Lag in Video Chat Rooms

I have 3 machines, newish HP Laptop, an old PC and a new Gaming PC all hardwired via the same switches to router and fibre service the 2 PC's are connected to a Samsung 40" HDTV

Here's the problem: the lag in chat is about 6 seconds on the PCs opposed to the Laptop, so if someone comments I see it first on the Laptop but have to wait for it to appear on either of the PCs which is causing me problems as I am a moderator and prefer using the PCs for this function.

Any ideas what the problem is?

You need to figure out if it’s an ‘app/hardware’ issue or a ‘network’ issue.

Right now I’d say it’s the former, because if it was network then you would have other side effects common to all three machines - given they are all wired through common hardware. Are all machines running the same OS and OS version, app version etc ?

You haven’t indicated whether the actual quality of the video in the meetings is impaired, presumably not. Just the chat functionality?

It may be due to the normal digital delays which each device you are using shows. All digital circuits add a delay but it will depend on when the item was made. For example early DAB radios have a longer delay than modern ones due to the circuit improvements.For example my dab radio is 2 seconds behind analogue signals.

It is also possible that your TV imposes a delay which you would not see when watching TV.

Have you had success using a similar setup before?

Is the chat running in a web browser? If yes, are they the same web browser and browser versions? Different web browsers can sometimes work differently or do not support some methods of maintaining a live connection for real-time uptimes and might fall back to polling every several seconds.

What if you only sign into the chat application on one device? It might be the server hosting only supports one instance for holding open a websocket for real-time updates.

old PC running Win 10, both New Gaming PC and Laptop running Win 11 all are upto date with OS updates, no betas etc , they all have Cat6 wiring to first unmanaged switch about 3 feet away which then runs from the front roo to the hallway, less than 10 feet away to second switch which is connected to the Linksys Velop/EG8120L and on to the Fibre network.

I've tried Edge, Google Chrome and Firefox browsers to connect to the chat lines even tried using VPNs to no avail, only the laptop seems to see the chat 6 seconds earlier than the PCs.

The Gaming PC has the best graphics car being newer, video quality is normally very good except when they have problems with the servers although the 6 second lag is on both the video and chat

I did wonder if the TV was the problem, but used a 1-1/2 to 2 year old monitor also Samsung today and still the same problem

Yes, tend to stick to the Edge Browser on all 3 machines old machine Win 10, other 2 are Win 11 and all uptodate, I did try Chrome and firefox on the old computer but no difference

Is there something I need to alter in Edge on the PCs

I was wondering if it was the TV, it's probably about 5-6 years old now but I did try a newer monitor I had left over from a Mini PC that I gave to someone else, with the same end result

The only real difference between the Laptop and the Game PC is that the Laptop has integrated Graphics and the PC has a graphics card both Radeon, the PC a 16GB RX6600XT

I could understand if it was the older PC only, but the other 2 wre bought within weeks of each other , the laptop first.

Might have missed it, but what platform are you using for the calls / chat function? Does the same thing happen if you try the calls/chat on a different platform (ie Zoom, Teams, Skype etc)?

Have you tried using the particular platforms dedicated app rather than browsers for access?

I’m wondering if it’s a port/NAT firewall issue/limitation on the Linksys, with multiple participants on the same call/meeting.

Might also be worth checking you don’t inadvertently have some video prioritisation switched on the Velop for one of the clients etc.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Might have missed it, but what platform are you using for the calls / chat function? Does the same thing happen if you try the calls/chat on a different platform (ie Zoom, Teams, Skype etc)?

It is a browser based site, even using a mobile phone you would have to use a Chrome based browser as recommended by them

Have you tried using the particular platforms dedicated app rather than browsers for access?

No dedicated App

I’m wondering if it’s a port/NAT firewall issue/limitation on the Linksys, with multiple participants on the same call/meeting.

The only person I see in the chat is the host/broadcaster, everyone else including me are just in chat, but as moderator I have the options to silence anyone else in the chat only the host/broadcaster can ban them from the room, I do have other priviledges as well but that is the main one that is causing the problem, I should be silencing them before anyone else other than the host/broadcaster can see the message

Might also be worth checking you don’t inadvertently have some video prioritisation switched on the Velop for one of the clients etc.

That would affect the laptop as well though surely

Couple more thoughts. On each PC browse to https://test-ipv6.com/ and confirm they all give the same results, this is an IPv6 test, it may pass or fail, the important thing is are all the PCs operating the same on the network. Thoughts here, if the laptop is using IPv6 but the others are IPv4, the IPv6 machine may have the advantage of bypassing NAT.

Also on each PC when using the chat right click in Edge, click Inspect, then select the Console tab, you are looking here for any regular errors that might indicate connectivity problems every 5 or 6 seconds that may point towards where the problem is.

It definitely isn't a delay caused by the TV as a monitor as that would affect everything, i.e. your biggest complaint would be why you have to wait 6 seconds for what you have typed to show up on the screen.