A couple of days ago, all of a sudden, my Skype connection became very bad, and I was dropping from the discussions so many times.
I have done everything that I can do: calling our provider to have them check the line, downloading the latest version of Skype, cleaning up our rooms and so on.
Discouragingly enough, however, I dropped from yesterday’s discussion several times.
Any advice or encouragement?
No advice, unfortunately, just a question or two (and a thank you)
:
I noticed that the ‘drops’ occurred more towards the beginning rather than the end of our conversation. Is there a time pattern to this? If so, could you contact Skype and describe the problems and the steps you have taken?
The thank you relates to the efforts you put in to get a good Skype connection. I am inspired to tidy up: could less clutter mean a better reception?
It’s difficult to know the exact reason as to why this might be happening, but it could have something to do with your firewall. Do you currently use an anti-virus program (such as Norton, McAfee, etc.)? Make sure to check the firewall settings, as it may be preventing Skype from working properly.
Also, have you tried connecting directly to the modem to see if it’s a problem with your router?
I think one of the most common issues is a (temporarily) slow internet connection. This is a particular pain in the back here in China where Big Brother maintains an iron grip on the internet. At the moment they are particularly on edge because of the turmoil in the Arab world, sigh…
I wonder if you are using “Wireless LAN Access Point” or something like that. If I cannot connect any of my computers to the Internet, I will read the log information in the access point, that is, a wireless router named “Air-Station.” If the problem you are faced with is related to the settings for the wireless LAN, I suggest you consult an “expert” on it. (The MAC address of your router and the WEP or AEP password should be kept secret from other people.)
I would suggest a temporarily slow internet connection. It happened to us a year ago, and after a lot of diagnostic tests we discovered that our internet provider had throttled our bandwidth down to almost dial-up speeds under a “fair usage” policy (ie they thought we were using the internet too much), but hadn’t informed us. We switched to a provider whose fair usage policy was more…well, fair 
If you are on wireless, an ethernet connection MIGHT be faster (although I’ve never seen a big difference). Possibly a wireless connection might be affected by weather.
I have just come home and found your kind replies here. Thank you, everyone!
Not being tech-savvy at all, I will write back to you after digesting what you all have kindly advised me on this thread.
P.S. Cleaning up our house, maybe, could not be any solution to this problem. I just did so, desperately hoping and wishing anything would bring me some good result
The interim report about my Skype connection.
After I posted the final comment on this forum, I did almost everything you all advised me to do.
I reported my problem to the Skype Support.
I checked whether my firewall setting was on or off.(it was off.)
I also checked whether I had installed an anti-virus program.(I hadn’t.)
I tried to know whether Big Brother is watching me.(I failed to know it.)
I tried to understand the LAN system.(not successful yet.)
I checked whether the bandwidth was adequate. (it was.)
I’ve just finished my one-on-one conversation. The result? I was not dropping at all! I am not sure what worked, and I am not sure if this problem has completely been fixed. I am just keeping my fingers crossed. Thank you, everyone!