Google Talk System Requirement

[joyt]

Hi,
I've been using Google Talk to make phone calls since 2010, although the quality of the calls were usually so-so at best (Static, gaps in conversation, etc). Most people I know who use it are happy with theirs. Upgrading the connection speed didn't help, either. Since it's time to buy a new PC, could anyone tell me what system requirement options i should choose in order to optimize the call quality?
Thank you!
Joy

 

[joe957]

As of 23 Feb 15, Google Talk for Windows ceased.

https://support.google.com/talk/?hl=en-GB&rd=2

They are now promoting Hangouts.

https://www.google.com/hangouts/

 

[joyt]

That's news to me! I'm still able to make phone calls.

Hangouts gets terrible reviews... sigh...

Thank you.

 

[TonyB25]

Static? That's an analog problem. Digital either transmits or doesn't. VoIP call quality is determined by the internet connection speed and quality. A brand new super-fast computer won't transmit bits over the wire any faster than your ISP allows.

 

[joyt]

On my end, I occasionally hear static; however, long stretches of silence are what the people I talk to say is the worst problem on their end. Since I get 5 green bars from Comcast, the VoIP call quality should be good, I'd think.

This is so frustrating!

Thank you

 

[Johnny2K]

As was mentioned large download speeds don't mean you can get high quality results. Packet loss, Jitter and Latency come into play.

For Latency:

High latency will be noticed on voice calls through delays in conversation and periods of silence. In addition, web pages may load more slowly.