Zoom, Skype Technical Q&A here:

[Qapla]

The faster the better ...

 

We have Comcast cable connection and do not have any problems. My FIL has ATT DSL and his works fine. Our KH has DSL from a smaller phone company and had a difficult time just supplying feed for KHConf. We had an upgrade just before we stopped using the Hall and things were better. However, several of our publishers who have that same phone company, have difficulty with their Zoom - they get "low bandwidth" warnings when they comment with their DSL connection.

 

One family has their live video feed stop all together when they comment and their feed is replaced with their "no video" static picture until they finish their comment and then their video returns - this happens almost every time.

 

A couple others have a "boinging" sound when they comments and the "low bandwidth" warning pops up when it happens.

Edited April 28, 2020 by Qapla

[Lance]

For zoom anything consistent of  1.5 Mbps  or more .

Use the best Internet connection you can. ...

Mute your microphone when you're not speaking. ... 

turn off other apps that use the internet 

The most important thing is to cut the video if the sound gets choppy ...

don’t multitask with other internet devices .. if you have low band width.

I have a connection of about 90 MBps.. to host and have multiple devices on I have no issues

 

[Zebra555]

5 hours ago, Shawnster said:

What Internet speeds work best with Zoom?  Does anyone have any problems with slow or choppy video?  My mother complains about the Zoom meetings being choppy and unwatchable.  She's calling in and listening on the phone.  

Older devices seem to have this problem.

[Luigi62]

The congregation Meeting went well I wasn’t kicked out after 40 minutes. The email I got must off meant I can’t host a 2 hour meeting from by zoom account unless I pay a monthly subscription.

[Lee49]

https://abcnews.go.com/International/intel-report-warns-zoom-vulnerable-foreign-surveillance/story?id=70376203

 

Intel report warns Zoom could be vulnerable to foreign surveillance

 

 "The Zoom videoconferencing platform, so popular with people forced to stay home because of the coronavirus pandemic, could be vulnerable to intrusions by foreign government spy services, including China, according to a federal intelligence analysis obtained by ABC News. The analysis urges organizations to carefully consider the risk if they should continue working with the system.

The report was issued jointly by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Mission and Counterintelligence Mission centers, and was distributed to law enforcement and government agencies around the country. It comes less than a month after the FBI’s Boston office warned that hackers were able to hijack or disrupt videoconferences in what has come to be known as “Zoom-bombing.”

 

 "The spokesperson said Zoom's systems are "designed to maintain geo-fencing around China ensuring that users outside of China do not have their meeting data routed through servers in China." Additionally, paid Zoom customers "are now able to further customize which data center regions their account can use for real-time meeting traffic," which allows them to "opt in or out of specific data center locations," the spokesperson said.

 

 Hopefully we will be safe until we can get back to regular meetings.Meanwhile we will just direct anyone, including "spys" to the JW.Org website so they can learn about the truth of the bible in their own language! 😁

[Lance]

Well if some unauthorized person or government listened to a zoom  meeting ... good ..maybe they might learn something..

[jwhess]

1 hour ago, Lance said:

Well if some unauthorized person or government listened to a zoom  meeting ... good ..maybe they might learn something..

Remember page 186 (or 187) of the Pure Worship book?  The room of spies has us up on the monitors mounted on the wall.  they are listening and watching....❤️

[AH173]

Right, they have the cigarette smoking guy from the X-Files there also!

 

[Tortuga]

15 minutes ago, AH173 said:

Right, they have the cigarette smoking guy from the X-Files there also!

 

X-Files?

[AH173]

If you're not a fan ( or liked some of the shows) of the tv show ok?

[Hugh O'D]

1 hour ago, AH173 said:

Right, they have the cigarette smoking guy from the X-Files there also!

 

The Truth Is Out There.

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

This guy?
(Poor Bro Herd)

Old (Downunder) Tone
 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Maʹher-shalʹal-hash-baz
Add pic

[Sheep]

On 4/27/2020 at 8:55 PM, Shawnster said:

What Internet speeds work best with Zoom?

 

On 4/28/2020 at 12:31 AM, Qapla said:

The faster the better ...

I heard that too from a brother in my congregation. He has 100 Mbps, and still has problems at times. He's trying to get 1 Gbps, but it's not yet available in his area. (His roommate is in a different congregation, and so is sometimes on Zoom on the same Wifi at the same time.) However, shortly afterwards my group overseer said we should have at least 3 Mbps for Zoom, which sounds slow compared to what the other said.

 

Anyway, this all came on last night when a sister tried to do a comment. But her connection was very unstable and the sound cut out several times during her comment. The conductor mentioned we couldn't hear her very well, and so she tried her comment again. Unfortunately her second attempt sounded about like the first. I felt so bad for the sister. She had put all that effort into making her comment, and yet we missed so much of it that her point was completely lost! 

 

On 4/28/2020 at 2:17 AM, Lance said:

For zoom anything consistent of  1.5 Mbps  or more .

Hhmm. That's even less than our group overseer said! I'm not sure where my group overseer got that 3 Mbps from, but he must have heard it somewhere. Does anybody have an "official" Mbps number (with a reference if possible)?

 

On 4/28/2020 at 2:17 AM, Lance said:

I have a connection of about 90 MBps.. to host and have multiple devices on I have no issues

Note to all concerned: MBps means Megabytes per second, but is not the usual designation we hear. More likely, the numbers we see would be Mbps (lower-case b), which is Megabits per second. MBps would be about eight times that amount.

 

Okay. After all this talk I think I'll stick with my current 25 Mbps. It is quite satisfactory for my personal needs. That is, until they come out with 850 billion TBps! 

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Sheep

[AH173]

On 4/21/2020 at 7:54 PM, tekmantwo said:

 

I have the same issue: the audio and video is horrible. We zoomed in to the meeting for service yesterday and it was practically impossible to use, the audio hissed and popped, maybe every 3rd word was intelligible, the video look like it had rolling frame shutter rate disease, almost unwatchable...

 

From what I read here, that problem is all on my end, correct?

If I understand properly, its my d/l speed that's the issue?

 

On 4/21/2020 at 8:02 PM, Lance said:

If you are the only one experiencing the poor quality then yes...

it is all about bandwidth...

you can separate the audio from the video channel..

by phoning in on your cell for the audio and just using the internet for the video...

You have that choice when you log in to use your phone or computer for audio.

 

On 4/21/2020 at 8:42 PM, Bro Richard said:

I had that problem with my laptop and I assumed everyone was having the same problem. I contacted the host and he said no one was having a problem. I started using a different computer and everything is fine now. I think the hardware on my laptop was overloaded. 

 

On 4/22/2020 at 10:10 PM, Maʹher-shalʹal-hash-baz said:

I find these 2 points of reference may help...
1. Download 'Ookla Speedtest.net'
It is an app that will test your up and down speeds. It keeps a lig, do you can try at different times. Ie 2am compared to 7pm will perhaps show the effect congestion has on your location. (It's busier at 7pm)
2. On zoom you can check your data flow. (Press on "^" next to your 'Video' on/off tab.) it should show about 8 pages or so (along the left).
Select 'Statistics' then 'video'. On this page it shows your up and down 'fps' frames-per-second video log.
Good internet bandwidth (flow) will be 25 - 30 fps. Bad 0-4 fps.
Knowing this is a little mute, as there is not a lot you can do about it. Although, as mentioned above, more devices activated will reduce your data speeds ... they will 'share' and pinch speed/flow from each other. So try 1 device. Test it. Then try more devices and test speeds as you go.

Old (Downunder) Tone
 

 

On 4/27/2020 at 8:55 PM, Shawnster said:

What Internet speeds work best with Zoom?  Does anyone have any problems with slow or choppy video?  My mother complains about the Zoom meetings being choppy and unwatchable.  She's calling in and listening on the phone.  

It seems that these questions are dealt with at this zoom webpage.

 

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-requirements-for-Windows-macOS-and-Linux

 

My thoughts are if you have a lower class device(s),  lower class internet, lower class home internet infrastructure, lower class internet transmission of data and a whole bunch of devices using it your experience will be bad for video and audio combined.

 

However if you have medium to top class device(s), medium to top internet, medium to top class home internet infrastructure, medium to top class internet transmission of devices and regardless of volume of devices using it- then your experience will be good. 

 

All things considered with a good understanding of how things work- one's experience will be ok to excellent.

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Zoom requirements: 600kbps min (1.5Mbpd rec) 
And just a reminder=> your speed will not fix the other end. Eg you have 1 Trillion Bit speed, but the other end is 100k bits, zoom will stall, due to the weakest link.
Turning off video will improve the voice and sound quality.
https://canvas.du.edu/courses/79407/pages/zoom-technical-requirements

Old (Downunder) Tone
 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Maʹher-shalʹal-hash-baz
Add pic

[jwhess]

We had the CO this week and during the Midweek Meeting  (on Tuesday) one sister had the Bible Study part.  She is out in the country and has the only internet choice available which is very poor.  During her part, her voice was very low and kept cutting out.  Her householder was in the main town 10 miles away.  We felt sorry for both of them.  the country sister would ask a question and neither her householder student nor we in the audience could hear the words.  Once the sister said "I'm sorry but I can't hear the question.  In a case like this, maybe a manuscript talk with the words written out would have worked better...😟

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Zoom version 5.0 is out for PC. I just downloaded it. I hope it doesn't upset my meeting for tomorrow!

Old (Downunder) Tone

[AH173]

9 hours ago, Maʹher-shalʹal-hash-baz said:

Zoom requirements: 600kbps min (1.5Mbpd rec) 
And just a reminder=> your speed will not fix the other end. Eg you have 1 Trillion Bit speed, but the other end is 100k bits, zoom will stall, due to the weakest link.
Turning off video will improve the voice and sound quality.
https://canvas.du.edu/courses/79407/pages/zoom-technical-requirements

Old (Downunder) Tone
 

From what is on zoom website I provided, it is more involved than simply a minimum requirement for internet speed. It's important but more is involved. Please read what they provide as system requirements. 

 

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-requirements-for-Windows-macOS-and-Linux

 

 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Great link AH173. Ty

Old (Downunder) Tone
 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Maʹher-shalʹal-hash-baz
Add pic

[walkr2]

On 3/19/2020 at 10:54 PM, jwhess said:

It means they were specifically confidential from a source that is directed from the Branch.  They were indications to act not direct orders.  That is about all I am at liberty to say.

Brother John, a quick question. In the beginning we were able to "chat" after the meeting. For me, because I wanted to say hello to some of the friends, I had to use that option to be heard. I'm not a loud talker and my voice simply could not win over all the loud talking. So I would sent them a quick chat, especially the older ones, just to let them know that they were seen. 

Now all that has changed and only the host (1, 2, or 3) can use "chat!"  This is certainly disheartening to me because I'm used to speaking to all the friends!  

I just log out now since I'm not heard and somehow I feel incomplete!  

 

What do you think? Am I being selfish because there is a need to recognize those who, like me, are not heard? ☹️ 😢

 

Thanks in advance Brother John,

 

Voni in NC

[bigvince]

18 minutes ago, walkr2 said:

Brother John, a quick question. In the beginning we were able to "chat" after the meeting. For me, because I wanted to say hello to some of the friends, I had to use that option to be heard. I'm not a loud talker and my voice simply could not win over all the loud talking. So I would sent them a quick chat, especially the older ones, just to let them know that they were seen. 

Now all that has changed and only the host (1, 2, or 3) can use "chat!"  This is certainly disheartening to me because I'm used to speaking to all the friends!  

I just log out now since I'm not heard and somehow I feel incomplete!  

 

What do you think? Am I being selfish because there is a need to recognize those who, like me, are not heard? ☹️ 😢

 

Thanks in advance Brother John,

 

Voni in NC

Hi, I know you aren't asking me this question, but I can tell you that the branch has required that the private chat feature be turned off in their instructions for zoom meetings. It is not selfish however, I  recommend that you personally call them.

[jwhess]

46 minutes ago, walkr2 said:

Brother John, a quick question. In the beginning we were able to "chat" after the meeting. For me, because I wanted to say hello to some of the friends, I had to use that option to be heard. I'm not a loud talker and my voice simply could not win over all the loud talking. So I would sent them a quick chat, especially the older ones, just to let them know that they were seen. 

Now all that has changed and only the host (1, 2, or 3) can use "chat!"  This is certainly disheartening to me because I'm used to speaking to all the friends!  

I just log out now since I'm not heard and somehow I feel incomplete!  

 

What do you think? Am I being selfish because there is a need to recognize those who, like me, are not heard? ☹️ 😢

 

Thanks in advance Brother John,

 

Voni in NC

I suppose you can consider the needs of the many (publishers in the Branch territory) outweigh the needs of the few.  You can email, call or text any of the brothers at any time so it is just one avenue that is different.  You can Facetime, WhatsApp or Social network in many ways. Most of us would rather be at the Hall talking in person but that is not possible either.  You can even call them while they are still online at the meeting if you want.  But for now, the "chat" provision is off.  We have some in our hall that don't even have internet to be heard.  Just remember, it is temporary and Jehovah has Jesus direct us in the best way to go...❤️

[Life4u]

Hi all, I can't seem to find zoom on windows 10. Please will someone direct me to find it. I have my meeting tonight and would love to have it ready for it. Thanks in advance!

[The Outcast]

7 minutes ago, Life4u said:

Hi all, I can't seem to find zoom on windows 10. Please will someone direct me to find it. I have my meeting tonight and would love to have it ready for it. Thanks in advance!

Is it your first meeting?

 

C:\Users\YOURPC\AppData\Roaming\Zoom\bin\Zoom.exe

Edited May 5, 2020 by The German

[Life4u]

1 minute ago, The German said:

Is it your first meeting?

No, just my first on my pc with Windows 10. Been using my cell phone and now that I have wifi I rather use my personal computer. Thanks.