In general, we strongly recommend using Google Chrome for optimal performance of Spires.
Work in a quiet place and use a pair of headphones to avoid background noise.
Check your internet speed and connection stability as this is the root cause of 99% of problems on Spires.
*** Most problems are solved by restarting your computer and router ***
If you have trouble with your Camera or Microphone on Lessonspace skip to this part of the article
Internet Problems
Make sure your Wi-Fi connection is within range, strong and stable.
Make sure you are physically close to your router if using Wi-Fi. Hardwiring your computer to your router is preferable.
Make sure both you and the other party do not have downloads or data intensive processes running on your internet connection. Family or friends streaming audio/video or gaming on the same connection as you will also limit your bandwidth, ask them to wait till your class has finished.
If you have a slow internet connection, turn off both of your video cameras in zoom during the class.
Audio/Video Problems
There are three main steps that will help you fix any audio/video issues on Lessonspace:
General tips - the best practices
Allowing access - to your microphone and camera
Specific advice for MacOS users - This solves most issues MacOS users face
1. General tips
Make sure you have a good and stable internet connection and have a strong WiFi signal. We recommend tutors invest in an ethernet connection where possible.
We also recommend a fully updated browser, Chrome and Firefox are the best.
The vast majority of Audio/Video issues are related to internet connection instability and sudden disconnections.
Close all other apps that use your camera and microphone (Zoom, Skype, Hangouts etc).
Update your browser.
Restart your browser.
Restart your computer.
Check your browser's permission settings and make sure the right devices are selected. If Lessonspace prompts you to allow access to your devices, make sure you click 'Allow'. If this went wrong, or you did not allow them, read the next section to find out how to fix this.
2. Allowing access of your camera, microphone and screen
Lessonspace needs access to your camera, microphone and screen in order to use audio/video calls.
It will prompt you for this when you load it for the first time and you need to allow it access. In order to change these settings or in case something goes wrong, there are two steps to take:
Set your operating system preferences to allow your browser to use these devices. This mostly concerns MacOS, section 3 has more detailed information.
Set your browser preferences to allow to use your device:
3. Allowing device access in your operating system
This section mostly concerns users of MacOS, as often this is the root cause of audio/video issues on any website.
If you use MacOS:
Go to System Preferences
Click Security and Privacy
Scroll to Camera
Make sure the browser you use is ticked on
Follow the exact same steps for Microphone and Screen Recording
If you're not allowed to make changes to these settings you should click the padlock icon on the bottom-left of this window and enter your administrator password.