DISQUS

Glen Campbell · 7 months ago

I don't think it's Skype. I, too, use it on a Mac, and I sometimes spend several hours per day on it. Never had a problem at work; only occasionally at home (slow Charter cable connection). My guess would be your ISP.

guruvan · 7 months ago

I love my Skype. I use it as my primary phone. Most any problem that I've ever had could be attributed to the network connectivity. I use it for hours at a time as well. I do find that in lousy network environments Skype-to-Skype calls are better than PSTN calls. All that said, I can often make a call with Skype when I can't even get a web page. On a bike trip this summer, I had no cell, and Skype was my only mobile. I was able to use it on even the sketchiest of networks, via random open wi-fi networks. Bittorrent streams seemed to have been my only major enemy.

I can't personally vouch for the Mac, but on linux and windows it gives me no trouble at all. Most people I've talked to say that the connections are much better than with my AT&T cell phone. If you're having your troubles everywhere, and it's not network dependent, maybe try using another computer. All the skype data follows the account, not the computer, so it's easy to use someone else's.

Jeff · 7 months ago

I inadvertently put a bunch of money on my net2phone account a number of years ago. So much so that I still haven't been able to use it all up. I mostly only make calls back to the US from abroad. Their quality has gone up tremendously, so your Skype should rock. Your post made me laugh.

salimismail · 7 months ago

Louis, I agree with Glen - it's quite likely your ISP messing with you. I've had the same thing with Vonage, which, when plugged in elsewhere works just fine. Mine used to drop VOIP calls every 4-5 minutes like clockwork. Run some tests and it'd be a great story.

Cheers,
S.

Peter Parkes (Skype Blogger) · 7 months ago

If you’re using Skype in an office environment, you might like to check that its firewalls aren’t blocking Skype – there’s a list of ports Skype likes to use on our support site.

If that doesn’t help, please drop me a line with your Skype name and I’ll put you in touch with one of our troubleshooters.

Mike McCrary · 7 months ago

have you tried viewing your log files on your Mac. There is also a guide on skype guide to logging - https://developer.skype.com/Support/LogFile

also several issues on skype forums related to your problem.

http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=304831

Louis Gray · 7 months ago

Thanks for the links, Mike. I will both check the logs and the forum. If I get this solved, I will definitely be more positive in my Skype experience, which I've largely avoided to date.

Louis Gray · 7 months ago

Thanks for the note, Peter. I'll check the Skype forums to see if I get some insight. I am using an Airport Extreme router, which probably has it in for me.

Israel L'Heureux · 7 months ago

My first guess would be you're using a wireless router? Perhaps an airport extreme? Several wifi devices I've had in the past drop SSH connections periodically, but the airport extreme was the worst offender: 20 minutes, like clockwork.

Louis Gray · 7 months ago

Israel, it sounds like you are on to something. If the Airport Extreme is fighting with my SSH connections and Skype, should I be tweaking my Airport settings to solve it?

Neal Wiser · 7 months ago

I think it's Skype who has initiated several deceptive business practices recently. In my case, I finally started using Skype in October when my wife was on a business trip. We video-conferenced and shared files for a week and Skype worked great!
Next month, Skype emails me saying since I haven't used the account in over 6 months, it was going to be canceled for inactivity unless I PAID! I emailed back and forth with their customer support for over a week. They said they had no record of my use, yet the call logs were clearly visible on my account.