Re: [GnomeMeeting-list] GM - NetMeeting interoperability

[Johnny Strom <jonny strom netikka fi>]

timo Sivula wrote:
> I am attempting to build a videophone connection between Singapore and Finland over ils.seconix.com. 
>
> The systems in use are:
>
> Singapore
>  Celeron 2 GHz
>  RedHat 9.0
>  Gnomemeeting 1.0
>  MS-GSM codec
>  Ensoniq PCI soundcard
>  ALSA 1.0
>  Creative WebCam Pro EX
>  512kbps down/128kbps up ADSL
>
> Finland
>  Pentium class
>  Windows 98
>  NetMeeting 3.0
>  MS-GSM codec from gnomemeeting.org
>  Soundblaster AWE
>  Latest SB drivers from Creative
>  Creative WebCam Pro EX
>  56 kpbs modem, usually 44 kbps connection
>
> Video
>  Finland to Singapore OK
>  Singapore to Finland OK
>
> Audio
>  Finland to Singapore OK
>  Singapore to Finland NOT OK.
>
> Problem description:
>
> The audio from Singapore to Finland is very bad, there is a "woodpekkerish" cutting of the audio with a frequency of about 3-5 hz
>
> Attempted remedies:
>
> 0) Singapore audio out is perfect with any other user.
>
> a) Both ALSA and OSS drivers give the same problem
>
> b) Shutting video feed from Singapore off occasionally removes this problem, but more often the problem remains unaffected regardless of the video settings.
>
> c) Shutting video feed from Finland off has no effect.
>
> d) Setting GnomeMeeting video parameters to minimum values occasionally helps, but mostly not.
>
> I assume the problem is caused by the narrow phone modem link in Finland. However, this does not explain why shutting Singapore video off does not always help. 
>
> A potential solution to this would be a common low bit rate audio codec shared by GnomeMeeting and NetMeeting to make sure the audio fits into the channel.

Hi

Yes I have had bad sound as well between NM and GM using the MS-GSM 
codec and this was on the same LAN with a 10Mbit connection between the 
computers. I trid to track down the problem and it did seems that it 
have always been there all the way back to GM version 0.12 I have also 
tested different build version of Netmeeting but the bad sound was still 
there. It is the same in windows XP ass well for me.
But using the G711 codec works fine then the sound is perfect.

So for modem users so would the best soulution be speex 8k codec if
that was avalible for NM, or perhaps a windows port of GM :)

Or I guess you could by an Quicknet card then you can use the G723 codec 
in GM.

> Then to my questions:
>
> 1) Does Video have higher priority in the transmission of Gnomemeeting than audio?
>
> 2) Is it possible to achieve audio interoperability between GnomeMeeting and Netmeeting on a codec that has a lower bitrate than the GSM codec?
>
> 3) Is there a roadmap for Speex interoperability between Netmeeting and Gnomemeeting? If so how do I  make Speex work between NetMeeting and Gnomemeeting?
>
> 4) Any other ideas how to configure GnomeMeeting to support the low bitrate client in the other end?
>
> Thank you for the excellent work on GnomeMeeting and the support I have got on IRC.
>
> br, Timo