In our new self-isolation reality, Zoom, Skype and Google Meet are where we meet up, hang out, do business, teach/learn, and even party (responsibly). Social distancing keeps us apart, tech has brought us back together, and life goes on. Which brings up an important question: Does how you look online matter? I’m pretty sure we’d all agree the answer is yes, despite the occasional high-net-worth silicon valley unicorn founder whose trademark look is schlepping around board meetings in hoodies. If how you look matters to you, then you definitely need to know what your WiFi does to the way others see you.

Over the past few weeks I paid extra attention to other people in online meetings, including their dress, their hair, the environment behind them and even whether or not kids and pets walked around behind them. After a few days, I noticed one thing that I hadn’t noticed before: Some days their video was clear and sharp, and sometimes it wasn’t. As a technologist, that got me thinking: Maybe most people don’t realize just how much their WiFi can affect how they look to the other people they’re talking with online, and how it can be completely different than what the view their web cam is showing.

Since your video self image is your new business card, I’ve created this primer to explain why this problem happens and tell you what you need to know to project a crystal clear self-image to everyone you have a meeting with.

A few factors contribute to how someone sees you in a video or audio conference

Internet connection bandwidth

How much Internet speed your connection supports, both download and upload.  Before the coronavirus, most Internet providers marketed and competed largely on download speeds.  People tend to think about "taking" when it comes to the Internet - how fast web pages load, how fast downloads download, etc.  Typical Internet access packages generally look like this: 100Mbps download X 5Mbps upload, or even as high as 300Mbps down and 20Mbps up.  The best types of Internet packages are "synchronous", meaning the upload and download are the same.  That's typically how fiber Internet works, with speeds that look like this:  500Mbps download X 500Mbps upload.

The key point about bandwidth is that the marketing rarely matches reality.  The speeds advertised are not "burdened" by wireless technology, wireless interference, and the specific applications' and services' limitations and loads (how many people are using it).

Wireless connection quality 

With WiFi, there are two really important points to consider: Link quality (how strong the WiFi signal is) and throughput (how much data gets through your WiFi).  These two are NOT necessarily related.  You can have really strong WiFi (full bars) and still have horrible wireless.

Wireless currently operates on two different frequencies: 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.  This is a lot like AM and FM radio. Both are used to transmit audio, and each has a range of "channels" you can tune to.  2.4Ghz and 5Ghz are similar.  Both "spectrums" have a range of channels you can tune to. Think of these channels like lanes on a freeway.  Only now, let's talk about the difference between the freeways:

2.4Ghz has 14 lanes on the "freeway" that Internet data can travel through, but only about 3 of these lanes are really usable.  5Ghz has about double the usable lanes.  

There are two more really big differences between 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. 2.4Ghz can travel a lot farther than 5Ghz.  Typically, 2.4Ghz can travel through several normal walls in a home, covering more area in a home.  5Ghz typically can go through just a couple or at most a few walls.  After designing and configuring a few thousand wireless networks, my rule of thumb is that a typical 5Ghz device reaches about 15% of the same space compared to a 2.4Ghz device. That said, 2.4GHz is a LOT slower than 5GHz.  5Ghz devices nowadays are even upwards of 800-1000% faster.

How do you deal with the trade-off?  With 2.4Ghz coverage, you need less wireless access points (more on this below).  With 5Ghz coverage, you need either more wireless access points, or more powerful wireless access points. More on this below.

Your videoconferencing application

So if your Internet speeds are good and your wireless network is good, the last factor to consider is the quality of the provider.  My Internet connection is 1000Mbps download X 1000Mbps upload, and my WiFi is powered by really fast wireless access points that can "steer" my Mac and iPhone and other devices toward 5Ghz instead of 2.4Ghz, for the fastest speeds.  I have two wireless access points placed around my apartment strategically to make sure that the 5Ghz coverage is excellent everywhere, including my veranda, and I periodically scan my neighborhood carefully to see where my neighbors' WiFi is placed on the spectrum.  I can quickly see which "lanes" of WiFi the neighbors are using, so I can steer clear of them and get into my own fast lane.  

With all of the above in order, I can compare how different conferencing apps perform.

- Zoom is consistently stable, but the quality of the video isn't great.  Hair and skin texture is not great quality.  Some of this may be the way they designed their app -- to allow people to hide blemishes on their skin with a checkbox or to insert a wacky background.  Or it could be the quality and speed of their servers.  Most likely it's a combination of both.

- Google Meet is typically very good quality and consistently stable.  Google is a master of streaming (they own Youtube) and no one on the planet can match the quality and volume of their global server network.

- Apple's FaceTime tends to be the highest quality.  Maybe this has to do with Quicktime, or Apple's rich history of understanding how to deliver media with high quality, both music and video on a global scale supporting year over year exponential growth.

- LINE app is an example of the worst video quality.  It feels cheap from the start, and you can't have a long call without it seizing up and failing. 

A few other factors impact wireless performance

Repeaters, sometimes called extenders, slow down performance.

These devices are almost always a major cause of wireless problems in homes and businesses. Devices like iPhones and Macs always choose what wireless device to connect to, and if the repeater has a stronger signal from wherever your device is located, your device will think it's more attractive and connect to it.  The problem is that, typically, repeaters only pass through about 15% of the data available from the wireless access point it's extending.  So let's say your Internet speed is 150Mbps at the cable modem, and your wireless is already slow at 25-30Mbps.  If you're connected to a repeater, you're probably getting 3.75-5Mbps down, barely enough for one good Youtube video.  It gets even worse when there are more than one repeater.  Imagine getting 15% of 15%.  Everything crawls.

Your choice of WiFi tech. 

Years ago I was a fan of Apple's wireless hardware because it was easy to configure, well engineered for quality and longevity, and the wireless range was pretty good.  Then a startup out of MIT called Meraki created new WiFi access points that are more powerful and cloud-controlled, which makes new innovations possible like wireless that automatically adapts to the neighbors' wireless and other factors to give you the fastest possible WiFi speeds.  Today, Meraki (owned by Cisco) makes the best WiFi and network products for businesses and homes.  It's because of Meraki that today I can, by myself, manage hundreds of business and home IT systems around the world.  Meraki makes two product lines.  The first is just the main Meraki product line, which I call "Meraki Pro".  It's the most powerful product line, it costs more, and also has recurring licensing costs.  The other product line is a consumer to small-business focused set of products called Meraki Go, which is still powerful but less than Meraki "Pro", and has a dramatically reduced set of features.   The differences between these two product lines are many, but that's a subject for a different article.  For the purpose of this article, the primary difference between the two is cost.  A Meraki Go wireless access point is about $150, while a Meraki "Pro" access point is about $1200 on average. The same price difference exists between Meraki Go Security Gateways and Meraki "Pro" Security Appliances, and also between analogous 8-port switches.

Good WiFi makes you look good.
Great WiFi makes you look better.

If you have a great Internet connection and the right WiFi and network equipment, all of your video conferencing will be better for you and the other people who see you.   If you're a teacher, consultant or someone else who needs to be seen, you'll make a better impression and a better connection.  Maybe this may help you make the sale.  Or if you're a teacher it may help you keep a child engaged in your teaching longer.  In any event, in the age of the pandemic, quality WiFi deserves special mention in the next edition of the classic Dress for Success.

Want to solve your WiFi problems? Contact me here and I’ll reach out to you with resources.