[Legacy] Video and Voice Chat Troubleshooting

Roll20 is interested in bringing people around tabletop games (among others). To facilitate that purpose, we've integrated video and voice chat - however, sometimes troubles arise. The purpose of this document is to help assist users with Video and Voice Chat troubleshooting steps. 

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How is WebRTC different from Discord, Google Hangouts, Skype, etc?

WebRTC is a HTML5 technology that runs video and voice through a web browser without the need of a java applet. Applications like Skype or Discord aren't browser-based and therefore have access to hardware acceleration and data compression that Roll20 cannot take advantage of. Those applications use a Client/Server or All-to-One-to-All connection rather than a Peer-to-Peer connection. With an "All-to-One-to-All" connection, applications like Skype send your video/voice data one time to their server which then carries that load of data to each of the other people in the call. With "Peer-to-Peer", you are sending your video/voice data again to each peer connection in the call. This means that the upload bandwidth cost for a WebRTC call is higher than other VOIP options in anything more than a two person call. This higher upload bandwidth cost can result in stability problems for users with low upload bandwidth connections.

Roll20 WebRTC Bandwidth Requirements

Roll20 WebRTC can only be used in web browsers that natively support it. Roll20's officially supported browsers, Chrome and Firefox, are both compatible. A Roll20 WebRTC call has a suggested download and upload bandwidth of 512Kbps per additional user in the chat. That means that in a six person call (five users other than yourself), you would need around 2.5Mbps of bandwidth for a stable call. If your group has members whose connections cannot support these requirements we suggest using a 3rd party, non-browser based chat option, that can make use of both hardware acceleration and data-compression to lower bandwidth requirements.

Browser Settings

At present, Roll20 only fully supports Firefox and Chrome web browsers for our VTT. Other browsers may be able to handle WebRTC with little to no issues, but we can't devote reliable tech support for them if you do run into any issues.

Keeping your Browser Up to Date

It's generally a good idea to keep your browser updated to take advantage of browser bug fixes and optimization measures.

Updating Chrome

1. Click on the More Button (vertical row of three dots icon) in the upper right hand corner.
2. Click on the Help option from the resulting drop down menu.
3. Click on About Google Chrome option from the secondary drop down menu that appears.

OR

1. Paste chrome://settings/help into the URL bar and hit Enter.

Either method will open Chrome's "About" page that will inform you of your current browser version and will automatically prompt you to update to the latest stable version if you're not using it. Relaunch your browser when prompted after the install.

Updating Firefox

1. Click on the Menu Button (three horizontal lines icon) in the upper right hand corner.
2. Click on ? icon at the bottom of the drop down menu.
3. Click on About Firefox from the resulting roll out menu.
4. Firefox will tell you your current browser version and automatically prompt an update to the latest stable version if you're not using it. Click the Restart to Update button if necessary.

Clear your Web Browser's Cache

Clearing Out Chrome's Cache

1. Click on the Menu Button (three horizontal lines) in the upper right hand corner.
2. Click on More Tools from the dropdown.
3. Click on Clear browsing data from the new options.
4. From the "Time range" drop down select All time option.
5. Check both Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files.
6. Click on Clear Data button.

Clearing Out Firefox's Cache

1. Click on the Menu Button (three horizontal lines) in the upper right hand corner.
2. Click the Options Button' (gear icon) from the drop down menu.
3. On the Advanced tab, select the Network sub-tab.
4. Under the Cached Web Content section, select the Clear Now button.

Device and Bandwidth Tests

Webcam WebRTC Compatibility Test

• Check browser and network configuration with: https://networktest.twilio.com/
• Go to: https://apprtc.appspot.com

Alternatively is to run a test of your webcam and mic through whereby.com. This website is also a Peer-to-Peer WebRTC service that can have up to four users in a conference call.

Perform a WebCam/Microphone Test

• Check if your Microphone/Webcam works with a different browser. For instance, if you are using Firefox check if it works with Chrome instead.
• Does the Microphone/Webcam work with any other software that uses the camera such as Skype or Photobooth.

Perform a Bandwidth Test

If you don’t already know them, you can take a bandwidth speed test from OOKLA’s Browser-based Speedtest. You will want to run this test in the principle environment you normally play your games on Roll20 and have a Roll20 game currently open.

1. Once Speednet's home page loads, click the central "GO" button.
2. Allow the test to run. This process can take a couple minutes to complete.
3. Once it's finished, Speedtest will give you your download and upload rate in megabits per second (Mbps).

Filing a Bug Report

If none of the above helped to resolve your issues, please contact our customer support here being sure to include information onw the steps you have taken thus far so we can pick right back up with you!

Further, please provide the following information as well

• Operating System
• Browser and Version
• Description of the Issue
• WebRTC Debug Log (Click the "Download WebRTC Debug Log" button under the Audio and Video section of the My Settings tab)
• Your average Download and Upload speeds from the above Bandwidth Test.