Audio cuts out/gets choppy when I go on mute. Unstable Internet Connection.

[ImpendingDoon]

When I am on a Zoom conference call (number of participants does not matter) and I put myself on mute, the audio I hear from other participants starts cutting out. I get 2-3 seconds of audio and then 3-5 seconds of nothing. I also get an "Unstable internet connection" notification at some point. However, as soon as I unmute myself, everything is fine and goes back to normal.

Both my wife and I are on different computers (me a MacBook Pro, she a Windows 10 laptop) and are experiencing this problem. Not using VPN. Makes no difference if I am hardwired or using WiFi.

Seems to be a known issue:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/Zoom/comments/k7cqyw/audio_cutting_out_when_muted/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Zoom/comments/ipqcsx/audio_cutting_out_followed_by_internet_connection/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Zoom/comments/ijh2hs/zoom_audio_cuts_out_for_a_second_once_every/

Some people seem to have luck "solving" this problem by using a VPN. I've also tried the noise suppression and signal processing options.

This started recently... like a week ago. I've made no change to my operating system or home network. I have 1 Gig with CenturyLink. Have run speed tests when this happens and have great bandwidth (e.g. 850 down and 960 up).

Help!

[RN]

Hey @ImpendingDoon, I see you have a support ticket open with our team! I'd suggest following up with our support team as they may analyze the meeting to see if anything hardware or network-related is causing your issue. 

Let me know how I can be of help along the way! 

[KAJ]

I have the same issue, audio cuts out when I am on mute. What is the solution? Thanks!

[motutaj]

The same issue here, audio cuts out every couple of minutes for few seconds since last zoom update. No problem with internet - speed test PING 15 ms, 20 Mbps D, 25 Mbps Up

[kaparopi]

My friend has the exact same problem, is there a known solution to this issue ?

[KAJ]

I have create a support ticket (#13192164), but no solution yet. I will update if I am able to get some help. 

[Bicban]

I've been having the exact issue described by @ImpendingDoon for several months now.  Glad to hear I'm not the only one suffering from this condition, but unfortunate to hear that there doesn't seem to be a known resolution as of yet...

I'm not sure if there's been any further updates since the last post, but I will plan to submit a ticket on my end as well, to hopefully help push this issue along. Crossing my fingers... Thanks!

[aking4]

Any fixes? Mine started last week on my new macbook: same issue with the internet being fine in the rest of my house and speed tests are great but meetings are frequently freezing for around 10 seconds every couple of minutes.

[PantherWeinhard]

Strange that in one day of having this issue I know more about it than do the Zoom techs who have been hearing about it for two years. It's a bug/crap-code which only exists with the basic, you know...free package. Pay and the problem goes away. It's that simple. Business basics, baby.

[drp]

Nah, I pay for it and am having this exact issue, too.

[aubrob]

I pay and have the same issue

[runandski]

If your internet is split between 2.4GHz & 5GHz, try connecting exclusively to the 5GHz connection. It seems to have fixed the issue for me just now when I switched (crossing fingers).

[KEDavis]

This, or something I did on my router, fixed my problem like this. Or so I thought. I still have the issue when I’m on a Zoom call and the initiator of the call mutes all participants. On those calls I have to dial in with my cell phone to get uninterrupted audio. 

[runandski]

The 2.4GHz and 5GHz didn't actually matter - it seems to be the switch of connection that matters. When I disconnect and reconnect to the other while in the meeting, the problem disappears. For now.

[SC328]

My spouse and I are experience the same issues now for several weeks.  Never had an issue before.  We have to go UNMUTE for ZOOM to work just okay but video may cut out here and there but at least we can stay active in the meeting and conference.  The issue is when we go on MUTE and audio keeps cutting in and out every 0.7ms which is impossible to participate in anything on ZOOM.  We also get the "Internet is Unstable" Issue when on MUTE as well.  We don't have issue with other conference apps like TEAMS, WEBEX, GOTO MEETING, etc.  Seems like ZOOM is going in the crapper if they can't resolve this issue as ZOOM becomes totally unusable. 

[SC328]

UPDATE - ISSUE RESOLVED!

Okay, so I solved the issue MYSELF as Zoom Support was not very helpful other than "try to uninstall and re-install Zoom".  I got the idea from someone else having a similar issue on the internet.

ISSUE: Your ROUTER is likely to blame for the problem.  Sounds weird but it's an easy fix.  You can just simply try and re-boot your router and see if that fixes the issue. But in my case, I logged into my router and went into the administration tab (I have an ASUS AX5400 wireless router) and checked for Firmware Updates.  Sure, enough there was an update needed.  So, I updated my Router and also Rebooted it after the update just to make sure everything took effect.  That seemed to fix the audio mute issue I and many others were experiencing.   To verify the problem and fix, I did this when I was on a webinar last night.  The problem was still there before updating my router and then after updating my router firmware and rebooting my router, the problem went away on the exact same webinar.  Now, let's just hope the issue is gone for good as I have not tied another webinar since the fix.  (m write this 12-hrs since I fixed the issue).

An option that I was going to try to troubleshoot the issue prior to updating the firmware on my router (to help prove if it was my router or my internet or Zoom), was I was going to connect directly into my cable modem bypassing my router altogether. This would have potentially proven if my router's firewall or something was intercepting packets for whatever reason.  (sidenote, I tried this a month ago but I actually directly wired into the ethernet port on the router itself (as it had 5-ethernet switch ports) and I was still exhibiting the issue) but I never wired directly into the modem or media converter (if you have fiber to ethernet conversion).  My suspicion would be that connecting directly to the modem or media converter would have possibly shown that the router is potentially to blame.  Still the weird thing is that out of all the other conference apps we use, Zoom was the only one affected or was having an issue.  So, there may be something Zoom is doing that the router's firewall does not like.

Hope this helps all those experiencing this issue get to a resolution.  

[PleasureRoots]

Thank you for this solution! I was having this issue and was very unsure where to go but I followed your instructions to troubleshoot my ASUS Router. All I needed to do was restore the system to the factory settings (hold the Reset button for over 5 seconds - I held for about 10 seconds) and then it worked! 

[bkelley]

I am fully up to date and have rebooted my router. This is not happening on any of my other video conferencing systems. Explain to me why Zoom would be the only application that needs a router patch to work. This is not the root cause of the issue.

[drp]

Another person reporting in to say I'm hitting this too -- and on a paid Zoom subscription with a two year old Mac, too. Came out of nowhere a month or so ago, and it took me a minute to realize it was the mute that was triggering the fake "unstable connection." Internet is otherwise very fast, no problems with other streaming/conference apps, and even no problem with Zoom provided I don't mute my audio.  Super weird -- and it would be great if this was addressed in an update or otherwise solvable.

[SC328]

See my Update I just posted in this thread.  I solved the issue by updating my firmware and re-booting my wireless router.

Hope this helps.

[drp]

Wow, this seems to have solved it! Thanks so much for the heads up!

[WG2]

It is 2024 and the problem is still a thing. What a nuisance! I will try the router reset.

[rlearney]

August 2024 and this issue is still ongoing at my end. Router resets don't help. This is an issue deep within Zoom's software that they need to address.

[SC328]

I agree with many comments regarding there is something inherently wrong with the Zoom's SW to be causing this issue as it only happens to Zoom meetings and no other web conference meetings.  Updating the wireless- router/modem Firmware and Resetting it seems to help most people.  But to check if your router is the issue, I would bypass it and connect directly to the modem (hardwired to modem), this may give you a clue if your wireless router portion is the direct cause of this issue (keeping in mind to make sure you have the latest SW/FW updates).  I was using a high-tech gaming wireless router ASUS at the time I made my original post thinking it was a better router than my internet providers, but it caused many issues for many wireless devices in my home.  For instance, I was having video connection issues with my security cameras even though I solve the Zoom issue.  So, I did a little experiment and decided to rent my wireless router/modem from my internet provider (Xfinity) to see if my security camera connection issues went away...as I never or remember having issues in the past using provider routers until I got my own router to avoid rental fees (tyring to save a few bucks).  By using the internet provider router, I will always get SW updates pushed by my provider without my intervention and when I call about internet issues to Xfinity, they don't give me the runaround about I am not using their router so they can't really help address my connection issues...yada...yada...yada.  The RESULT, I don't have connection issues anymore with Zoom or with my security cameras and all these problems are in the past for me (2-years now).  Could all this be a conspiracy theory?...probably, but in today's world, my eyes are fairly wide open.  Just my two cents.   Good Luck!

[grafff]

I'm on macOS and resolved this by using MuteKey – it seems that if you have another application mute the microphone, and have zoom believe the microphone is _unmuted_, the bug doesn't happen (audio doesn't clip the first second or so)