Zoom Connections

Posted: August 18, 2020


Students,

A few things to note to help make sure zoom runs as smoothly as possible for those of you utilizing it.

Bandwidth

  1. If your on campus, you have plenty of Bandwidth to run a zoom Class appropriately (this will not be an issue)
  2. If your off campus please make sure you (Minimum Bandwidth is 600K up/down, Recommended is 1.5mbps up/down).
    1. You can utilize speedtest.net with the closest server to check your bandwidth if you believe this is I an issue
    2. Other items on your home network can take up bandwidth ( Netflix for example recommends a minimum of .5mb for its slowest connection and 25MB for its highest UltraHD quality connection)

Turn off anything that is not necessary on your network to give yourself the best experience.

Avoid other activities that will steal bandwidth and cause quality issues during your zoom session (On all devices).

  1. 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:
    1. large downloads
    2. large uploads
    3. streaming video (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, YouTube)
    4. cloud backups (e.g. Carbonite, CrashPlan)
    5. cloud file synchronizations (e.g. OneDrive, Dropbox)
    6. other high-bandwidth activities
  2. Close other applications that you do not need during your zoom session.

Virtual Machine (through a laptop or computer)

  1. It is not recommended to run zoom this way no matter where you are located.  There are To many networking layers to help ensure the quality of any video source will work.

Other Items

  1. If your using wireless, turn off your wireless and turn on your wireless to connect to the closest access point and get the best possible signal before starting your zoom session
  2. Have you Rebooted your computer lately?  Try it, it can do wonders for fixing many issues related to audio/video and slowness.
  3. Zoom utilizes a shared off premise servers.  If you have a choppy connection, your issue may be related to an issue outside of our control.  Try leaving the meeting and reentering to see if it will establish a different and better connection.