Connection quality and the test call
Founder Hud tries a direct connection to each person first. When a network blocks that, it relays the call through Cloudflare.
Read the route
The line under the names in the call window's bar shows the clock, and a lock when every link is end-to-end encrypted. Point at it for how you reach each person, or open People in the sidebar:
| Label | Means |
|---|---|
| Direct · same network | You're on the same network |
| Direct · IPv6 or IPv4 | Directly between your Macs over the internet |
| Direct · through routers | Direct, through both routers |
| Relayed · UDP, TCP or TLS | Through a Cloudflare relay, which sees only encrypted packets |
Each link also shows its round trip, for example "Direct · IPv6 · 18 ms".
The line turns orange when a link loses more than 5% of its voice packets or its round trip goes over 300 ms, and red when a link fails. A relayed link on its own is not a problem.
When the network changes
If your Mac changes networks, such as Wi-Fi to Ethernet or a VPN turning on, Founder Hud reconnects each link on its own. If Founder Hud loses its connection to your team's hub, you stay in the call for 2 minutes while it reconnects.
Relays
Settings > Calls > Network > Use Cloudflare relay when a direct connection fails is on by default. Leave it on unless you're testing. See Troubleshooting for the ports a relay uses.
Start a test call
A test call lets you check your microphone, sharing and the call's layout alone. Nothing in a test call reaches your team. It isn't in call history, and no transcript or notes are saved.
Start one from Settings > Calls > Test call, from the Guide, or with Start a test call on the empty Calls page.
In a test call:
- Demo is a made-up teammate on a real connection inside Founder Hud. It echoes your voice, shares a test pattern with music, and points at it.
- Share your own screen and the Share button's tooltip shows what Demo receives, such as "Demo sees 1920×1080 at 30 fps". Demo's view opens your share as a teammate would see it.
- Room of 2 to Room of 7 fills the call with stand-ins who talk, chat, join late and leave, so you can see a full call. Pick the size in Settings before you press Start test call.
- Ring me as Maya rings you with the real call bar and sound.
- Network in Test call tools slows the link to Demo: Normal, Slow 3G, Weak Wi-Fi or Jitter, or drop every packet for 5 seconds. Use it to see how a share holds up on a bad network.