Skype Hacks: Tips & Tools for Cheap, Fun, Innovative Phone Service

Hack 31. Configure Skype on a Laptop

Configuration tips to make Skype ready for the road.

Works with: Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X versions of Skype.

Laptops have advanced in features and power so much in recent years that, in terms of performance and features, the newer ones differ little from desktop machines. Even so, there are a number of things to bear in mind, and things to try, when you're configuring Skype on your laptop.

3.8.1. Copy Your Skype Data

Much, but not all, of your Skype data is now stored on the Skype network. Examples of the stuff you leave behind are voicemail history, chat history, and your call list.

So, if when you next log onto Skype on your laptop, you want to see exactly what you last saw on your desktop, synchronize the Skypename folders on the two machines:

Windows

C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Skype\Skypename

Linux

/home/Username/.Skype/Skypename

Mac OS X

/Users/Username/Library/Application Support/Skype/Skypename

Username is your login name for the machine and Skypename is the name you use to log in to Skype.

3.8.2. Echo and Sound Quality

Given the necessarily fixed close proximity of a laptop's built-in speakers and microphone, you can't fix a problem with echo by simply moving the microphone further away from the speakers, which is typically the first thing to try. Frankly, even though a laptop's built-in speakers and microphone might do in a pinch, you will save yourself a lot of pain and frustration if you simply get a good headset (a combination of earphones and a microphone on a boom), or a USB handset.

In terms of headsets, if your laptop has both USB ports and a 3.5mm audio jack, you have a choice. For example, you might choose a headphone with a 3.5mm plug to conserve USB ports. If you don't have an audio jack, you pretty much have to go with a USB headset, unless your laptop is Bluetooth enabled, in which case using a Bluetooth headset is an option.

Whatever type of headset you finally adopt, your evaluation criteria when considering what type and style of headset to get should be the following, in order of importance:

Comfort

Given that you may end up wearing a headset for prolonged periods, you may find the effect of an uncomfortable headset somewhat akin to Chinese water torture: a minor irritation to start with and excruciating pain in the long run! Comfort issues are important for everyone. But if you wear glasses, comfort becomes doubly important, as the headset's earphones compress the arms of your glasses between your ears and skull. Any time you spend on choosing a headset in terms of assessing its comfort is time well spent.

Size

As you'll be traveling with these things, get the smallest pair you can findwith the proviso that comfort still comes first.

Cost

Voice communication does not put great demands on audio quality or fidelity. Therefore, unless you intend to use the earphones of the headset to listen to high-quality music as well, buy the cheapest set that meets your criteria of comfort and size.

3.8.3. Internet Connection

Laptops connect to the Internet in one of the following ways: wireless (WiFi and Bluetooth), Ethernet, or modem.

Wireless provides the greatest flexibility in terms of making a connection to the Internet using a laptop. If your laptop is wireless enabled, you have the opportunity to connect to an ever-growing choice of free and fee-based wireless access points (see "Make Free Calls While on the Move" [Hack #64]). Moreover, if your laptop has both WiFi and Bluetooth wireless, as more and more machines do nowadays, your choices for wireless connection points are greater still.

Ethernet is such an established networking technology that there is little to say, other than don't forget to carry a patch cable! Even if your primary connection is wireless, having a patch cable is good backup.

A modem is doable, but not recommended.

3.8.4. Avoid Being a Super Node

Most laptops probably need as much bandwidth and available resources as they can get. However, if your machine is nominated by the Skype network to become a super node, this can put a strain on your laptop, which could cause Skype call quality to suffer.

Skype has not made public the rules by which particular machines become super nodes. However, if you disable Skype's use of ports 80 and 443, you certainly lower the probability that your machine will become a super node. To disable ports 80 and 443, select Skype Tools Options… Connection on Windows and uncheck the "Use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections box (select Skype Tools Options… Advanced on Linux; the option is not available on Mac OS X).