Many people report that after installing Skype, their bandwidth usage goes through the roof. Because of Firewalls and additional security on networks, Skype needed a way to allow people to connect easily without users having to get their IT departments involved. So they assign “Super Nodes” to Skype users’ systems and connect these callers through these “back doors”.
In the UK and USA this is not really an issue as bandwidth is unlimited (for now at least), but for countries that have limited bandwidth like South Africa and New Zealand we have to find a way to block the “Super Node” idea, as much as we would like to help others.
BTW, using a web camera on a Skype call uses 6X as much bandwidth as that of a regular voice call – so keep those web camera moments for special occasions!
A simple Skype voice call uses between 24 and 128kbits/second – if the system has the “Super Node” enabled it uses double that amount!
Skype uses port 80 and 443 as the “listening Super Node” – to turn this feature off in Skype and continuing as normal with your calls do the following:
- Open the “Tools” drop down menu and select “Options”
- Click the “Advanced” menu button on the left, and then select the “Connection” item
- Uncheck the “User port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections”
- Click “Save” and restart Skype.
Let’s hope this helps with the amount of bandwidth you go through every month – shout if you have any other ideas on saving bandwidth.
Many thanks to Peter Tuffin for the heads-up on the idea.
