How Network Constraints Can Affect Video Calls: Impact on 4 Video Conferencing Applications

Overview

In this whitepaper, we explore the critical role of network performance in maintaining high-quality video calls. With the increasing reliance on remote communication tools, it’s essential to understand how video conferencing applications respond to dynamic environments—whether it’s a seamless transition from office to car to café, or dealing with fluctuating network conditions. Our comprehensive analysis delves into how four leading video conferencing applications—Google Meet, Slack, Jitsi, and Cisco Webex—perform under various network constraints, revealing the key factors that influence call quality and user experience.

Types of network constraints:

• Limited Bandwidth
• Packet Loss
• High RTT Delay
• Jitter
• Disconnections

Key takeaways:

• The Variable Jitter with Constant Bandwidth and Variable Bandwidth, Delay, and Jitter with Constant Packet Loss scenarios severely impacted video quality, reducing frame rates significantly.
• The Variable Bandwidth with Constant Packet Loss and the Variable Packet Loss with Constant Bandwidth scenarios led to the most significant audio quality degradation, with notable drops in POLQA scores.
• The greatest audio delays were seen in the Variable Bandwidth with Constant Jitter and Variable Bandwidth, Delay, and Jitter with Constant Packet Loss scenarios.