Skype Lag Issues

Skype is now owned and run by Microsoft.

Skype is a free Voice-over-IP service enabling users to make video and audio calls between PCs, mobile devices and to standard telephone lines. If you are experiencing lag when making calls with Skype, a wide variety of factors could be to blame, including the speed of your Internet connection, a faulty webcam, a lack of available system resources, corrupt or out-of-date drivers or a conflicting third-party application. Investigate each of these potential issues to troubleshoot the problem.

Slow Internet Connection

Test your Internet connection by streaming content from a video sharing portal such as YouTube, and checking for any skipping or buffering problems. Make sure other websites and programs accessing the Web are closed down while you are using Skype. If the lag issues occur with one particular contact, have them perform the same troubleshooting steps. Use a site such as speedtest.net to test your Internet speed. If you suspect your computer's connection to the Web is faulty or unreliable get in touch with your Internet Service Provider.

System Resources and Conflicting Software

Skype requires a substantial amount of RAM and CPU time in order to run smoothly. Shut down as many applications as possible while making Skype calls and use Task Manager to identify unnecessary processes running in the background that may be using up system resources. This also ensures no third-party applications are interfering with Skype. If you are running Skype on a PC more than a couple of years old it may not have the hardware requirements available to make calls particularly if more than one contact is involved. A minimum 1GHz processor is required for Skype to function correctly.

Skype Software and Webcam Drivers

Install the latest version of Skype and the drivers associated with your webcam to ensure that you have applied the latest fixes for software bugs and compatibility issues. From within the Skype application, open up the "Help" menu and select the "Check for Updates" option to see if a newer version is available. Alternatively visit the skype.com website directly to locate and download the newest client software. If updated drivers for your webcam are available, they can be found on the manufacturer's official website. Look for a support, drivers or downloads section and identify your webcam's model number to locate the correct updates.

Other Issues

Other potential factors influencing lag on Skype include a faulty webcam or problems with Skype's servers. If possible, test the service with another webcam to see if this fixes the issue. To check on the status of Skype's servers, which route calls between PCs and devices, check the Skype Heartbeat page at heartbeat.skype.com for details of any problems or outages. Further troubleshooting resources and assistance can be found through the support section of the official Skype website.

References

• Skype: Get Skype For Windows

Resources

• Skype: Support
• Skype: Heartbeat