Best Router Settings for Zoom and Teams Calls at Home

Video calls need far less speed than most home plans provide. When Zoom or Teams freezes, the cause is usually an unsteady connection: weak Wi-Fi, a crowded band, or another upload filling the line. Fix those first. Then use your router’s video-call priority setting if it has one.

This is a research-based guide built from Zoom’s and Microsoft’s published requirements and router makers’ support documentation. We have not measured call quality on these routers ourselves.

Quick answer: the settings that help most

1. Plug in with Ethernet if you can. If you can’t, connect on 5 GHz or 6 GHz, close to the router or a mesh point.
2. Leave WMM on. Apple recommends it, and Microsoft recommends QoS or WMM for Teams.
3. Turn on your router’s video-call mode, if it has one. ASUS, Google and eero all offer one (see the table below).
4. Keep big uploads off the line during calls. Cloud backups and large file syncs compete with your outgoing video.
5. Fix bufferbloat if calls break up whenever someone else is downloading. See our bufferbloat guide.

How much bandwidth do video calls use?

Zoom says it adjusts bandwidth to each participant’s network. Google’s Meet requirements page lists hardware and says you need a broadband connection, but gives no bandwidth figures.

The figures are per person on a call. Two people on separate 1080p Zoom calls need roughly double. Upload is the tighter limit on many cable plans, so check yours with our guide to how much internet speed you need.

Why calls freeze on a fast plan

Bandwidth alone does not guarantee a good call. Microsoft says “provisioned bandwidth alone” doesn’t guarantee quality, and that calls with static, cut-outs or voices that “sound like robots” could point to jitter or packet loss. When bandwidth does run short, Microsoft says Teams prioritizes audio over video.

The common home causes:

• Weak or crowded Wi-Fi. Microsoft says the 2.4 GHz band is often congested by consumer devices, and that 5 GHz is better suited to real-time media. See 2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz vs. 6 GHz.
• A full upload. A backup or game download on another device can push your call’s traffic into a queue. That delay is bufferbloat.
• The Wi-Fi link, not the plan. If a wired test is fast but your laptop is slow, the problem is local. Our guide to slow Wi-Fi on a fast connection walks through the checks.

Router settings for video calls, by brand

On an ASUS router, open the router’s web interface, go to Adaptive QoE, switch on QoS, pick Work from Home and apply. ASUS also offers a Bandwidth Limiter that caps a chosen device. It says any limit should be lower than your provider’s maximum speed, or it won’t take effect.

On Google Nest Wifi or Google Wifi, open the Google Home app, then Wi-Fi, Network settings and Preferred activities. To prioritize a single laptop instead, open Wi-Fi, then Devices, choose the laptop and pick a duration.

On eero, open the Discover tab in the eero app, tap eero Labs and turn on Optimize for Conferencing and Gaming.

If your router has none of these, check its QoS or traffic-priority settings, and make sure WMM is enabled. Apple says disabling WMM “can affect the performance and reliability of devices on the network.”

Other settings worth checking

• One network name across bands. Apple recommends a single name for all bands. If you split bands, make sure the work laptop joins 5 GHz or 6 GHz.
• 2.4 GHz channel width. Apple recommends 20 MHz on 2.4 GHz and Auto on 5 GHz and 6 GHz.
• Work VPN. Microsoft says routing Teams traffic through a VPN can add “extra latency and jitter.” That setting belongs to your employer, so ask its IT team whether calls bypass the VPN.

When to change hardware instead

If the room you work in has a weak signal, settings won’t fix it. Run a cable, use MoCA over existing coax, or add a mesh point with a wired backhaul. If your provider’s gateway lacks priority settings, our guide to buying your own router covers what to check before you switch.

Fact-check notes

Bottom line

A video call needs about 4 Mbps in each direction at most, so a faster plan rarely fixes a bad call. Get the work device onto Ethernet or a strong 5 GHz or 6 GHz signal, leave WMM on, switch on your router’s video-call priority, and stop other uploads from crowding the line.