Slow or laggy sessions¶
A Fluid session feels choppy, blurry, or laggy. Connection statistics show what's holding it back.
Safe checks¶
Turn on connection statistics during the session. On Windows and macOS, choose Help > Show Fluid Connection Stats. For other clients, see Show statistics, and for what each value means, see Connection statistics. Only Ping and Packet Loss turn red; read the others against each other.
What the result means¶
| Symptom | What the statistics show | What it means | Try |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choppy motion | Frames below Max Frames while the screen changes, and Encode Time near or above one frame's time (1000 ÷ Max Frames ms, such as 16 ms at 60 fps) | The remote computer can't encode frames fast enough. | Reduce the pixel load, use hardware encoding (or Fluid 2.0 on high-end Macs), or lower Framerate or Color. |
| Choppy motion, but Encode Time is low | Frames below Max Frames, and Bandwidth × 8 close to Target Bitrate | Video is using all the bandwidth allowed, by the network or by a limit. | Raise Maximum Bandwidth if both networks have headroom. On a team computer, a team administrator's Maximum Target Bandwidth can cap it. Otherwise reduce the pixel load or Color. |
| Encode Time is high on a mostly still screen | Encoder shows Hardware | Normal: hardware encoders report higher encode times at low frame rates. | Measure with something moving, such as a video or testufo.com. |
| Frames shows 0 | The remote screen isn't changing | Nothing on the remote screen is changing. | Nothing. If the screen is changing, check the bandwidth rows above: frames can be skipped when video exceeds the bandwidth allowed. |
| Blurry or blocky image | Image Quality shows Medium or Low | Heavier compression, usually because less bandwidth is available. The image sharpens shortly after motion stops. | Fix packet loss, raise Maximum Bandwidth if both networks have headroom, or reduce the pixel load. |
| Quality stays low | Target Bitrate well below your Maximum Bandwidth (in kbit/s; 20 mbps shows as about 19,500) | The network can't carry more right now, or a team administrator's Maximum Target Bandwidth is lower. | Improve the network, or ask your team administrator about the limit. |
| Stutters and freezes | Packet Loss is red | Packets are lost on the network. | Use Ethernet or 5 GHz Wi-Fi, avoid SSL or TCP-based VPNs, or lower Maximum Bandwidth. |
| Lag that comes and goes | Ping is red | Network latency is unsteady. | Use Ethernet, and avoid congested Wi-Fi and VPNs. |
| Not connecting directly | Connection shows Relay | The devices couldn't connect directly, or a team administrator requires relay connections with Relay Connections Only. | If relay isn't required by your team, get a direct connection. See Force connections through a relay. |
| Slower than expected | Protocol shows Relay TCP or Relay TCP-TLS | UDP is blocked, so the connection uses slower TCP. | Allow outbound UDP. See Get a direct connection. |
Still stuck?¶
If a session is still slow, contact Jump Desktop support.