How to fix network jitter (forever) in less than 10 minutes

If you're experiencing choppy phone or video calls, pixelated conference calls, or disjointed VoIP audio connections, it's entirely possible that your network jitter is above acceptable levels.

Jitter refers to the variation in arrival times of data packets across a network. There will always be a small variation, but if the jitter rate is too high, you will experience interruptions such as choppy audio, delayed video, or dropped calls.

Network jitter is measured in milliseconds (ms). Here's a pretty standard breakdown of the fluctuation rate:

• Good nervousness: Less than 30 ms: Typically does not cause noticeable interruptions in real-time communication.
• Moderate nervousness: Between 30 and 50 ms: May cause slight delays or distortion, but is generally manageable.
• High nervousness: More than 50 ms: Can cause serious problems such as robotic voices, video freezes, and frequent disconnections.

High jitter will negatively affect any real-time communication over the network. Voice calls will be of terrible quality and video conferencing will be even worse.

The good news is that with the right troubleshooting approach, many network jitter problems can be reduced or eliminated in less than 10 minutes. The best call center software and business phone services have built-in tools to address instability and many other network problems.

How to tell if network jitter is the problem

Although there are many reasons why your network may not be working properly, such as faulty routers, poor Internet connection, and other network-specific problems, there are some telltale signs that indicate restlessness is the problem.

Static sounds and dropped calls indicate concern

If you are experiencing interruptions like static and robotic sounds on your VoIP calls or video conferencing sessions that end abruptly, jitter could be to blame.

High jitter means there is a large variation in packet arrival times across your network, disrupting the smooth delivery of audio and video. These inconsistencies can create choppy, delayed, or distorted transmissions.

Static, robotic sounds, and dropped calls are usually symptoms of jitter, but they can also be caused by other factors, such as mismatched VoIP codecs, insufficient bandwidth, or packet loss unrelated to jitter.

SEE: Learn about other causes of missed calls and how to fix them.

Confirm jitter with a ping test

To determine if jitter is affecting your connection, a quick and easy diagnostic you can run is a network ping test. This test sends data packets to measure latency and jitter directly.

Please note that you do not need any fancy software or advanced technical knowledge to perform jitter testing. There are many great free speed test apps that can report jitter, latency, and much more. Acceptable jitter should be less than 30 ms.

How to fix network jitter forever

If you have identified that your nervousness is above acceptable levels, resolving it begins with understanding the underlying causes and taking specific action.

A common issue that causes concern is using a wireless connection, which is more prone to interference. Switching to a wired Ethernet connection can significantly reduce jitter, providing a more stable and reliable network experience by eliminating environmental interruptions that affect wireless signals.

It's not always possible to switch to a wired connection, but it's one of the most reliable VoIP troubleshooting tactics out there to restore clear calls.

Outdated or underperforming network equipment is another common cause of concern. Network routers, firewalls, and switches that cannot handle high-speed traffic may have difficulty delivering consistent packet delivery, especially with real-time applications. Updating your hardware and ensuring it is running the latest firmware can help improve performance and reduce jitter.

Network congestion, where bandwidth is shared among too many high-traffic devices or applications, often causes packet delays. To mitigate this, reducing non-essential traffic or increasing available bandwidth can help smooth packet delivery and decrease jitter. This can be particularly important for businesses or homes with multiple devices using the network simultaneously.

Another key factor is ensuring proper prioritization of packages. Quality of Service (QoS) settings, essential data such as VoIP, or video streams may be delayed due to less critical traffic. Enabling QoS on your network equipment allows you to prioritize urgent data, ensuring important packets are delivered on time and without interruptions.

Finally, if the concern persists despite these fixes, it may indicate a problem with your network design. Chronic jitter may be due to poorly designed networks with congestion points or inefficient traffic flow. If this is the problem, you have a solution ahead of you that takes just over 10 minutes.

In these cases, the solution may be to redesign the network security architecture to allocate dedicated bandwidth for real-time traffic and optimize network paths. Ensuring your network is designed to handle transmission and communication demands is critical for long-term stability.

How to prevent network jitter

If you are concerned about the security, speed and efficiency of your network, this section is for you. Here's how you can prevent network instability from affecting your network.

Stay up to date with updates

One of the easiest ways to prevent jitter issues from arising is to keep the firmware and software on all your network-related devices completely up to date. Vendors of routers, switches, firewalls, and WiFi access points regularly release performance and stability patches, and for good reason. Installing recent versions will prevent outdated components from breaking package flows.

SEE: Learn the basics of patch management and how to stay on top of updates.

Choose quality VoIP providers

You'll want to examine potential VoIP, video conferencing, and streaming providers to ensure call quality and jitter mitigation techniques before signing up. Many of the best VoIP providers offer dedicated multipath packet delivery, edge network optimizations, and voice QoS to avoid potential jitter issues.

Isolate VoIP traffic

When setting up your office's wired network architecture, you may want to configure a dedicated virtual LAN (VLAN) for VoIP and broadcast packets. This will isolate sensitive media packets from interruptions from other types of traffic, keeping your network paths protected. Similarly, you can also use wireless access points to isolate your SSIDs. This is one of the best ways to optimize a VoIP network and keep it secure.

Continuous optimization is key

Even if your initial jitter issues are resolved, it's still a good idea to perform ongoing network monitoring to help detect and address any suboptimal network conditions before they snowball. Once you've started monitoring your network, keep an eye out for early warning signs, such as increased latency, so you can adjust your settings.

You may also want to explore network monitoring tools.