# 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](/docs/troubleshooting#firewalls-and-strict-networks) 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.