What to do to improve Connection?
In general:
Wired connections are better than wireless (WiFi or cellular) connections.
WiFi connections are better than cellular (3G/4G/LTE) connections.
Plan ahead for Zoom meetings, and as often as possible, join Zoom meetings from a location where you can use a fast, reliable, wired Internet connection.
Mute your microphone when you're not speaking.
When your microphone is on, Zoom will devote part of your Internet connection to an audio stream for you, even if you are not speaking. Mute your microphone when you do not need it, and you will allow Zoom to use your Internet connection more effectively.
Stop your webcam video when you don't need it.
Start your video only when you are talking or need to show yourself, and stop your video when it isn't needed.
Disable HD webcam video.
Sending high definition (HD) webcam video requires more bandwidth than sending non-HD. Disabling HD video will free up more of your Internet connection for other parts of your Zoom meeting.
From within the Zoom Client:
Click the "Home" tab.
Click " Settings".
In the Settings window that opens:
Click the "Video" tab.
Uncheck "Enable HD".
Close the Settings window.
Close other, unneeded applications and browser tabs on your computer.
Zoom meetings can demand significant memory and processing power from your computer. Closing other applications, ones you do not need during the session, will help Zoom run better.
* Especially for Chrome users: each time you open a tab in Chrome it launches all of the extensions and processes so that they are ready for use. The problem is, this takes up a lot of memory and slows everything down. Try to minimize open tabs.
Avoid other activities that will steal bandwidth.
Don't start other bandwidth-intensive activities just before, or during, a Zoom meeting. On your Zoom device—and as much as possible, on other computers and devices that share your Internet connection—avoid:
large downloads
large uploads
streaming video (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, YouTube)
cloud backups (e.g. Carbonite, CrashPlan)
cloud file synchronizations (e.g. OneDrive, Dropbox)
other high-bandwidth activities
Anja did some research on this - here is what she found:
Fiddling with existing devices:
- The most limiting is often the device, aka the router, and within the device, it’s actually the software running on it. The router absolutely needs to have the most up to date firmware on it, which you may have to do by hand. These updates are pushed by your cable company only if the device is owned by them. They may updated only the cable modem but not the router. Owning your own device is always better.
- The log-in is typically on the router - it’s a web address that is accessible on the home wifi, and then you enter the password of the router, typically printed on the router as well.
- Many modern dual band routers can be set up as “one mesh” devices once their firmware is up to date. This means that the router uses both the 2.4 and 5 GHz band they provide, and seamlessly hands over to the network that works best for the location of the device(s) connected to it. You don’t actually need expensive devices to do this (it seems it’s all the software!).
- Without one mesh, 5Ghz is a lot faster, but also has a shorter range, thus moving to the 2.4 GHz network when further away from the router can improve performance because fewer “packets” get dropped.
- It can also help changing to a different channel if the channel in use is too crowded by several overlapping networks in the neighborhood. A network detection app can help figure this out (see below).
- Lastly the best and cheapest can be to just plug an ethernet cable into the cable modem, wifi extender, or router directly.
Buying new devices:
- For one mesh in particular, one key parameter is total bandwidth, i.e. Mbps throughput of the 2.4 GHz and the 5GHz network on the router combined.
- However, improved performance can actually come from getting a router with greater range, rather than one with greater bandwidth, for the reason above. A network detection app on the computer can determine if the network is weak. I used NetSpot on the Mac.
- I researched the best “low cost” router and found the TP-Link Archer A7 had overall the best ratings. I got it refurbished for only around $40 on Amazon. I combined it with a refurbished WiFi extender (RE220) that is also one-mesh enabled. Again, often the firmware needs to be updated to make this feature available even on new devices.
All the TP-Link devices that can form a one-mesh network together are here:
https://www.tp-link.com/us/
Here is the link to an article on the TP-Link Archer A20: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-router/
- If I had to do it over, I might just go for a more expensive router with greater range and skip the network extender, because the extender halves the bandwidth (it uses half to communicate with the laptop and half with the router).
- For more than one device on the network, a router with MU-MIMO technology can work wonders. The same website above lists two routers with that feature. They somehow arrange data packets in ways that are more efficient, don’t ask me any details, but a good friend of mine has a wifi device patented that's called MEGA-MIMO, so sounds legit.