[hiq]

I had the same thought, but do your dozen folks use video calls on your instance? Does it work well enough? I'd definitely expect to be able to host a text-only instance for $5, but maybe they also need to provision for more demanding features?

I only use Element / Matrix as an IRC replacement for now so I couldn't tell.

[thedanbob]

I host a Matrix server for my family and we regular make audio calls to Australia. I had to try a few services before I found a $5 VPS that worked well, but network was always the limiting factor rather than server specs. The unavoidable latency makes video calls unpleasant so I can’t speak to that.

[LinuxBender]

Have you tried using Mumble [1] to chat with your family? I ask because I have chatted with gamers that are in AU and NZ from the US with almost no detectable latency. I can see their latency in the client, but I can't hear it. There are open servers you can test it out with to avoid setting up the server and save you some time setting up the server in the event it does not work better.

[1] - https://www.mumble.info/

[thedanbob]

Interesting, I’ve heard of Mumble but never looked into it. Thanks!

[crazypython]

Hmmmm, which service worked well for you? Interested in knowing.

[thedanbob]

I ended up at Genesis Hosting. Their web console is a little rough but the server specs and network performance are better than any other $5 VPS I’ve tried.

[teraku]

AFAIK, Matrix does not support Video chat yet?

But the VoIP/audio chat is using WebRTC, so Matrix is only the signalling server and the audio is p2p between the participants. As such the strain on the hosting server should be minimal

[kevincox]

Matrix supports both video and audio chat over WebRTC. IIUC this provides strong e2e encryption and very good performance (it is the best looking video call I have used as they don't seem to really have any limit on the resources used because it is p2p). However it is limited to 1:1 right now.

Element (and some other clients, but I don't think it is part of the standard) also supports multi-user voice and video using Jitsi which works very well but you loose e2e encryption (although IIUC Jitsi has some experiments for this) and need to run it separately.

[roblabla]

Even if it's P2P, you still need TURN servers because participants might be behind NAT that are hard to pierce through. This basically means you're proxying the full video traffic between both participants.

[crescit_eundo]

Have you had success with encrypting TURN servers? In trying to host my own Matrix server and have E2E encryption for texts, video, and voice, I found that video/voice had to be disabled as Let's Encrypt and SSL weren't compatible.

[reitanuki]

You definitely can make it work with Let's Encrypt, that shouldn't disturb anything.

Setting up STUN and TURN is a real pain, though, if you run into any issues.

[crescit_eundo]

Interesting! Were you able to set up a fully encrypted TURN server to use with Matrix? Any tips? I wasn't able to succesfully.

[jlgaddis]

Tip: read the "Be precise and informative about your problem" section [0] of the infamous "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way".

Actually, I'd suggest reading the entire document when you have time. For now, though, at least have a read of that section (it's short and sweet).

[0]: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#beprecise

[reitanuki]

If you pop in to #voip-tester:librepush.net I may be able to lend an ear at least.

You won't be the first (nor the last, though if I can have the chance to improve that at some point I would love to) person to have struggled with it.