Skype Question

el lupo

Sorry if this has been asked before guys, did a search in the forum and saw nothing that really answered my questions.

Anyway, the question I have is what is the best way to set up Skype? I'm running XP, and it works fine, but sound quality is terrible (on pc to pc calls)

So, the question I have is how do you improve it? Do headsets make a big difference and if so what is a good one to buy?

Also, does network configuration make a big deal. I have a wireless network at home with two computers attached (using an SMC barricade router), although one would only be on while using Skype. I get DSL off irish broadband and get about 1MB up and down(also wireless).

Cheers for any help

Blaster99

You have to have a headset otherwise it will indeed sound terrible. They're cheap unless you want a USB headset.

bhickey

Well you've a few possible contributing factors to rule in/out there :

Headset (will definitely improve sound if you're currently using microphone/speakers)

Wireless (try wired if possible - this will rule out possible signal issues on your wireless network)

PC-to-PC (try dialling a landline from Skype just to rule out the PC at the other end)

Irish Broadband (have a lot of VERY bad connections). Check your real bandwidth to see what you're actually getting.

Aquos76

Blaster99 wrote:

You have to have a headset otherwise it will indeed sound terrible. They're cheap unless you want a USB headset.

USB handsets are widely available on ebay. Quite cheap also. Anyone know what sort of quality to expect from these type.

kippy

Are you dowloading anything when you are using skype, if you are downloading and uploading at the same time, if you were using something such as Limewire, this would effect dramticilly the quality of calls.

Blaster99

Aquos76 wrote:

USB handsets are widely available on ebay. Quite cheap also. Anyone know what sort of quality to expect from these type.

I've only ever used Plantronics USB headsets. They're excellent.