IPVC Troubleshooting Guide
I am unable to Connect to Anyone
In the event that you are unable to connect to a videoconference there are a few things to check.
The connections
Is the network connection plugged in to the proper port on the back of your Polycom? The connection should be plugged in to the "Network LAN Port", not the "PC LAN Port".
Is the jack you have plugged your unit into active? You should see the network activity lights (the yellow and green lights above the port) turn on, and remain on if the unit senses network activity.
I am not sure the remote site is connected
After you have checked, and are confident that you have a functioning network connection you can run a test to see if the remote unit is connected to the internet. You can use PING (available in the UIC NsKit), or any internet connected windows machine to try to contact the remote unit. To PING the remote unit using Windows 95/98/ME click on:
Start>Accessories>MS-Dos Prompt
This will call up a DOS Prompt. At the prompt type in " ping", followed by the IP Address of the unit you are attempting to reach; for example:
ping 128.248.5.190
The results of this command will tell you whether or not the remote unit is connected to the internet. If the resulting message is:
"Request timed out."
then the remote unit is unreachable. This indicates a network problem at the remote site.
If the resulting message is:
"Reply from 128.xxx.x.xxx: bytes=32 time<10ms"
then the remote unit is reachable. In order to connect both units may need to be restarted.
I am able to connect to a remote site, but the conference performance is absolutely terrible
Poor videoconference performance can be caused by poor internet connectivity between your site and the remote site. In order to diagnose the quality of your connection you can use PING (available in the UIC NsKit), or any internet connected windows machine to report on the connection between your location and the remote unit. To PING the remote unit using Windows 95/98/ME click on:
Start>Accessories>MS-Dos Prompt
This will call up a DOS Prompt. At the prompt type in " ping", followed by the IP Address of the unit you are attempting to reach; for example:
ping 128.248.5.190
The results of the command should look similar to the following message:
"Reply from 128.xxx.x.xxx: bytes=32 time<10ms"
The most important aspect of the output is the "time<XX ms" portion. This will tell you how quickly (in milliseconds) it is taking your computer and the remote unit to communicate. If you see any times that are higher that 30ms, or unreliable (high one minute, low the next) results then there may be a connectivity problem. Ask the unit how fast their connection is. A T1, 10Mbps half-duplex connection or higher is typically recommended.
You can also run the TRACERT command from the DOS prompt. At the prompt type in " tracert", followed by the IP Address of the unit you are attempting to reach; for example:
tracert 128.xxx.xxx.xxx
The results of this command will show you the path that the videoconference from your location is taking to reach the remote location. This is a great way to diagnose exactly where the transmissions are getting delayed. If you see relatively short connection times for most "hops", but then a hop that takes longer than 30ms, that is where your conference is being held up at. Copy the results of the TRACERT diagnostic and contact your (or the remote sites) network administrator.
I was able to connect earlier today, but now I am getting a message that I can't connect
The Polycom units often need to be rebooted. If you ever experience strange connectivity problems immediately after disconnecting it is a good idea to restart the machine. Often times the Polycom units will have been on for a long period of time; the act of restarting them will normally allow you to reconnect.
I need to talk to someone about the problems I am having
Please call the videoconferencing experts
6-3282 or send an e-mail to: video@uic.edu.
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