Video conferencing issue with Firewall Gold+ -- Google Meet, Zoom, Webex
I have an issue with maintaining a functional video conference link with a Firewalla Gold+ router that I installed about a month ago.
The Firewalla is configured as a router. My cable modem is connected directly to the configured WAN port on the Firewalla.
I previously had two ports on the Firewalla assigned to a LAG group and my cable modem configured to LAG two ports that were connected to the Firewalla LAG group. I removed this LAG configuration and the second ethernet cable yesterday in an attempt to simplify the network and debug the teleconferencing issue.
Without the LAG configuration, Google Meet is unable to maintain a stable video conference call for more than 5 minutes with two people on the call.
With the LAG configuration in place, Google Meet would drop calls after about 20 minutes.
At the time of the conference calls there is only one person in the home using the Internet connection. There are a dozen IoT devices on the network but nothing performing significant data transfers.
Before disabling the LAG configuration, I also disabled SmartQueues and AdBlocking on the router. This was by way of removing network services that may be contributing to the issue. These changes have not improved the stability of the teleconference calls.
Client devices are Apple products: iPad, MacBook Air, iMac. All client devices are running up to date operating systems. The iMac is the only device that is running an older OS, macOS v12.6.8. All client devices have statically assigned IPs that are delivered via DHCP from the Firewalla. All client devices have MAC randomization turned off. Client devices are configured to dual stack IPv4 and IPv6.
My cable service is 1250Mbps down, 40Mbps up with Comcast.
Are there any recommendations on how to maintain stable teleconferencing links with the Firewalla Gold+?
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Check this article first, there are a few tips from checking your ISP to LAN side https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360053534593-How-do-I-debug-network-connectivity-issues-
You may also want to look at your WiFi and see if it is stable or not
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Thanks for the response.
I've worked through all of the networking debug steps in that linked page. They are all standard connectivity and DNS resolution tests. All passed.
I have re-enabled:
* the LAG connection to my modem
* Smart Queues
* Firewalla Ad-blocking
The user reporting this issue has clarified that the video conferencing connection drops only happen with their MacBook Air M1. When they switch over to using an iPhone that is connected to the same household LAN the video conferencing does not have any problems.
I have deleted the Mac Book Air device from the Firewalla and then reconfigured the static IP for that device when it reconnected to the network. I assume any old device-specific rules will be deleted by this step.
I am using an Ubiquiti UniFi 6 Pro Access Point on this LAN. The AP management software does not show any indications of WiFi disconnection.
Since the video conferencing issue is isolated to a single device I am focusing debugging on:
* router rules/configuration that apply to the impacted device
* device network configuration
* compatibility between the MacBook Air WiFi hardware and the WiFi channels/widths in use -
If your problem is just one device, the probability of a WiFi compatibility is very high.
Have you tried to start a long lasting "ping fire.walla" on your Macbook Air? and see if the ping drops or long latency?
I'd also look at the Macbook and see if there are anything running in the background that may be doing stuff.
And lastly, launch firewalla tap on + and tap on Device Port Scan and turn off scan on the Macbook; (this will stop firewalla scan ports on that macbook ... should not impact performance, but worth a try)
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Side by side testing of a 2023 MacBook Pro M2, and the 2023 MacBook Air M2 both connected to the same Google Meet conference room showed substantial latency differences.
The MacBook Pro showed steady latency in the Google Meet network latency graph around 40ms.
The MacBook Air showed a baseline latency on the order of 60ms with frequent recurring spikes up to 300ms - 450ms.
I’ll try the long running ping test and port scanning the MacBook Air tomorrow.I have found Internet reports of WiFi issues with the M2 laptops. These reports point to some AP and MacOS settings to try. Specifically, enabling WiFi 6 160MHz wide channels and disabling AWDL (Apple Wireless Direct Link) on the laptop.
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