There are, unfortunately, a lot of reasons that telehealth connections may have issues. Some might be due to general internet congestion, some might be your equipment or others in the household. When connecting to your provider using telehealth the connection is direct from your computer to the provider's computer. Due to how the internet is routed your connection may or may not take the same route each session, so each time you connect your video and audio may be traveling a different route and might be better, or worse, for having done so. There are many points of failure or degradation between the two computers, and so connectivity issues are likely to happen eventually.
However, if you are having connectivity issues, here are some possible troubleshooting options to try;
- Reload or Refresh the page by clicking the reload or refresh page button in the browser. Reloading the page will momentarily drop you out of the session room and then rejoin about 1-2 seconds later with the hope that the connection will take a different route. Sometimes communication between two local computers can be routed through convoluted paths, such as via satellite, or to another country and back again if that's what the internet routers determine is the best route at the time. It's also not unusual for web browsers to need a refresh to clear up issues with a page.
- Close other software that is running or close other open tabs in your browser as this can strain your computer's resources and cause the page to process slowly.
- Run a virus scan to make sure your computer is not infected. Infected computers often run slowly.
- Try using a different web browser. We recommend Chrome, but you may have better success with a different browser, such as Firefox. You can also try clearing the browser cache.
- Go to https://speedtest.net and check your general download/upload speeds as well as latency. A high latency (over 60ms ping) will cause a poor connection. Your ISP may be able to help resolve latency issues.
- Internet at home can be negatively affected by other users in the house. You need at least 2-5mbps download AND upload for good quality video (check your speeds using the website in the previous step). Most people only think of download speeds because that is what ISPs focus on when selling their services, but in order to use a video service, you also need fast upload as well. Unfortunately, upload speeds are often a fraction of the download speed and can be low enough to impact quality. If someone else in the house is also using the internet at the same time then that can compound the problems. Asking others to refrain from internet use while you are in telehealth sessions might help.
- Wifi or router issues can also impact the quality. Moving your computer closer to your router or wifi-hotspot might help an otherwise slow or fragmented connection. You may want to try power cycling your equipment, router, wifi, or computer. You can also check for and turn off other nearby devices such as microwaves, electric motors, etc with strong EMF fields that can sometimes negatively affect wifi transmission.
- Check network cables. Sometimes a poorly seated cable can work, but work in a degraded fashion, making your connection slow or unstable.
- Try updating your OS system, or your web browser software. Incomplete Windows 10 updates can often cause problems with networking.
- Try using a different device, such as a tablet or phone. It may be worth trying connecting from a different location that has different internet connections if that is an option.
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide tech support beyond this help page. Each system and setup is different and issues can arise from many different sources and we are not able to delve into the specifics needed to resolve most issues if the above tips do not solve the issue. If you continue to have issues then you may need to contact a tech support company that specializes in computer troubleshooting and who can investigate your specific situation.