'Mifi' (mobile wifi) device using EE sim-Teams calls buffering or cut off - why?

[The_Polygon]

I have a 4G compatible unlocked mifi device (TP-Link M7350 model) in which I use an EE sim.

The EE coverage is good for everything except Microsoft Teams audio and video calls; mid-call, the video and audio start buffering and usually end up losing connection. It didn't happen that often with Skype.

Confusingly, it doesn't happen every single time, sometimes, I can go through an entire call without being cut off.  Why does this happen?

[Leanne_T]

Hi there @The_Polygon

Thanks for coming to the community. 

Do you have any other devices connected when this happens? 

Are you using a VPN? 

Thanks 🙂

Leanne.

[bristolian]

Hi @The_Polygon 

By means of an "instinctive" response, I'd be minded to say this could be related to your data speeds at the time.

Skype may not be needing the same speed as Teams does, or perhaps your speeds are lower when you're using Teams.

What sort of data speeds are you achieving, and do these vary?

Under "bandwidth requirements", this Microsoft help article is worth a read.

[The_Polygon]

(a) I'm not using a VPN when I make Teams calls. Should I? Would it help?

(b) How can I find out what speeds I'm achieving? Do I check the TP-Link screen to find this out? Does it have to be in mbps? And, isn't the speed dependent on the EE network?

Also, just wanted to say that I'm using the EE PAYG data SIM, £30 pack for 60 GB for 30 days. 

[The_Polygon]

No other devices are being used except the laptop on which the Teams calls take place. I have a choice of using the office VPN, or not, they leave it up to me to decide.

[bristolian]

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@The_Polygon wrote:

(b) How can I find out what speeds I'm achieving? Do I check the TP-Link screen to find this out? Does it have to be in mbps? And, isn't the speed dependent on the EE network?

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Use any decent speedtest site - many people use speedtest.net but there are others.

You're trying to test what data speeds you are getting from your EE mobile device, and whether those speeds could be causing an issue with usage of the Teams service.

[The_Polygon]

Thanks. Just checked and got 45.8 mbps upload and 14.6 mbps upload on the speed test website you suggested. Which suggests that I have more than enough speed for the video and audio calls to not drop.

But they do...

So, my question might be:

Is it EE's 4G coverage in my town (which is always showing on the coverage checker as top-notch!), is it my mi-fi device, or is it the result of too many people trying to use Teams all over the world?

Thank you, you've been helpful.

[The_Polygon]

Hi, again. I've read other posts on here. These seem to suggest that the best speeds are reserved for pay monthly customers, not PAYG customers. Is this true? 

[bristolian]

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@The_Polygon wrote:

Thanks. Just checked and got 45.8 mbps upload and 14.6 mbps upload on the speed test website you suggested. Which suggests that I have more than enough speed for the video and audio calls to not drop.

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Do you mean 45.8Mb/s download & 14.6Mb/s upload?

If so, then I'm confident there is no speed capping involved, and those speeds should be plenty sufficient to run video calls.

My next line of thought would be whether these problems running Teams calls are permanent 24x7, or variable and more prevalent at certain times or days? Also whether your device (is this a PC?) has any other background processes running that could be the cause?

[The_Polygon]

Sorry, yes, 45.8 mbps download. 

No, it does not buffer / drop calls all the time. It does it at random times of the day, and some days, works very well from the start to the end of the call.

That is what puzzles me. It's not as if it happens between 3-4 pm or any such time, just very randomly.

No, no other processes running in the background of the PC. Should I move to a contract? Is it happening because the PAYG users are less "valuable"?