Get Skype’s annoying features under control

Skype is a great tool, but has some frustrating features. Christopher Null shows how to remove them

Skype can’t find webcam, speakers or microphone

One of the most common complaints with Skype is that it loses its connection to some essential component – either your camera, speakers or microphone. While some of these problems can be traced to hardware problems, driver issues, or simple Windows errors that rebooting can fix, many are caused by Skype’s own confusion.

Your first troubleshooting stop is under Tools > Options. Click Audio Settings, then Show advanced options. Here you’ll find a list of all the audio devices your computer has ever utilised. If you have, say, a headset that you occasionally plug in, it will show up here, greyed out. Problems occur when Skype accidentally attempts to use this device even if it isn’t plugged in. You’ll find a similar drop-down under Video Settings.

Call quality is terrible

Chances are this isn’t really Skype’s fault. Your Wi-Fi is slow, you’re too far from the router, or there’s congestion on your network. Attack these issues methodically. Assuming you’re connecting wirelessly, move as close to your router as possible. (It should go without saying that connecting over Wi-Fi will be much more seamless than connecting over a cellular data connection.)

Another key tip: Once you park your laptop, tablet, or phone, keep it still. After you find a spot with good coverage, don’t touch your device any more. This helps stabilise your wireless connection, so Skype can work with a less erratic amount of bandwidth, and it also improves quality by optimising video compression. Because the background is now static instead of in motion, fewer pixels will be changing in the image, which means more bandwidth is available to the important part of the image. Similarly, ensure other computers on the network aren’t hogging bandwidth. If someone’s streaming Netflix in another room, your Skype connection will suffer.