Summary
Customers who have integrated Network Test into their application, with their own project API KEY are requested to ensure the simulcast setting is configured as 'disabled' on those API KEY. This can be accomplished by submitting a support request along with their Network Test API KEY information.
Why do we need to do this?
Running Network Test analysis on a simulcast stream results in a pessimistic assessment. So, until now, running the Network test on an API KEY with simulcast settings configured as a heuristic (default) or explicitly set to disabled would help in making the correct network assessment.
An automated optimized routing for 1:1 cases in a routed session is planned to be globally enabled at the Video API platform by Feb 1st 2023. With this, media will be routed peer-to-peer for the first two publishers without simulcast and will be automatically routed via media router once there are more than two connections or when advanced media router functionalities like archiving / live streaming broadcast / SIP / Experience Composer are utilized.
This will be enabled
- First on JS SDK clients running version 2.24.6 and above.
- Then on other Client SDKs towards the end of February, the respective SDK version from which it will be enabled is still being finalized.
The roll out is being done carefully with monitoring to assure global support, thus clients will be enabled on a rolling basis.
With the automated optimized routing, the simulcast setting heuristic will no longer be relevant. i.e., on an API KEY with simulcast not configured as disabled, the user connecting with JS Client 2.24.6 and above, from a simulcast capable endpoint, publishing to the media router, will be a simulcast publisher.
This is useful in multiparty sessions as well as 1-to-many broadcast sessions, as it allows the first publisher onwards (publishing to the media router) to be a simulcast publisher. This also relieves the customers from having to configure the API KEY simulcast setting as enabled explicitly for the above mentioned use cases.
So, customers planning to run Network Test with JS Client 2.24.6+ are recommended to ensure the simulcast setting is configured as 'disabled' on the Network Test API KEY at the earliest. This is also applicable to customers running Network Test implementation on native mobile or desktop SDK, the applicable version is still being finalized.
Note:
This change may sound not applicable if customers ONLY use simulcast-incapable endpoints for eg: Firefox. But it is rare to see customers only use simulcast-incapable endpoints for sessions.