Teamspeak?! Ventrilo?? Which is for you?

Hello all!

In a previous post there was the question of which VOIP (voice over IP) program was better for GuildWars pertaining between Teamspeak and Ventrilo.

The Results: Teamspeak

Setting up the Server- 8 (1 to 10) 10 Being Best

Setting up the client- 9 (1 to 10) 10 Being Best

Controls and configurablity- 10 (1 to 10) 10 Being Best

Ease of use- 9 (1 to 10) 10 Being Best


The Results: Ventrilo

Setting up the Server- 4 (1 to 10) 10 Being Best

Setting up the client- 6 (1 to 10) 10 Being Best

Controls and configurablity- 6 (1 to 10) 10 Being Best

Ease of use- 6 (1 to 10) 10 Being Best

How I tested:

Setting up the server:

Teamspeak- Installation was quick and easy, there was a 'windows setup tool' which installed the software and provided randomly generated keys for login and password as Admin and SuperAdmin to the administration interface. Teamspeak has a web based administration interface, which allows you to set up multiple servers and administer all of them through this interface. Setting passwords, privledges, and accounts was very simple and straightforward. Finding the settings for bandwidth usage was simple and is easy to configure so that your Teamspeak server bandwidth does not interfere with your game play.

Ventrilo- Installation was also easy, however there is no installation package, you simply unzip/unrar the files into whatever directory you wish. Administering your server is a little flaky. It is all done by editing a .ini file. Which made it difficult to go through as I found myself scrolling up and down to tweak this setting and that. Making adjustments to these settings using a text editor, for me- was a little too ancient. Those that are used to editing text files to set parameters- like maybe people that use Linux a lot will feel right at home.

Setting up the Client & Controls and configurability:

Teamspeak- Installation here was also quick and easy. There was a 'windows setup tool' for installation. The Graphical User Interface of the teamspeak client is clean and simple. Using either Quick Connect to a known IP, or setup a 'profile' so to speak for saving your connection settings and/or you can search the global Teamspeak Network and join servers/channels. Joining a global server is a great way to test your teamspeak client, one thing that Ventrilo does not have the ability to do at all. Using Ventrilo, you MUST have the IP and password to the server you wish to connect to. The client also allows you to set a local test mode to set your sensitivity level and CODEC. The one drawback that I could find with the Teamspeak client- is there may be 'too many' buttons to play with that the novice may accidentally set an incorrect adjustment and then blame the fact that something is not working right on the program.

Ventrilo- Installation was easy, the Ventrilo client does have a 'windows setup tool' unlike the 'server' side of Ventrilo. But I was very disappointed in the way this client operates. Basically it is simply ancient looking; Like I am looking at an old version of putty. There is no local testing, and although there are settings to change CODEC, and sensitivity and sound drivers, the plain interface made this task unappealing. I had read someone state that Ventrilo has many options for CODECS, this is simply backwards. Teamspeak has many more CODECS available. Choosing the right CODEC will make your experience with either VOIP program more enjoyable as the sound will be more clear and crisp with a higher rated CODEC at the expense of bandwidth.

Ease of use:

Teamspeak- As administer of the teamspeak server, I have excellent control over the people on my server. When an anonymous user logs in, you can squelch their voice so all they can do is use text messages. Yes, you can type text messages as well as speak! -drag and drop them into a specific 'channel' much like a graphical representation of a directory tree. Users can create channels, create passwords for channels- all of which an administrator can easily control. All in a simple graphical environment.

Ventrilo- Ventrilo has many of the same options, although much different to navigate by. After many of the other disappointments with Ventrilo, I simply couldn’t find myself wanting to use it?

On a side note, Installation of both Ventrilo and Teamspeak servers- If you are working behind a NAT or router and or a firewall; and you are not familiar with configuring any of said hardware/software. You will need to forward ports that are used by the server. You can get step by step walkthroughs of how to forward ports at a great website:

They have great information here, just click on port forwarding at the top, choose your router from the list, and follow the instructions.

Neither client- Teamspeak nor Ventrilo should require port forwarding.

I hope you all enjoyed my review; it is all of course, my opinion. Happy Gaming!

Teamspeak: Ventrilo: GuildWars~
Forget what you thought you knew about online gaming.

Your grammer wanted you to edit your post? My grammar only likes to sit and eat ice cream.

But seriously...Thanks for making it so easy for someone to look at that set ups and what is best/easiest. That portforward deserves alot of referral!

Good Job!/Props/Kudos/Thumbs up!

Hmm, I'm no VoIP hoster and I'm certain Teamspeak is a lot easier to configure & manage for admins, but I have to say I vastly prefer Ventrilo clientside.


1. Both clients look ancient, Teamspeak just has gay colors where Ventrilo has regular gray. In both cases it's nowhere near as bad as Roger Wilco was and you wont be looking at the client 99% of the time anyway.

2. Ventrilo came across as a lot more user-friendly, whereas it also offered more clientside options.
Ventrilo gives you a large menu of dozens of options so you can set the program to whatever you like, but it also virtually always works with default settings.
Teamspeak required a lot of testing before it finally gave decent output and has far less options available to the user (even if it has more for the admin)

3. The codec that Ventrilo uses "out-of-the-box" is far better than the one Teamspeak uses.
Most of the VoIP users wont change their codec, so for them this is a major positive point about ventrilo: far superior voice-quality

4. I've connected to plenty of different Teamspeak and Ventrilo servers, for some reason Ventrilo seems to have far less voice-delay.
Ofcourse that could depend on what server I connected to, or what codec I was using, but it is consistent over all TS/Vent servers... Vent gave less delay, very important during clanwars (in FPS anyway ;p)

5. Local Testing is featured in Ventrilo as well.
It's there, a sizeable button in the first screen of the setup window. "Test"
Functions exactly like Teamspeak's local testing.

6. Ventrilo has superior volume control options, or in any case - people find it easier to use.
My experience with teamspeak is that only 20% actually has their output configured properly, the remainder either sounds like they're shouting or whispering (completely blocking other people out)
Whereas in Ventrilo, 90% of the people had their voices exactly right or only marginally too loud... and 10% sounded like they were whispering.

7. Yes teamspeak has more codecs (6 for vent, 13 for teamspeak) but that doesn't mean they're better codecs.
For all you know Ventrilo may have 6 quality codecs, whereas teamspeak only has 4..
E.g.: the default codec of Teamspeak is crap-as-hell, can barely understand people at times... whereas the Ventrilo default codec is very understandable, high quality with less or equal delay than/to Teamspeak's default codec.
I haven't tested all of the codecs, but I'll give it a shot.



Originally I used teamspeak, because alternatives (Roger Wilco, Gamevoice) were either too low-quality (Roger Wilco had even worse codecs than Teamspeak does) or too cumbersome to use (Gamevoice was hell to set up and connect to servers)
Then Ventrilo came, no gay colours like Teamspeak, quality standard codecs (which 90% of the users will use, including the vast majority of clanmembers, hence a very important factor to consider) and less delay, at a price of less control.

For me, the main points of VoIP software is standard codec quality, user-friendlieness & delay... that's where Ventrilo scores well over Teamspeak.
Sure it may not have some fancy colours you'll rarely see anyway, nor does it have the degree of control you'd have with a teamspeak server (which isn't a major factor when it comes to private servers/channels anyway) and it may not have the wealth of codecs that teamspeak has... but for me, Ventrilo is the superior VoIP program.



Additional Note:
I don't know this for certain, but afaik. Ventrilo only allows two people to be talking in the same channel at once.
TS channels can quickly become one chaotic pit of screaming people that nobody can understand... with ventrilo, talking is usually a lot cleaner.
For well-organised clans this shouldn't matter, but for large groups of people it most definitely does.

my comments
I read the orginal post hoping it would be informative and objective but after reading it I came to the conclusion you come from a teamspeak background and was so put off by ventrilos lack of a nice pretty GUI that you never gave ventrilo a chance.

One has to consider that ventrilo was designed as a service to be sold to consumers via service providers and not as an easy to use application directly to consumers which explains its lack of a easy to use server setup interface. its not designed to be easily setup one server at a time but rather easy to setup multiple servers at once. I have rented ventrilo servers and most of the reputable hosts have provided a web based interface that has made setting up and adminstrating servers easy.

You seem to point out teamspeaks strength as a weakness for ventrilo but not vice versa.

You point out ventrilos lack of a local test option but its right there under setup on the client.

You critque ventrilo for it lack of codecs under client and control options but anyone famailar with ventrilo would tell you the codec is control by the server not the client. Also while TS might have more codecs an arguement could be made that Ventrilo has better sounding codecs.

With an exploration of the readme for ventrilo server setup all would be made clear. it may not have been easy to use but from experimentation with both a year ago ventrilo has more powerful options.

I learned a long time ago that some of the most powerful programs out there arent the ones with the nicest interface but the ones that can do the most.

Personally both are good applications are the codecs sound about the same offer similar bandwidth usage though Ventrilo has a slight advanatge in clearity and offer the options of going at higher bitrates.

Compare a covnersation on a Ventrilo with the GSM 6.10 codec @ 22k with one on teamspeaks speex at 25.9kb and it becomes apparent which client sounds better .


in recap
TeamSpeak
+Easier to use and setup
+has More codecs
+uses less resources
+Usually Cheaper
+free uncrippled version for non commercial use

Ventrilo
+has better sounding codecs
+sounds slighly clearer
+has a neat text to speech options
-uses more cpu cycles
-free server version harder to use and limited to 8 slots

good post informative but not objective

I figured I would toss in a couple of extra thoughts on TS and Vent since I have used both and at one point my CS:S clan was comparing them (all of these are opinions)

When somebody joins a TS server it simply says "player joins" or "new player" This can be frustrating because you always have to ask "who is this." Ventrilo allows you to type in (phonetically) your name so when you enter it says "Zfactor has joined the server."

The voice differences between Vent and TS are obvious. TS is much more clear and the voices sound more true to life than Vent.

Text-to-speech in Vent is annoying as hell because in game anybody can say anything (you can bind them to keys) and you will not know who it is -- unless you are looking at the Vent window. Now, this lead to some hilarious ends in my clan, but after a while it gets boring and is no longer a plus for vent over TS

Did you notice any difference in the traffic that both progs create?

When we where playing WoW, one of the guild members set up a TS server for us. I must say, it is pretty nice to have, especially when raiding or grouping with guild members. I think its a must these days for raiding and overall grouping. You get to know your friends at the same time.

That's odd, which codecs do you use?
I've got both on standard and Teamspeak sounds horrible in comparison to Ventrilo, with lot's of crackle's and other disturbances.

Why are you guys leaving Skype out anyways? I thought it was ways better than TS and/or Ventrillo....www.skype.com check it out, you don't even need to set up servers

I use the default codecs for both programs. There is some breaking up sometimes, but I find it is usually the person's mic. Overall the quality of the line for both programs is equal. I guess it is a matter of preference and what you *think* the other person sounds like. But when I hear my voice echo through a user who has the speakers on in TS, I find it is closer than in Vent.

Skype is great in theory, but not useful for clans in practice.
Every single time you want to use it, you have to connect to everyone, instead of simply joining a server that is always there.
The advantages of having a server that is always there are tremendous (no need for everyone to be online at the same time, you can go on at any time and find there are others of your clan online - playing a game or just chatting)


Zfactor, I'm online on Teamspeak with my friends virtually every night (provided we're not out doing something else - like watching a movie or whatever), I know what they sound like in real-life, on Teamspeak & on Ventrilo.
On Ventrilo the voices are not as lifelike as on Teamspeak (difference is barely noticeable really) but they are a lot easier on the ear.
Teamspeak tends to amplify it too much and cause a lot of breathing & crackles to come through alongside just voices.

slightly off topic, but for the vent users, do you hear massive distortions of spikes sometimes?

To me, Teamspeak's colors are not grey and dull. But then again maybe you were talking about an older version. I downloaded and tested the newest versions of both. I went into this unbiased but yes quickly became happier with the way Teamspeak works. But thanks for your input. And at the end I did say it was my opinion.

I'm not a programmer, nor inclined to learn much programming, though I am familiar with computers and programming a fair bit. What are the technical specs to run a server to use TeamSpeak or Ventrilio?

--Vyxxen Heartstomper

This is a fair question. I guess it would depend on whether you intend to use your server on a Dedicated computer, with dedicated bandwidth or on the computer you intend to be using for online gaming etc.

While I was testing these two programs, and since it is fair to say I am not currently a Ventrilo fan. I will only talk about my experience with Teamspeak as the complete answer will be the same with whichever server you wish to use. While runing the server I only had one other person in the server with me. I am currently using a dell celleron 2.4 Ghz with 504 meg of free memory after the onboard video takes its' share.

You may simply want to install the the Teamspeak client and join a public server (which Vintrilo does not have the ability to do) -find a server with a good amount of people on it and contact the server admin. Ask what type of computer they are runing, how much bandwidth they have to use, and how much bandwidth the server used as a maximum. The 'all time high' bandwidth is easily determined by the adminstrator login simply by clicking on the server name.

If I remember correctly you may be able to find out what computer type you are connected to when you connect. But you will not have available access to the servers' bandwidth logs, that you will have to get from an admin.

I'll check whether or not I can see server information when I connect to a server in just a bit, I need to run to the store

Hope that helps.

GuildWars~
Forget what you thought you knew about online gaming.

I like TS better because when i had a clan in WoW with vent i had problems and kept getting errors so i couldn't even join the clan server. This hasn't happened to me with TS.

My friend keeps telling me TS has a 4 seconds delay and vent doesn't. Is that true?

Ventrilo has better quality. Period.

i like ventrillo 9999x better than team speak sounds so much better and is smaller and less ugly

the new vent server free license only allows 8 ppl to connect after that you have to pay for it. teamspeak server is free.

so, if you are planning on hosting the voice comms yourself or on your host provider then teamspeak is your best option.

if you are going to rent voice comm server slots then the pricing is about the same and vent has slightly better voice quality.

treserious made a good thread about this on VN.
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=82596282

This is a good point. Also there are litteraly HUNDREDS of Public servers available. Don't want to use your own computer and bandwidth? Scan the Teamspeak public servers where you can create your own channel for you and your pals for free!. Try doing that with Ventrilo.

Teamspeak pwns
download Teamspeak overlay and when someone talks theyre name lights up on your screen so you know who to yell at for open-mic !

www.teamspeakoverlay.com 4t3hw1n !

Having to constantly uninstall / reinstall different versions of Ventrilo because everyone uses a different version, none of which are compatible with each other, supercedes any ease-of-use advantages you might give to that program.

Most of the quality differences have to do with what codecs you're using. The two programs sound virtually identical, with the main differences I've noticed being that Ventrilo handles mixing a bit better, while Teamspeak is a bit more clean when one person is talking.

Teamspeak has a more robust client, and a much better licencing agreement.

Personally, I use Teamspeak, as I run my own server. I'd use Ventrilo if and only if I was leasing a server, and I had no intention of ever using someone else's server. Otherwise you're going to drive yourself mad with the uninstall/reinstall loop.

Peace,
-CxE