Troubleshoot and resolve echoing in your room

What causes echo?

In general, an echo is caused by one of two things:

1
Someone's mic is too close to their speaker or sound output. This could be two participants that are physically in the same room, or someone with an external mic that's positioned too close to their speakers.
2
One or more users is experiencing slow and/or unstable network conditions. In this case it's possible for the audio feeds to get out of sync, which can cause echoing.

Quick Troubleshooting Steps

1. Someone on the call may have their Microphone too close to their speakers. It can be helpful if everyone on the call is using headphones to prevent echo.

2. Ask participants to mute their microphones when they aren't speaking to help cut down on background noise and echo.

3. Enable "Mobile Mode" in the advanced section of settings. Settings can be accessed by the gear icon in upper right corner of the room.

If you're still running into trouble, we have more info and steps below in the main guide


How can I fix echo?

To fix echo, you'll need to first determine which of the above possibilities is causing the echo. Below are some ways to troubleshoot each potential cause.

Mic Proximity

You can check this by having all of your users join you in your Whereby room. If you experience echo, have each participant mute their mic one person at a time, and check if the echo still persists each time someone mutes. If the echo stops when a user mutes their mic, it's a good sign that something with their setup is causing the echo. 

Once you determine who's mic situation isn't ideal, they can try either of the following:

  • Use a headset while on Whereby. This way there isn't any chance that a mic will pick up the audio from the room
  • Turn down their computer volume, and move their mic farther away from their speakers. If the user is on a laptop with a built-in mic, using a headset will be the best way to go

Network Issues

Network issues can be diagnosed by using a speed test site like https://fast.com/ or https://www.speedtest.net/, and testing your connection speed to ensure it meets our minimum requirements

Additionally, some troubleshooting can be done if the user is connecting by WiFi, by trying a different network, or hard-lining over ethernet. If the issue gets better when on a different network, it's a good sign that the original network isn't consistent enough to use Whereby.


None of that resolved the echo

If none of the above resolves the echo, customers on paid plans can contact our support team through the help icon on your dashboard. In the email, be sure to include any troubleshooting that you've already done and a detailed description of the situation!