Detect Network Quality

It is difficult for ordinary users to evaluate the network quality. Via measuring the speed before the video call and feeding back the network quality during the call can users evaluate the network quality more intuitively.

This document describes how to detect network quality.

Detect Network Quality Before the Call

Note:
To ensure call quality, do not run the test during a video call.
Speed testing consumes traffic and consequently generates a small traffic fee (almost negligible).

How Speed Testing Works




During speed testing, the SDK sends a batch of probe packets to the server node, measures the quality of return packets, and returns the testing result via a callback API.
The testing result can be used to optimize the SDK's server selection policy, so you are advised to run the test before the first call, which will help the SDK select the optimal server. If the result is unsatisfactory, you can show a UI message asking users to change to a better network.
The test result (TRTCSpeedTestResult) includes the following parameters:
Parameter
Type
Description
success
Success result
Whether the test is successful.
errMsg
Error message
Error message of bandwidth test.
ip
Server address
Testing server IP
quality
Network quality score
Network quality measured by the SDK. Lower packet loss and shorter RTT result in a higher network quality score.
upLostRate
Upstream packet loss rate
Value range: 0-1.0. `0.3` indicates that for every 10 data packets sent to the server, 3 may be lost.
downLostRate
Downstream packet loss rate
Value range: 0-1.0. `0.2` indicates that for every 10 data packets received from the server, 2 may be lost.
rtt
Latency
The time it takes for data to travel from the SDK to the server and back again. The shorter the RTT, the better. The normal range of RTT is 10-100 ms.
availableUpBandwidth
Upstream bandwidth
Estimated upstream bandwidth in Kbps. -1 indicates an invalid value.
availableDownBandwidth
Downstream bandwidth
Estimated downstream bandwidth in Kbps. -1 indicates an invalid value.

How to Test Speed

With calling API
The speed test feature can be started through the startSpeedTest function of TRTCCloud. The speed test result will be called back through the callback function.
Objective-C
Java
C++
C#
// Sample code for starting speed testing. `sdkAppId` and `UserSig` are required. For how to get them, see Basic Features.
// The example below starts after login.
- (void)onLogin:(NSString *)userId userSig:(NSString *)userSid
{
TRTCSpeedTestParams *params;
// `sdkAppID` is the actual application ID obtained from the console.
params.sdkAppID = sdkAppId;
params.userID = userId;
params.userSig = userSig;
// Expected upstream bandwidth in Kbps. Value range: 10–5000. 0 indicates not to test
params.expectedUpBandwidth = 5000;
// Expected downstream bandwidth in Kbps. Value range: 10–5000. 0 indicates not to test
params.expectedDownBandwidth = 5000;
[trtcCloud startSpeedTest:params];
}
- (void)onSpeedTestResult:(TRTCSpeedTestResult *)result {
// The speed test result will be called back after the test is completed
}
// Sample code for starting speed testing. `sdkAppId` and `UserSig` are required. For how to get them, see Basic Features.
// The example below starts after login.
public void onLogin(String userId, String userSig)
{
TRTCCloudDef.TRTCSpeedTestParams params = new TRTCCloudDef.TRTCSpeedTestParams();
params.sdkAppId = GenerateTestUserSig.SDKAPPID;
params.userId = mEtUserId.getText().toString();
params.userSig = GenerateTestUserSig.genTestUserSig(params.userId);
params.expectedUpBandwidth = Integer.parseInt(expectUpBandwidthStr);
params.expectedDownBandwidth = Integer.parseInt(expectDownBandwidthStr);
// `sdkAppID` is the actual application ID obtained from the console.
trtcCloud.startSpeedTest(params);
}

// Listen for the test result. Inherit `TRTCCloudListener` and implement the following method.
void onSpeedTestResult(TRTCCloudDef.TRTCSpeedTestResult result)
{
// The speed test result will be called back after the test is completed
}
// Sample code for starting speed testing. `sdkAppId` and `UserSig` are required. For how to get them, see Basic Features.
// The example below starts after login.
void onLogin(const char* userId, const char* userSig)
{
TRTCSpeedTestParams params;
// `sdkAppID` is the actual application ID obtained from the console.
params.sdkAppID = sdkAppId;
params.userId = userid;
param.userSig = userSig;
// Expected upstream bandwidth in Kbps. Value range: 10–5000. 0 indicates not to test
param.expectedUpBandwidth = 5000;
// Expected downstream bandwidth in Kbps. Value range: 10–5000. 0 indicates not to test
param.expectedDownBandwidth = 5000;
trtcCloud->startSpeedTest(params);
}

// Listen for the testing result
void TRTCCloudCallbackImpl::onSpeedTestResult(
const TRTCSpeedTestResult& result)
{
// The speed test result will be called back after the test is completed
}
// Sample code for starting speed testing. `sdkAppId` and `UserSig` are required. For how to get them, see Basic Features.
// The example below starts after login.
private void onLogin(string userId, string userSig)
{
TRTCSpeedTestParams params;
// `sdkAppID` is the actual application ID obtained from the console.
params.sdkAppID = sdkAppId;
params.userId = userid;
param.userSig = userSig;
// Expected upstream bandwidth in Kbps. Value range: 10–5000. 0 indicates not to test
param.expectedUpBandwidth = 5000;
// Expected downstream bandwidth in Kbps. Value range: 10–5000. 0 indicates not to test
param.expectedDownBandwidth = 5000;
mTRTCCloud.startSpeedTest(params);
}

// Listen for the testing result
public void onSpeedTestResult(TRTCSpeedTestResult result)
{
// The speed test result will be called back after the test is completed
}
Speed Test Tool
If you do not want to call the interface to measure the network speed, you can use the network speed test tool for PC provided by TRTC to quickly get the network quality details. Choose the following program according to your platform to download.
The program provides two test options: quick test and continuous test.
MacWindows
Metric
Description
WiFi Quality
Wi-Fi signal reception quality
DNS RTT
Tencent Cloud testing domain DNS round-trip time (RTT)
MTR
MTR is a network speed test tool, which can detect the packet loss rate and latency between client and TRTC node and display the details of each hop in the route
UDP Loss
UDP packet loss rate between client and TRTC node
UDP RTT
UDP latency between client and TRTC node
Local RTT
Latency between client and local gateway
Upload
Estimated upstream bandwidth
Download
Estimated downstream bandwidth

Detect Network Quality During the Call

TRTC provides the onNetworkQuality callback to report the current network quality once every two seconds. It contains two parameters: localQuality and remoteQuality.
The localQuality indicates your current network quality, which has six levels: Excellent, Good, Poor, Bad, VeryBad, and Down.
The remoteQuality is an array indicating the network quality of remote users. In this array, each element represents the network quality of a remote user.
Quality
Name
Description
0
Unknown
Unknown
1
Excellent
The current network is excellent.
2
Good
The current network is good.
3
Poor
The current network is fine.
4
Bad
The current network is poor, and there may be obvious stuttering and delay.
5
VeryBad
The current network is very poor, and TRTC can merely sustain the connection but cannot guarantee the communication quality.
6
Down
The current network cannot meet the minimum requirements of TRTC, and it is impossible to have a normal audio/video call.
You only need to listen for onNetworkQuality of TRTC and display the corresponding prompt on the UI.
Android
iOS & Mac
Windows
// Listen for the `onNetworkQuality` callback to get the change of the current network conditions
@Override
public void onNetworkQuality(TRTCCloudDef.TRTCQuality localQuality,
ArrayList<TRTCCloudDef.TRTCQuality> remoteQuality)
{
// Get your local network quality
switch(localQuality) {
case TRTCQuality_Unknown:
Log.d(TAG, "SDK has not yet sensed the current network quality.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Excellent:
Log.d(TAG, "The current network is very good.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Good:
Log.d(TAG, "The current network is good.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Poor:
Log.d(TAG, "The current network quality barely meets the demand.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Bad:
Log.d(TAG, "The current network is poor, and there may be significant freezes and call delays.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_VeryBad:
Log.d(TAG, "The current network is very poor, the communication quality cannot be guaranteed");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Down:
Log.d(TAG, "The current network does not meet the minimum requirements.");
break;
default:
break;
}
// Get the network quality of remote users
for (TRTCCloudDef.TRTCQuality info : arrayList) {
Log.d(TAG, "remote user : = " + info.userId + ", quality = " + info.quality);
}
}
// Listen for the `onNetworkQuality` callback to get the change of the current network conditions
- (void)onNetworkQuality:(TRTCQualityInfo *)localQuality remoteQuality:(NSArray<TRTCQualityInfo *> *)remoteQuality {
// Get your local network quality
switch(localQuality.quality) {
case TRTCQuality_Unknown:
NSLog(@"SDK has not yet sensed the current network quality.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Excellent:
NSLog(@"The current network is very good.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Good:
NSLog(@"The current network is good.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Poor:
NSLog(@"The current network quality barely meets the demand.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Bad:
NSLog(@"The current network is poor, and there may be significant freezes and call delays.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_VeryBad:
NSLog(@"The current network is very poor, the communication quality cannot be guaranteed");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Down:
NSLog(@"The current network does not meet the minimum requirements.");
break;
default:
break;
}
// Get the network quality of remote users
for (TRTCQualityInfo *info in arrayList) {
NSLog(@"remote user : = %@, quality = %@", info.userId, @(info.quality));
}
}

// Listen for the `onNetworkQuality` callback to get the change of the current network conditions
void onNetworkQuality(liteav::TRTCQualityInfo local_quality,
liteav::TRTCQualityInfo* remote_quality, uint32_t remote_quality_count) {
// Get your local network quality
switch (local_quality.quality) {
case TRTCQuality_Unknown:
printf("SDK has not yet sensed the current network quality.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Excellent:
printf("The current network is very good.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Good:
printf("The current network is good.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Poor:
printf("The current network quality barely meets the demand.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Bad:
printf("The current network is poor, and there may be significant freezes and call delays.");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Vbad:
printf("The current network is very poor, the communication quality cannot be guaranteed");
break;
case TRTCQuality_Down:
printf("The current network does not meet the minimum requirements.");
break;
default:
break;
}
// Get the network quality of remote users
for (int i = 0; i < remote_quality_count; ++i) {
printf("remote user : = %s, quality = %d", remote_quality[i].userId, remote_quality[i].quality);
}
}