premium Security Suite - of which I have disabled both Avira firewall and antivirus - still FaceTime drops my wifi connection EVERY TIME.

Can someone please help? Or someone from APPLE fix this problem??? - this is obvious FaceTime problem/bug since so many users have reported it in previous posts. Or tell me how to fix it!!!

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Answer 3

elioelio

Level 1

4 points

Nov 5, 2011 12:53 AM in response to psywzrd

mmm..hello! sorry for my english, i'm italian..but..i have the same problem!

I've a netgear dg834g, and all is fine..but when i make a facetime or skype videocall, wifi drops and the router reboots itself! i reset the iphone 4s (fw 5.0), the router...but nothing is changed :/

(iphone and router have the latest firmware)

what do you think about this issue..?

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Answer 4

Feb 5, 2012 5:27 AM in response to dounoewhoim

Thank god i'm not the only one with this problem. Had an iphone 4 for a year connected to netgear dg834g latest firmware. Never had any problem with my iphone 4, ipod touch using facetime. However wanted more storage so bought an iphone 4s 64 gb and when I try to use facetime the phone locks up and all wifi connections in my house are lost for about 15 seconds. I rang apple technical department and they said they had not heard of this problem before, they need to read these posts I guess. Anyway they have agreed to replace my 4s for another one, but I don't think it will help as this morning I went to a wi-fi hot spot connect to a different router with no problem.

This leads me to believe facetime has issues with certain routers using the iphone 4s. The ipodtouch and iphone 4 are not affected

as since arriving back home and connecting to my netgear dg834g facetime crashes once again after 30 seconds. There may be a way to change the router settings to get arround this problem, but apple are not interested as they say they have not heard of this issue, and netgear won't help because the router is over twelve months old do I need to buy a new router to get facetime running ok, after spending £699 you would expect more help.

APPLE PLEASE INFORM YOUR TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT IPHONE 4S HAS SOME ISSUES WITH FACETIME WITH CERTAIN ROUTERS.

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Answer 5

Feb 5, 2012 5:37 AM in response to elioelio

elioelio wrote:

mmm..hello! sorry for my english, i'm italian..but..i have the same problem!

I've a netgear dg834g, and all is fine..but when i make a facetime or skype videocall, wifi drops and the router reboots itself! i reset the iphone 4s (fw 5.0), the router...but nothing is changed :/

(iphone and router have the latest firmware)

what do you think about this issue..?

Hi elioelio, I have tried my 4s on a different router without any problem so the conflict is with the 4s and your dg834g the problem is other routers may also be affected, so like you I don't know what to do next. You could try contacting apple if enough poeple complain maybe they might find a fix.

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Answer 6

Feb 5, 2012 5:40 AM in response to DavidWFletcher

DavidWFletcher wrote:

APPLE PLEASE INFORM YOUR TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT IPHONE 4S HAS SOME ISSUES WITH FACETIME WITH CERTAIN ROUTERS.

You are not addressing Apple here. This is a user-to-user technical support forum. Shouting at us will not get you what you want. Submit your feedback directly to Apple using the Feedback page:

http://www.apple.com/feedback

Or, open a technical support case. There is additional contact us information at the Contact Us link at the bottom right of every page on the forums.

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Answer 7

Feb 6, 2012 3:37 AM in response to psywzrd

Right after some setup changes in my router altering the mtu setting from 1400 to 1492 seems to have stopped the freezing wi-fi drop off with my netgear dg834g currently using facetime for 10 mins plus, hope that helps.

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Answer 8

bobo51

Level 1

0 points

Feb 7, 2012 9:02 AM in response to psywzrd

I have an ActionTech PK5000 DSL Modem/router and 'am using CenturyLink as the provider and have the same problem. Everytime when using Facetime, the PK5000 would reset just like turning it off then on again. Facetime works on two other WiFi networks I've set up with different routers and it works with no problems. I did some troubleshooting and I connected another WiFi Router (Cisco E1200) with a different SSID to an ethernetnet port on the PK5000 and Facetime worked just fine. So it doesn't seem to be the DSL provider/line or Modem issue, only the WiFi part of the PK5000 and Facetime using this router.

I have not tried Skype to see if this also exists with the 4S as I heard on other forums.

I contacted ActionTech with this issue, they confirmed others were having this problem with the PK5000 and are working on a firmware update. HOWEVER, they now wrote back that other manufacturer products also have experienced this issue and they are dumping it back on Facetime to resolve the issue.

So it seems to be a problem on certain routers, but not all. I have not tried opening any other ports as I've seen suggested due to the fact that Facetime works on the two other systems I've set up.

I'm curious if the provider type is an issue. Of the three networks I've set up, the one having the problem was DSL (10mbs) and the two that worked fine were Cable (3mbs).

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Answer 9

Feb 7, 2012 9:39 AM in response to bobo51

Not shure about the actiontech but altering the mtu setting with my netgear router has fixed the problem for me no more freezing. I also spoke to apple technical support and the next update should help connectivity to.

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Answer 10

ztrain

Level 1

0 points

Feb 23, 2012 3:51 PM in response to DavidWFletcher

DavidWFletcher, so what is your current MTU setting 1492?

I did have an Actiontech PK5000 from Centrylink about 2 weeks ago, now Centrylink has sent me a Zyxel PK5000z. So far this has not been a solution. I've spoken to 5 Centrylink tech support so far, two level 1 Apple support, and one level 2 support. I've lowered my securty settings (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4199), enabled port forwarding (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4245), tried the Google DNS 8.8.8.8, etc. So far its been the same, my wifi still crashes after a couple sec to a couple min into the FT call. In the next couple days I'll try calling Zyxel, but would like to try your MTU setting solution first. Thx.

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Answer 11

razmee209

Level 10

198,786 points

Feb 23, 2012 3:55 PM in response to psywzrd

see if this links helps out

IOS troubleshooting facetime http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3367

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Answer 12

psywzrd Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 29, 2012 7:33 PM in response to razmee209

Thank you for trying to help but that link is like Troubleshooting 101. These facetime issues go way beyond basic troubleshooting steps. I experience the same issue when facetiming on my MacBook as well so I have to assume that the problem is somehow related to the facetime protocol itself. I do so many things wirelessly and I never get disconnected - it's only facetime that seems to have a problem. If my girlfriend wasn't having the same exact issue I would say that the problem is my router, my phone and/or my macbook, but she has the same problems. It also kills me that every time I've called Apple about this they act like they've never heard of this problem before - give me a break!

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