Inexcusable video and audio problems

I had to cancel my wendsday group because for some reason, my players stopped being able to hear me, I tried clearing the cache, clearing cookies, reconnecting, none of it worked. This is apallingly bad design and should never happen, ever. My internet is fine, the issue is roll20 has far too many issues for a site that has been around for so long. These are problems that should have been addressed in the earliest testing stages.

The video and audio uses webrtc.  It doesn't run through the Roll20 servers at all.  Webrtc is a peer to peer service that runs from browser to browser.  This means that you have to have the bandwidth to (if you are in a game with 5 other people) handle 5 incoming streams, and 5 outgoing streams.  I expect most people end up having trouble with the outgoing stream to each individual other person, due to upload bandwidth always being (in my experience anyway) more restricted than download bandwidth. This isn't a Roll20 bug, but simply the way webrtc works.  If your service can't handle the upload bandwidth, then you need to move at least some of your communication to another platform that uses a central server so that you are sending/receiving less streams.  I know some people find using something else for audio (discord or whatever) lessens the bandwidth requirements enough that they can keep using the in-game video.  You might try that and see if it works for you and your group.

Many people claim that Discord uses WebRTC for example. You can find this claim all over the web, but in fact they use dedicated servers for relays. there are limits, and Roll20 (believe it or not) has made vast strides since its initial implementation. My advice is to use Roll20 for video and Discord for audio. We have consistently excellent performance with this method.

I actually prefer discord for both because the webcam windows in r20 take up too much realestate, but my table that uses video all have secondary monitors.  

The problem is, that my wensday group is unable to use discord. I run for my therapist, an intern and a peer of mine; so we cannot use discord, we need to use roll20, and the fact roll20 has been so sloppy about audio and video is appalling and needs to be addressed immediately.

Omega Eclipse said: The problem is, that my wensday group is unable to use discord. I run for my therapist, an intern and a peer of mine; so we cannot use discord, we need to use roll20, and the fact roll20 has been so sloppy about audio and video is appalling and needs to be addressed immediately. Not sure I understand. You can't make a discord account specifically for Roll20 use? Nevertheless, you are not the first to bring up this issue. Roll20 has hired specialist consultants to try and improve the experience, but without dedicated serves (which is expensive as all get out and won't happen), they are limited in what they can provide. If you want a list of things to try to improve your experience, there are resources in the Help Center. Video and Voice Chat Troubleshooting Troubleshooting Connection Issues