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iChat won't do video chat at college!


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iChat won't do video chat at college!
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nato64
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Orange, CA
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2005-09-03, 16:22

i moved into college a week weeks ago. not many other people were there yet (freshman orientation) so the video chat worked good every once in a while. it still took us ten tries before we got one to work.

now it takes at least 50 tries and even then it's a bad one. i don't have my personal firewall on but i'm sure my college has a firewall. i had to enter a proxy to get my internet working. would that make a difference?

please help. i want to see my girlfriend! i miss her

[nate]

Last edited by nato64 : 2005-09-03 at 16:23. Reason: spelling
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Brad
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2005-09-03, 16:30

A lot of colleges nowadays cap the upstream coming from your dorm. The last year that I stayed on campus was hell for me because of this. I was *lucky* to get 3-4 Kbps upstream from my machine that year. Prior, I was able to push a hundreds of Kbps without breaking a sweat.

I mention this because a slow upstream means you won't be able to establish a good enough connection for video chat.

The proxy could be a major problem too, but I don't have enough experience with them to advise a workaround.

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nato64
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2005-09-03, 16:33

well what's weird is that i can get up to 500kb/sec when viewing a movie trailer or downloading a file. twice as fast as when i lived at home. it's so fickle... it don't get it.
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Brad
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Join Date: May 2004
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2005-09-03, 16:52

That's different. Downstream is typically very fast like that. Upstream is not. Upstream = uploading = sending data from your computer.
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mikeazorin
 
 
2005-09-03, 18:08

If your girlfriend has iChat and a video camera, she can start a one-way video chat by control-clicking on your screen name. That way, it is almost all downstream for you.
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nato64
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2005-09-03, 18:10

i know but she wants to see me too. i've tried to look up posts in the apple discussions thing but i don't get how to open ports or something. i don't know.
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Stevuh
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2005-09-03, 18:44

it's not something you can do much about and certainly nothing that your school is going to like should you be caught and that is quite possible. This is limited by your IT department and you could try calling them(or visiting) and asking if there is a way around this, they may know about this already, or may be willing to help you out.

"History will be kind to me because i intend to write it" -- Winston Churchill

I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter. -- Winston Churchill
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hackysackmaster
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Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2005-09-04, 13:21

This is a similar problem my friend and I have been having,,except we are both at college. We have gotten it to work a few times but it's a matter of luck it seems
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nato64
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2005-09-04, 13:30

i know what you mean. it does seem like a matter of luck
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DMBand0026
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Chicago
 
2005-09-04, 13:34

Try finding a place near you that offers free WiFi go there and set it up. Even if you only get that chance once a week or so, it would still be nice to see her I'm sure. The rest of the time you may have to settle for audio or regular text chat.

Head to that link and find some free WiFi. I know it doesn't really give you that much privacy, but it's better than nothing.

Come waste your time with me
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k squared
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Verde Amarela
 
2005-09-04, 17:07

Quote:
Originally Posted by nato64
i know what you mean. it does seem like a matter of luck

Like Brad wrote, you have download speeds and upload speeds. Companies, libraries, and collages limit upload speeds, most likely to deter music and file sharing because they usually do not like people using bandwidth to aid in stealing music or software.

You're affected by this because iChat likes around 100 kb/s to operate smoothly. Take Stevuh's advice and pay a visit to the IT department and see if there is anything they can do.
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LudwigVan
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Join Date: May 2004
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2005-09-05, 08:34

Or "go old-school geek" and set up a local on-campus-server webpage (if students are allotted some server space) that updates a webcam snapshot of you every, say, 10 or 15 seconds. I've gone that route before at work a couple years ago; it seemed to work fine.

Last edited by LudwigVan : 2005-09-05 at 08:36.
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