Troubleshooting Choppy Audio
Choppy or distorted audio is caused by delayed or lost packets traveling between the Nextiva servers and your phones. The most common causes of this behavior are:
Each of these issues can be addressed by meeting our Networking Guidelines.
Insufficient Bandwidth
Your bandwidth should be sufficient enough to support both your phone calls and other devices using the internet. Our Networking Guidelines article lists bandwidth requirements based on typical office use.
To determine if you have sufficient bandwidth run a speed test from one or more of these sites:
Your results should be fairly close to the speeds offered by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). If there is a significant discrepancy between what you are paying for and what the speed test shows, you will need to work with your ISP to resolve the issue. If you are getting the speeds you are paying for, you may not have sufficient bandwidth to handle all the traffic on your network. It is recommended to work with IT to determine if Quality of Service (QoS) can be implemented to resolve the issue by prioritizing the audio traffic on your phones, or if additional bandwidth needs to be purchased from your ISP.
Packet Loss
Packet loss is data getting lost between the Nextiva servers and your phones. There are several reasons this can happen:
- Insufficient Bandwidth - Trying to send more data through your internet connection than it can support can lead to packet loss. See the insufficient bandwidth section for ways to test this.
- Overloaded Equipment - Depending on the router you have, there may be more devices connected to it than it can support. When more devices are connected than it can handle, it will drop packets as it gets overloaded. Upgrading your router will fix this issue.
- Damaged Equipment - Damaged cables and loose connections can cause packet loss. Repair or replace damaged hardware to resolve this problem.
- ISP Issue - There may be an issue with how your ISP is routing traffic that could cause packet loss. If you've confirmed the issue is not with your equipment, contact your ISP to notify them of the issue.
Jitter and Latency
Jitter and latency are different types of delay that can occur with internet traffic.
High jitter means the packets are not arriving consistently. Jitter over 20ms will cause degradation in your audio quality on calls. This usually can be resolved by configuring Quality of Service (QoS) within your router and prioritizing traffic to and from the Nextiva servers.
High latency means the packets take a long time to travel between your devices and the Nextiva servers. Latency of more than 150ms will cause degradation of audio quality on your calls. This usually can be resolved by configuring Quality of Service (QoS) within your router and prioritizing traffic to and from the Nextiva servers.