“You’re frozen.” “You sound like a robot.” “Can everyone hear that echo?” Video calls are part of everyday life, and so are their problems. Most come down to three things: your internet connection, your computer being overloaded, or your audio setup.
Problem 1: Freezing, lag or a robotic voice
This is almost always your internet connection.
Quick fixes
- Move closer to your router, or better still, plug in with an Ethernet cable. A wired connection is far more stable than Wi-Fi.
- Pause other internet use. Streaming, game downloads, cloud backups and other people’s video calls all compete with yours.
- Turn off your camera if things are really bad. Audio needs far less bandwidth than video.
- Turn off HD video and virtual backgrounds in your meeting app’s settings.
- Restart your router before an important call if your connection has been unreliable.
Video calls rely on upload speed, which is often much slower than download speed. Run a speed test and look at the upload figure if calls are regularly poor.
Problem 2: Echo
Echo happens when a microphone picks up sound from speakers and sends it back.
- Use headphones or earbuds. This is the single most effective fix.
- If only other people hear an echo of themselves, the echo is coming from your setup, and the other way round.
- Make sure you haven’t joined the same call on two devices in the same room.
- Mute when you’re not speaking.
Problem 3: Nobody can hear you (or you can’t hear them)
- Check you’re not muted, both in the app and on your headset.
- In the meeting app’s audio settings, choose the right microphone and speaker. Apps often pick the wrong one after you plug in a headset or dock.
- Check microphone permissions in your privacy settings.
- See our audio and webcam guides for more.
Problem 4: The app itself is slow or crashes
Video calls are demanding on your computer, especially with screen sharing and background effects.
- Close other apps and browser tabs before the call.
- Turn off background blur and virtual backgrounds. They use a lot of processing power.
- Plug in your laptop. Many laptops slow down on battery power.
- Update the app. Updates fix bugs and improve performance.
- If the desktop app misbehaves, try joining through your browser, or the other way round.
Test before the meeting
- Zoom: join a test meeting at zoom.us/test.
- Microsoft Teams: Settings → Devices → Make a test call.
- Google Meet: use the check your audio and video option on the join screen.
Two minutes of testing saves ten minutes of “Can you hear me now?”
Look and sound better
- Face a window or a lamp. Light behind you turns you into a silhouette.
- Raise the camera to eye level. A stack of books under the laptop works.
- Use a headset or external microphone. Even basic earbuds with a mic usually sound better than a laptop’s built-in microphone.
The bottom line
For freezing and lag, improve your connection: move closer, plug in, and pause other internet use. For echo, wear headphones. For a struggling computer, close other apps and turn off background effects. And always test before the meeting, not during it.
