Video Call with Audio/Video problems

[ULguy]

A Lady friend and I have recently experienced problems during Video calls.
They are coming in with garbled audio & with choppy/ freezing videos. This
all started about 2 month ago. Prior to that we NEVER had a problem. What is
causing this problem? Here are some quick facts. I'm using a desktop system
(Home XP with all patches) with a cable modem & router. She is using a 64 bit
Vista system on her wireless Gateway MD2614 laptop. I am guessing it is
related to Windows Live, or our internet connections. At least that is what
the support page for my webcam said (Logitech Pro 9000). From my end I can
usually hear her fine, but video is choppy. From her end, she tells me audio
is very garbled. It gotten so bad that we stopped doing Video calls.
So....HELP! What is causing this to happen? Is it Window Live? Is it a
resource hog program in background? Is it something else entirely? I would
appreciate any and all suggestions. Perhap via a process of elimination we
can resolve this. If I left out some vital info, please let me know. Thanks!

I'm posting here as well, because maybe problem is networking related?

 

[Jack [MVP-Networking]]

Hi
If her side it Wireless I would try to switch it to wire.
It might be that her wireless "speed" is Ok for surfing, but marginal for
audio/video.
Each one of you can also try to use his/her system with another person that
have Live Video and compare how each system behaves with another computer
that known to be good.
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking).

 

[ULguy]

Hi Jack,

Thanks for taking the time to look at our problem. Yes, indeed, it was one
idea I had (calling others), to see if we could isolate problem. However we
were not able to try that because she went out and purchased a new Dell
Studio 17 (64 bit, Windows 7) Laptop. She surprised me a Video call that
night. All of the problems I noted in the original post went away with her
new laptop. Apparently problem was with her Gateway MD2614. She had noticed
that it was "slow", but it was unknown as to what was causing it to be slow
(oh yeah, she also mentioned some communications problem to her printer as
well -wireless). Her new Dell, I guess, confirms that her wireless setup was
ok. Problem was within the gateway. I do appreciate you taking the time to
respond. Thanks!

 

[smlunatick]

Hi Jack,

Thanks for taking the time to look at our problem. Yes, indeed, it was one
idea I had (calling others), to see if we could isolate problem. However we
were not able to try that because she went out and purchased a new Dell
Studio 17 (64 bit, Windows 7) Laptop. She surprised me a Video call that
night. All of the problems I noted in the original post went away with her
new laptop. Apparently problem was with her Gateway MD2614. She had noticed
that it was "slow", but it was unknown as to what was causing it to be slow
(oh yeah, she also mentioned some communications problem to her printer as
well -wireless).  Her new Dell, I guess, confirms that her wireless setup was
ok. Problem was within the gateway. I do appreciate you taking the time to
respond. Thanks!

Since this seems to be solved, here is a check list in-case the
problem returns:

Update anti-virus and check for possible infection

Install, update and check for possible "spyware" type programs. These
can be installed without any warning and will take resources away from
the PC.