"Poor network quality" error reported by Microsoft Teams

Zen internet Full Fibre 100mbps (speedtest reports 90-100mbps upload and download)
Fritzbox 7530 running 8.02
PC connected via TP-Link AV1200 powerlines

Bit of a strange problem, my Internet connection seems fine and I've had no issues recently apart from...

I regularly attend Microsoft Teams meetings and sometimes I need to share my screen. This usually
works okay but occasionally Microsoft Teams reports a "Poor network quality" error and a few times it
has dropped the connection (this only happens if I'm screen sharing).

I've tried looking on the Microsoft website to see if there's any options to reduce the amount of bandwidth
it needs (I'm guessing 100mbps should be more than enough?) but this doesn't seem possible so maybe
there's something wrong with the Zen Internet connection or Fritzbox or home network?

I've just been reading the thread about dropout problems with FritzIOS v8.0 so could it be that?

The first thing you need to do is test without the powerline adaptors, anything else is skirting around the edges.

Hi,

If you're using Teams (personally I prefer Zoom but I understand why businesses use Teams) then you should try to get as fast a connection as you can afford. 100Mmbps is the very minimum I would want to use for Teams. Maybe you could talk to your company to see if they might be willing to pay a portion of your internet costs if you're using it for business purposes.

HTH,

In reply to a post by mking90031:

If you're using Teams (personally I prefer Zoom but I understand why businesses use Teams) then you should try to get as fast a connection as you can afford. 100Mmbps is the very minimum I would want to use for Teams. Maybe you could talk to your company to see if they might be willing to pay a portion of your internet costs if you're using it for business purposes.

Thanks Mark, I think the next step up is 500mbps but I don't fancy paying the extra if the problem turns out to be something on the Fritzbox or LAN. Unfortunately, my employer refuse to pay for any internet costs.

In reply to a post by PCJM40:

The first thing you need to do is test without the powerline adaptors, anything else is skirting around the edges.

The only way around that would be to use wifi which I think would be considerably slower. It's something I can try later in the week though.

If you can possibly run a temporary Ethernet cable, however awkward that would be, it would immediately resolve the question of powerline/wifi being inadequate. Then you can decide on what's next.

In reply to a post by cjn:

If you can possibly run a temporary Ethernet cable, however awkward that would be, it would immediately resolve the question of powerline/wifi being inadequate. Then you can decide on what's next.

The Fritzbox is on the ground floor at the front of the house and the PC is on the first floor at the back of the house. I don't have an ethernet cable long enough.

The Teams error only pops up occasionally and only when I screen share. I've tried countless pings and speedtests without ever seeing any problems.

I couldn't find any way to reduce the Teams screen sharing bandwidth so maybe it is maxing out the 100mbps connection?

In reply to a post by mking90031:

If you're using Teams (personally I prefer Zoom but I understand why businesses use Teams) then you should try to get as fast a connection as you can afford. 100Mmbps is the very minimum I would want to use for Teams. Maybe you could talk to your company to see if they might be willing to pay a portion of your internet costs if you're using it for business purposes.

A data point with Zoom: 2 or 3 years ago Mrs Scale and I did a Zoom call with friends. We had 30M wireless at the time, symmetric I believe. I put all 4 of our Zoom capable devices on to the call, without a problem.

One of the outcomes of the pandemic was that the A [asymmetric] in ADSL was stressed by Working From Home, in that the upload became a limiting factor.

If you remember 625 line TV, that had a bandwidth of 6MHz - or was it 5.5MHz, which corresponds roughly with 6Mb/s. so my experiment with 4 Zoom channels upload was probably taking 24 Mb/s or less. OK, we can argue about whether a Zoom channel is equivalent to a 625line TV channel [probably, it takes less]

The upshot of this is that, for both Zoom and Teams, you look at the upstream capability and 10Mb/s is probably adequate, per channel. If Teams or Zoom are not working adequately on a link with 20Mb/s upstream, this indicates looking at other factors than the raw speed, such as latency on the ISP connection or in house issues such as powerline connectors.

In reply to a post by DFScale:

The upshot of this is that, for both Zoom and Teams, you look at the upstream capability and 10Mb/s is probably adequate, per channel. If Teams or Zoom are not working adequately on a link with 20Mb/s upstream, this indicates looking at other factors than the raw speed

The OP stated in their first post that they have 100Mbps up and down so as you say that in theory should be enough

In reply to a post by Fmrl:

The only way around that would be to use wifi which I think would be considerably slower. It's something I can try later in the week though.

For the purpose of diagnosing the issue you're probably better to temporary move the PC to where it can connect directly to the router for the next Teams meeting where you will share your screen.