My wife and I skyped this morning, about 5 minutes. iPad to iPad.

About an hour ago, we tried again, no answer either direction. I called her, she called me, over and over, no answer either way.

Any idea what might have gone wrong?

She is in France. I'm here.

She uses Skype from here quite a little. I don't use it except with her when she is away. I know we have the right addresses, erc.

If you are going iPad to iPad, why aren't you using FaceTime?

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
If you are going iPad to iPad, why aren't you using FaceTime?

This.

I used to use Skype when I was out of the country but the people I would use it with now have some form of Apple product.

Facetime is much easier platform to use for video chat or just talking over Wifi then Skype.

Wish I could help but I think it's been 5 years since I used Skype.

Come on guys, he's asking about a Skype issue and not what to use instead.

Jim, wish I could help. I have Skype on my machine but rarely use it. Never experienced what you're reporting.

Wish I could help. I use Skype pretty regularly. Maybe check for updates?

shot in the dark. Could be a bandwidth problem. tried videoconferencing with my wife but kept getting cut off.

Switch to just audio, no video and we could carry on a conversation.

Are you able to text or email each other in trying to sort this out? I'm asking cuz if you couldn't, then that says internet connection at the hotel where she's at.

She is at a hotel center near Cognac for a family wedding. I know we have the bandwidth here, but impossible to know about there, and it might vary frim time to time or guest to guest.

My wife frequently travels to the same facility in Italy for work. We Skype during her lunch hour (6AM here) and there is plenty of bandwidth in her office. Back at her pensione, the quality varies depending on the number of other guests using the wifi.

One hint........ I never use wifi for skype. Only wired ethernet. Not that this advice helps with an ipad, but if you have a real computer with wired ethernet, give it a try.

I have solid skype here. You can try skyping me when I get home later. Then she can skype me to see if her side is solid.

How do they charge you for using Skype?
or Facetime?

quote:

Originally posted by BigCity:
How do they charge you for using Skype?
or Facetime?

No charge for Facetime. No charge for Skype unless you are using their voice services.

Oovoo is also and option but it sucks. Constant freezing and delays.

IME, Facetime has been the most reliable.

If it's not working right off the bat first thing I would do is force the app all the way closed and re-open.

Not sure how iPad savvy you are so, double tap the home button (shows things you have open) then swipe the application up to force it shut.

Next restart.

As long as you are on WiFi facetime and skype-> skype are both "free" just a matter of preference.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
If you are going iPad to iPad, why aren't you using FaceTime?

+1

I dislike most things about Apple, but if having problems with Skype, and using Apple products on both ends, it's logical to try FaceTime.

Before Microsoft bought Skype, it was primarily a Peer to Peer app. You connected directly to the computer you were talking to over the internet.

As the traffic and use increased, Microsoft added servers and plans to end Peer to Peer completely if it hasn't already.

I am bringing this up so you understand the path your call takes.

Your Skype call gets routed to Microsoft cloud and back out to the person you are calling.

If either side cannot reach the Microsoft cloud the call will fail.

Skype has a test feature, that lets you test your set up.

It is called the echo/sound test service.
It is a contact in your contact list.

If both of you can contact the echo sound test service, I would guess that the problem is in Microsoft cloud.

If one of you cannot contact the echo sound test service you are having a connection problem to the Microsoft cloud.

I would cold start both machines as a first step. This fixes the problems often.


Next step would be to call the echo sound test.
If you both can reach it, it would appear to be a cloud problem.

I would also be sure you have both upgraded to the latest version. If your not sure just
download the latest version and reinstall.

Hope this helps.

I call an apple machine from a windows machine almost daily

What sig2392 said.
I'll add that Skype is often blocked by country telco's. Infact Skype is one of the most blocked apps especially in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
As someone who travels overseas for most of the year, I don't use Skype anymore because of this. Whatsapp or Signal is better for VOIP. My company uses VSEE for video.

It's unusual, I think, that we skyped earlier in the day from the same locations using the same devices and the same software versions, and ~4 hours later could not connect.

She is back at her home now away from the wedding site, so no opportunity to experiment with the situation.

We may have a chance to skype again before she returns. We'll see.

I've been using Skype fr years to talk with my family back in Canada

I suspect that the problem is notoriously low bandwidth availability in hotels

from the house I get perfect audio and video just about any time of the day or night - when I travel its next to useless through hotel internet providers

99% sure its not your iPad's - just the hotel

I checked about FaceTime: it's charged as data on a wireless carrier; but can be done over Wi-Fi at no charge apparently.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Come on guys, he's asking about a Skype issue and not what to use instead.

Because it's a reasonable suggestion?

Doing what I do I see/hear a lot about experiences with a lot of different technologies. My impression has always been Skype's reliability, performance and call quality leave much to be desired. Of course: YMMV.

There are alternatives, though I can't speak to their reliability or performance. Facetime, if Apple<->Apple. Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp or Signal Private Messenger for cross-platform device<->device.

quote:

Originally posted by sig2392:
Before Microsoft bought Skype, it was primarily a Peer to Peer app. You connected directly to the computer you were talking to over the internet.

As the traffic and use increased, Microsoft added servers and plans to end Peer to Peer completely if it hasn't already.

That's nonsensical. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that it makes no sense.

With peer-to-peer the bandwidth constraints are completely between the endpoints. Forcing everything through servers now adds to the list of constraints the path to/from those servers and the servers' own limitations.

Used to be the servers were needed only for call setup.

Btw: Skype used to be regularly blocked because security people didn't like it. (I'm one of them.) First of all: Skype was originally designed to get around firewalls. Many network security professionals found that offensive. Secondly: That design led Skype traffic to look a lot like malware traffic. Lastly, and somewhat ironically: Skype has occasionally been the vehicle for malware. Maybe those are the reasons Microsoft is eliminating the peer-to-peer functionality?

(Skype's original design was felt by many firewall admins to make it unblockable. Guess that depended upon what you were using for a firewall. I successfully blocked it. *shrug*)