topic Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue in Broadband & Landline

Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

QuantumPhys — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 21:01:52 GMT

Hello all,

I've got an odd issue which I'm hoping someone can offer a steer on.

I have the EE 1.6 Gb Full Fibre Busiest Home package with a Smart Hub Plus.

All seemed to be working fine until my original Smart Hub Plus failed in Jan 2025. This was attributed to a bad firmware update, and a new hub was sent out. I connected this up and again everything appeared to be ok, until colleagues at work started complaining that my video during MS Teams calls was regularly freezing. On my end, I didn't see any issues - I could see and hear everyone else fine so it came as a surprise. Setting up a test meeting that just included me, I recorded myself and when playing back immediately found that the video and audio both freeze and stutter. This is readily reproducible, although sometimes the performance is extremely bad with the video completely frozen. Strangely, this only affects the MS Teams desktop app, with connections via the web browser still being good quality.

So far, everything else seems ok - stable and fast connection (getting around 1.6 Gbps routinely).

Here's what I've tried so far:

Updated Teams and all drivers on laptop.
Direct cable connection to router with WiFi turned off and all other devices disconnected. No difference.
Laptop on WiFi on corporate network - absolutely fine, no surprise.
Laptop on WiFi in various coffee shops and on friend's home broadband - all much slower connections than mine and Teams is absolutely fine. Often extremely good.
Used phone as 4G hotspot - absolutely fine - extremely good video and audio.
Replaced the Smart Hub Plus with an old Asus router I used with a previous ISP - connected to ONT. Connects via PPPoE fine with reasonable speed (around 750 Mbps although using 2.5G port as WAN port, so a little surprised it's not faster). Connection appears very stable and no obvious issues shown by ThinkBroadband BQM. However, Teams behaves exactly the same as with the EE router - terrible video and audio.
Configured Hotspot VPN on Asus router - set location to South England. Connection speed is around 100 Mbps. However, Teams now works absolutely fine. Very good audio and video. Turned off VPN - fast connection restored and Teams video and audio revert to being terrible.

This suggests to me it might be some network infrastructure issue, rather than a problem with the Smart Hub Plus or with the laptop / Teams. Could the route the traffic is following make a difference? If so, how would I go about pinpointing this? The Microsoft 365 connectivity tests don't flag up anything obvious.

After much testing to convince myself there was an issue with the connection I called EE and an engineer visited. He indicated there had been some problems with the Smart Hub Plus on fast connections, tried to run a series of tests but these didn't complete. Reason unclear. However, he was confident that the new Smart Hub Pro would resolve the issues although he wasn't allowed to issue one himself.

Engineer left, job appeared to be closed, then I got a message from OpenReach asking me to arrange a call so that equipment could be delivered. I did, got put through to EE, with the guide saying that I really should have had the Smart Hub Pro already and that he'd get one sent out, although the process for doing this was very difficult. That was almost a couple of weeks ago. Being concerned this wasn't being progressed I got back in touch - over multiple calls now, once I get past the agent telling me I've got a very fast connection and they can't see an issue or find open jobs, when they review previous notes there's a record somewhere to an order being placed, but no-one can find out what. It appears I'm now down as a new customer and something needs to be progressed by the "New IT" team, even though I've been with EE for over a year.

So, perhaps a Smart Hub Pro will be sent out, which will be good because it sounds like I'm entitled to one on my package.

However, I'm not convinced the hub itself is the issue, given that the Asus router performs similarly, except when a VPN is active.

Does anyone have any thoughts about what might be happening?

Thanks!

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

Peter_W — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 11:09:32 GMT

Hey there @QuantumPhys.

Welcome to the EE Community, and thanks for taking the time to share so much details on what you've tested so far with this!

Did you mention to the engineer that visited that you had tested this with the Asus router already?

If you're confident doing so as well, you could also try setting up a PPPoE network on your laptop and plug directly into the ONT and test without any separate router in between.

You can find all of the settings for this here:

How Do I Use My Own Router for EE Home Broadband? | Help | EE

Peter

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

QuantumPhys — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 21:28:50 GMT

Thanks @Peter_W ,

The testing with my Asus router was after the engineer had left and I hadn't heard any more about the Smart Hub Pro I was expecting. When the engineer was at the house he was pretty convinced there was a router issue because his tests wouldn't complete. My impression was that the router needed to be exchanged before any more in depth investigation would be undertaken.

Connecting the laptop directly to the ONT is a good suggestion. I'll try that next opportunity I've got and let you know what happens!

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

QuantumPhys — Tue, 06 May 2025 20:16:52 GMT

Hi @Peter_W,

I managed to link the laptop directly to the ONT, establish a PPPoE connection OK and run some tests.

The Teams performance was similar to via either the EE or Asus router, perhaps slightly better, although definitely with noticeable stutter on both video and audio.

General performance test results were:

Fast.com - 520 Mbps

Speedtest.net: https://www.speedtest.net/result/17700510603

Thinkbroadband: https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1746549527141756555

At the end of the session I tried another call using a 4G hotspot via my phone, and as previously, the Teams call quality was excellent - very clearly superior to when using the direct connection via the ONT.

Any thoughts on what to try next, or whether this may be pointing towards where a problem may lie?

Thanks,

Andrew

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

JimM11 — Tue, 06 May 2025 20:39:17 GMT

@QuantumPhys Tether your phone to the laptop and test.

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

QuantumPhys — Wed, 07 May 2025 20:17:28 GMT

Hi @JimM11 ,

Thanks for the suggestion.

Here are the results. Essentially the EE results are still poor, despite the faster connection, but various connections via my phone are all fine.

EE WiFi

MS Teams performance

Fast.com

Speedtest.net

Thinkbroadband.com

Poor video - blocky and freezing; audio robotic

100 Mbps

https://www.speedtest.net/result/17705557286

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1746648663632062255

Phone hotspot

MS Teams performance

Fast.com

Speedtest.net

Thinkbroadband.com

Excellent

26 Mbps

https://www.speedtest.net/result/17705485651

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1746647490302111555

Tethered to phone by USB cable

MS Teams performance

Fast.com

Speedtest.net

Thinkbroadband.com

Excellent

26 Mbps

https://www.speedtest.net/result/17705502360

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1746647632490500155

Tethered to phone by USB network adapter and ethernet cable

MS Teams performance

Fast.com

Speedtest.net

Thinkbroadband.com

Excellent

33 Mbps

https://www.speedtest.net/result/17705538867

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1746648433749945855

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

JimM11 — Wed, 07 May 2025 21:00:05 GMT

@QuantumPhys As far as i can see, with the copy that you have posted and below, you have a serious upload problem and it is not going to get better until you get that fixed. Download may be ok but for teams/zoom etc the upload is just as important. Question for you do you have or are you using any kind of wi-fi booster device on the network?

General performance test results were:

Fast.com - 520 Mbps

Speedtest.net: https://www.speedtest.net/result/17700510603

Thinkbroadband: https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1746549527141756555

Any thoughts on what to try next, or whether this may be pointing towards where a problem may lie?

Thanks, ""

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

JimM11 — Thu, 08 May 2025 06:00:36 GMT

@QuantumPhys When cleared for viewing you can take a look see. Also the link below to a very detailed speed test and look closely at the details boxes for the upload side of the speed test's. There are 2 thing's that you need to do, 1. is network connect your laptop to the Pro router that you have, 2. vary the testing times to get a picture off what is going on connection wise. 3. do not care what bundle you say you have got, there is an upload issue, may not be you or your home or your connection but there is something going on around your fibre.

https://speed.cloudflare.com/

https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat

FF500 on Sky No1 at 6.30amFF500 on Sky No2 at 6.30am

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

JimM11 — Thu, 08 May 2025 07:38:36 GMT

@QuantumPhys Two quick captures but his time on a PC with a Ethernet direct connection. Again when cleared for viewing.

FF500 on Sky No1 at 8.30amFF500 on Sky No1 at 8.30am

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

QuantumPhys — Thu, 15 May 2025 19:57:31 GMT

Hi @JimM11 - here are some outputs from tests run at different times of day. Each time the laptop is connected by Ethernet cable to the Smart Hub Plus.

1000 in the morning

1200 noon

2000 in the evening

I can't see anything obvious in these.

Teams / Zoom calls are poor quality each time.

If I use a VPN the quality is fine but because it's a corporate laptop I can only do this when the VPN client is running on my old Asus router, either with the Asus router connected to the ONT and using PPPoE or with the Asus router acting as an access point to the Smart Hub Plus. (The issues with Teams/Zoom persist when the Asus router is connected to the ONT but without the VPN running.)

I've monitored the network traffic and something strange is happening with STUN packets. I tried putting the laptop in the DMZ and also changing NAT to FullCone on the Asus router and neither makes any difference.

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

JimM11 — Thu, 15 May 2025 20:33:48 GMT

@QuantumPhys What was the outcome off your upload problem? Pictures need to be cleared for viewing!

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

QuantumPhys — Thu, 15 May 2025 20:56:24 GMT

@JimM11 - all the tests appeared OK, but with Teams or Zoom there are still issues with video/audio from my end. I can see and hear others ok but others have issues with the quality of my video and audio. I couldn't quite believe it until I recorded some calls and played them back.

I'm wondering if it might be some kind of Openreach routing issue because it goes away with a VPN, but I don't know how to investigate that, or even if I can ask someone to take a look.

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

JimM11 — Thu, 15 May 2025 21:17:34 GMT

@QuantumPhys How many times do i need to ask the same question. ""What was the outcome off your upload problem?""

and have a look at this post that was replied earlier date and time stamped 07-05-2025 10:00 PM.

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

QuantumPhys — Thu, 15 May 2025 21:55:33 GMT

Hi @JimM11 , from the plots I've uploaded I can't see a specific uploade problem but I may not know how to interpret them, so any steer would be appreciated.

Looking back at the earlier reply, there's no Wifi booster on the network.

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

Tryfan_Tamer — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 09:41:55 GMT

Did you ever get this sorted? I seem to be having the same issue. I've moved from BT @ 500Mb to EE @ 900Mb & everyone is saying my Teams video/voice is really poor now. I'm seeing a little bit of Network Jitter when looking at the stream but nothing obvious that would suggest any fault on my side.

I'm directly connected to the router which is a Smart Hub Plus.

I've used BT for the last 4 years with zero issues on Teams calls.

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

QuantumPhys — Mon, 16 Jun 2025 21:07:59 GMT

Sorry to hear you've got the same problem.

My Teams and Zoom issues were never resolved so in the end I left EE and am now with IDNet. Same ONT and no engineer visit required. Using my new router, I confirmed Teams and Zoom still weren't working on my last day with EE. Left the router connected overnight. The provider switched over at 3am and once I put in the new PPPoE login details I was back up and running again. Teams and Zoom immediately started working as they should.

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

aman961 — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 09:19:00 GMT

I had the exact same issue with EE broadband when I first signed up and went through multiple trouble shooting steps.
I had numerous EE routers, upgraded the speed of my broadband etc..

Whenever I was on teams or zoom calls - the other party said my signal was terrible, constantly freezing and near enough impossible to work from home, but it was all good on my side.

I did end up getting this issue resolved by opting to obtain the BT smart hub 2 router, rather than the EE smart hub plus.

The issue revolves around the internal firewall the EE Smar hub plus router has - the only way to resolve is by using a different router. Potentially EE's Wifi 7 router would be a result, but to get something similar that doesn't cost a significant amount more per month you have 2 options:
- Buy your own router

- Obtain the BT smart hub 2 router

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

SFW8 — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 08:30:44 GMT

I had the exactly same issue, along with my sky streaming.

I've never experienced this issue before until switching to EE.

Something isn't right.

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

TraderTravel — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 15:52:17 GMT

It's definitely worth raising this with EE Customer Service. Until more people complain, you won't get this resolved.

Re: Microsoft Teams Quality Issue

TMorphy — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 14:38:50 GMT

Hey QP,

EE 1.6 Gb Full Fibre Busiest Home package with a Smart Hub Plus

I have actually same service and same issues with teams - so any upload of any images do render or sent.

if i tether my phone they upload straight away or use my office WIFI (which i admin and have with Zen)

Brought this up a while with EE and assumed they had issues with content filters.

Phoned them and asked them to remove all content and parent control for me to test

Also remove the wifi controls that appeared off on EE app - gaming and business QOS thing

So tried usual Wifi SSID and even creating guest SSID to use for work round.

My smart hub plus broke the other day with power plug issues, so have its been replaced with same issue.

Done numerous factory resets and all that. Ive given EE another phone just now and mentioned this thread.

I could just to install VPN or mess with DNS to get this working - but they should resolve this

Ideally, i would like to manage the router content with a browser or CLI, as the EE app for BB is hit and miss - probably using the same content issues

Thanks - i let you know, hope i get on.