You can have great video quality on doxy.me when both you and your patient have a good internet connection and reliable device. Doxy.me is a peer-to-peer video solution, meaning once the video call starts the video data goes directly between you and your patient, not through our servers.
Older devices or bad internet connections (like poor bandwidth) will cause you or your patient to experience poor quality calls or even a choppy video or audio.
Run Diagnostic Tests
If you are experiencing poor video quality, you and your patient should run these diagnostic tests:
Use the doxybot precall test to make sure your speakers and camera are set up and working. Have your patient do it as well. Send your patient to: https://doxy.me/precall-test/
Estimate call quality to predict your expected call quality based on you computer and internet speeds.
If you believe quality issues are a result of the patient's device or connection, send your patient this patient troubleshooting article.
Make improvements
If you receive poor scores on the diagnostic tests, here are a few tips all participants can follow to improve video quality during a call:
Use a newer computer with plenty of speed - Sending and receiving video takes a lot of computer power. Old or slow computers will have a harder time processing the video, which can cause choppiness.
Restart your computer - Other software might be using computer power or interfering with your video or microphone. Restarting your computer will ensure that your computer is ready for video.
Close unused apps - Close background apps or browser tabs before starting a session to lighten the load on your device, and make more computer power available. Choppy video during a call can also be caused by CPU over-throttling if your computer is handling multiple tasks at a time. You can check by opening Task Manager on Windows or Activity Monitor on macOS. View the CPU tab, and check to ensure it isn't at 85% or more as that could cause issues.
Reduce the video quality in call settings - Low definition is best for older devices and slower connections.
Move closer to your WiFi router, and switch to the 5GHz frequency - This will increase the maximum amount of bandwidth available to your device over a shorter distance.
Use an Ethernet cable connecting your computer to the router - This will provide the most stable connection possible. Both participants will need at least 750kbps to connect on a video call, and we recommend 2mbps for a more stable session.
Turn off other devices on the same WiFi connection are using high bandwidth activities (for example, Netflix/YouTube/Skype/FaceTime)
Ensure your router isn't physically obstructed or out of view - Keep it in the open, and the signal will be stronger. Some WiFi extenders are known to cause issues with bandwidth. Try a different network.
Disable lower power mode on battery powered devices - Some devices reduce functionality to save power when the battery falls below a certain threshold, often called "low power mode." This can cause reduced performance. Plugging in the device helps.
How to re-sync the video call during a call:
Open Call settings.
Select Troubleshooting and then refresh/Restart Call
Learn more about video quality and the technology doxy.me uses.
If you have any questions, please contact our support team.