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Support: Skype Problems

Hello, can you hear me now? Common Skype Problems.

You are grounded in Paris, Texas. Your loved one is having a good time in London and you're talking to them over Skype. Suddenly you start hearing clicks, crackles, and pops over the connection. Eventually you don't hear her voice at all. You called her back again and only after a few minutes the connection turns sour again. This is getting frustrating. So what can you do about it?

Based on our own experience and listening in on various forums, here is a list of ideas that may make you a hero for the day.

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What are common Skype problems?

Based on our own experience and listening in on various forums, here is a list of ideas that may make you a hero for the day.

Major causes of connection problems can include:

System configuration: router, firewall, internet filtering software, USB driver
Insufficient resources: CPU, memory, LAN (network inside your house), WAN (network outside of your house)
Defective hardware: bad router, overheated CPU

Got it? Good. So let's get started.

Skype Problem - Software and firmware upgrade related

Upgrade your system to the latest software releases for:

Skype
Audio device drivers for sound card, skype phone, and others
Network drivers for Wi-Fi and/or Ethernet adapter(s)
Operating system network related patches
System device drivers for your system/motherboard for your operating system.

If you are using Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2, check out this article and install the patch as required. Programs that are connected to IP addresses in the loopback address range may not work as expected.

Try to avoid beta versions until your system has been stabilized. This would give you a clean foundation to work on. If after trying "normal" drivers and the issue is not resolved, then trying betas are warranted. Many of today's Skype problems are based on working with beta version of drivers and software.

If your problem shows up after upgrading to the latest Skype version, you can download older versions from here.

Skype Probelm - Router/modem connectivity related

Before you conduct these tests, make sure that you can connect to the internet and that your network administrator has allowed functionality for these processes over your network.

Telnet test: Click on the “Start” button at the lower-left corner of the desktop. Select “Run”. In the "open" box, enter “cmd” and click “OK.” A new command-prompt window will open.

At the command-prompt type either: "telnet -ex 195.215.8.141 33033" or “telnet –ex 212.72.49.141 33033” (without the quotes) and press “Enter.”

If the window turns blank, press “x”. If you see the following: “Welcome to Microsoft Telnet Client…,” the telnet connection to Skype is working properly. If you see “Connecting To…” for a long time or “Could not open connection to the host…,” the connection to Skype is not working.

If the connection to Skype could not be completed, then try: “telnet –ex google.com 80” to see if your firewall is blocking only the Skype server or all connections.

Tracert test: If the command-prompt window is still open, skip to the next step. Click on the “Start” button at the lower-left corner of the desktop. Select “Run”. In the "open" box, enter “cmd” and click “OK.” A new command-prompt window will open.

At the command-prompt type: "tracert www.skype.com" (without the quotes) and press “Enter.”

If the test causes connectivity loss, it is a router problem. Upgrade the router firmware or replace with another one. If the test shows *s in the results, then there may be a network issue with that particular point on the internet. This is beyond your immediate control to fix.

Skype Problem - Router configuration

Application: Within your router configuration settings, there should be a section on applications. For most routers, it is usually found under “Advanced.” Enable entries like “Skype”, “PC-to-Phone”, or other similar entries. Once your router has re-started, try your call again to see if the problem has been resolved. If not, then see your routers user manual for more details on how to add Skype to the approved list.

Port forwarding: Port forwarding is a technique that allows a system outside of your part of the network to reach a port on a system on the inside of the network using a private IP address and a NAT-enabled router. For many routers this is required for Skype to function properly and to reduce packet losses.

Within Skype, select Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Connection. At the top there should be: “Use port ‘NNN’ for incoming connections,” and “Use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections.”

Remember or write down the number ‘NNN’ from the Skype settings and enable the "Use port 80 and 443" option (In some ZoneAlarm free freewall, Skype cannot connect when this option is selected. In this case, uncheck it) and then close the configuration window.

Within your router configuration enable port forwarding for port ‘NNN’. Save the settings, and re-start the router. If this does not work, then enable port forwarding for ports 80 and 443. Be aware that this step may leave your PC vulnerable to security attack.

Your router may require that you also list a destination IP for the ports that are being forwarded. If so, then click on the “Start” button at the lower-left corner of the desktop. Select “Run”. In the "open" box, enter “cmd” and click “OK.” A new command-prompt window will open. At the command-prompt type: "ipconfig" and then enter (without the quotes.) Enter the same IP address as this tells you on the line "IP Address......"

You can also use PFConfig to automate the process for you. This website has excellent instructions on how to configure your router. Just select your router from the list and “Skype”, then follow the instructions.

Skype Problem Wireless connection and Windows XP

Wireless zero configuration is a service offered by Windows XP to simplify wireless network management and guarantee that your PC has the fastest possible connection. Periodically (about one minute interval) it resets the connection and searches for a higher speed connection. This may cause your Skype connection to drop.

This service is required to establish wireless connection, but it can be stopped subsequently. The service can be started or stopped via the Windows service management screen or Windows commands.

Windows service management screen: Right click on "My Computer" on your desktop, select "Manage" >> "Services and Applications" >> "Services". Double click on the entry "Wireless Zero Configuration" and you can start or stop the service.

Commands: The following two commands can be used to start or stop the service:

net stop wzcsvc

net start wscsvc

You can enter these commands by going to "Start" >> "Run"; or you can create a short cut for each command.

To create the short cut, start Windows Explorer, locate and right click C:\WINDOWS\system32\net.exe; select "Send To" >> "Desktop." This would create an icon on your desktop. Right click on the icon and select "Properties". Under "General" tab, change the name to "Stop WZC"; under "Shortcut" tab, append " stop wzcsvc" (yes, there is a space before "stop") to the "Target" field. Set up the "Start WZC" shortcut in a similar fashion.

You can also put the "Stop WZC" shortcut in the startup folder so it would stop automatically for you.

Remember to restart the service if you have to reset the wireless connection.

Skype Problem - Firewall configurations

Firewall program control reset: The firewall program controls inside a firewall dictates which program(s) can access the internet or your system from the outside. When you first run Skype the firewall will usually request instructions as to whether you want to permit Skype access the internet. After that first prompt the firewall should let Skype access the internet (if you told it to allow it.)

If this mechanism is corrupted you will need to reset it by removing Skype from the approved list and then re-add Skype back.

For Windows XP SP2 firewall, you can:

Stop Skype by right-clicking on the icon at the lower right corner of your desktop within the SysTray and select “Quit Skype.”
From within the control panel, select security center -> Manage Security Settings for Windows Firewall -> Exception tab, and delete all entries you find that are associated with Skype.
Restart Skype to start the firewall recognition and approval again.

You can obtain more information from Skype's site here. On specific firewalls, check these resources:

Skype assisted: In Skype, select Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Connection. Enable the option “Allow Skype to modify my firewall settings.”

Internet filtering and parental control software sometimes cause Skype problems.

There are programs such as AFA and Jyve, which prevent Skype from working. If you have one such program running then disable the program temporarily to see if Skype starts working. If it does, then you will need to configure the filtering program to allow Skype to establish connections through it.

Talk to your ISP also as some may have filtered out VOIP traffic.

Resource Issues

Many connection problems are caused by a lack of resources, such as network bandwidth, memory, CPU. For example: a program (screen saver or virus scanning software) that runs periodically on the system may take up so much computer or network resources that it can cause packet loss and connectivity issues. Make sure you do not have any resource-intensive programs running on your system or any network intensive programs (torrent, emule/edonkey, kazaa) running on the systems in your local network.

Here are some tips on how to identify the source of resource conflicts. Note the system performance when the problems occur.

Heartbeat: Check the status of the Skype infrastructure components that support all the free and paid features here.

Resource utilization: Displaying technical data while you are in a Skype conversation. You can enable the display in Skype by selecting: Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Others. Then check “display technical call info”. You can then see the data by positioning your mouse over the picture / icon of your friend.

Packet loss should be under 5%. Roundtrip delay should be less than 200-300 ms. Relays should be 2 or under. CPU usage should be under 75%.

Windows task manager: Start the Windows task manager by pressing ctrl-alt-del or place your mouse in the start bar where no program icon is, right-click, and choosing "Task Manager...". The Processes tab tells which program(s) is/are taking up the most CPU cycles while the Performance tab tells the CPU and memory utilization, and the Networking tab tells the LAN utilization. Different OSs and versions will show different tabs, but the information will be the same.

Satellite connection: Satellite connections cannot provide a steady stream of data, which is required for any multimedia streaming applications. This is true regardless of the link speed your connection has.

Data execution prevention (DEP): Make sure that DEP is turned off. You can check its status by right-clicking on "My Computer" and selecting: Properties -> Advanced tabs -> Settings. For more information on DEP, click here. This applies only for certain CPUs with the NX bit implemented.

Hardware issues

Wi-Fi connection: If you are using a Wi-Fi connection, try connecting your system to the router via a network cable. If this solves your problem then consider replacing or up-grading your Wi-Fi router or adapter. Also your security settings may be set to not allow full bandwidth usage which will limit the amount of data that can be sent or received at one time which will cause connectivity issues.

CPU temperature: Check your CPU temperature with speedfan. It is a freeware program that monitors voltages, fan speeds and temperatures in computers with hardware monitoring chips. Different CPUs run at different temperatures and have different heat tolerances before performance becomes impaired. Consult the manufacturer websites (Intel, AMD) or see here for more information.

Make sure fans are working and remove dust and dirt from fans and air vents.

Substitution: Try Skype with a different set of hardware (another computer, a friends house, etc.) to see if the problem persists. Also, you can test the hardware with another un-related application (such as Yahoo, GoogleTalk, etc.) to see if you have similar issues.