WebRTC is a standard that enables high-speed data transmission through web browsers. It is particularly used for video chats and web conferences as it can send and receive large volumes of data, such as audio and video, in real-time. The project was launched in 2011 to implement real-time communication through APIs.
WebRTC's communication method is P2P (Peer to Peer), meaning terminals exchange data directly with each other, bypassing the server. However, in web conferences with many participants, P2P increases load and degrades quality, so a client-server method is used instead, which can solve line issues by sending and receiving data through the server.
Advantages of WebRTC
WebRTC has several significant advantages:
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No additional equipment needed. A computer or smartphone is sufficient to use WebRTC. It's a technology developed by combining existing internet technologies, so there's no need to purchase new equipment.
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No additional applications required. WebRTC is a technology that can be implemented in the browser. It works excellently in all major browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
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Minimal latency. WebRTC is the fastest available technology. Latency of less than 0.5 seconds is achieved by the ability to transmit data without going through a server. Regular one-way communication uses the TCP protocol, where data transmission goes through a server: Stream goes from client to server -> server confirms the other side received it. Data is transmitted by constantly repeating these steps. WebRTC, on the other hand, uses the UDP protocol. Unlike TCP, it sends data directly from client to client and doesn't require any processing to start or end communication.
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High level of security: all connections are protected and encrypted according to DTLS and SRTP protocols. WebRTC only works over HTTPS protocol, and the website using the technology must be signed with a certificate.
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Open source — can be implemented in your product or service.
Disadvantages of WebRTC
Although WebRTC has many significant advantages, in some cases it's more beneficial to use TCP communication. Let's look at when:
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WebRTC uses UDP as its protocol. This simplifies communication but reduces reliability from a security perspective. As mentioned above, TCP consists of a series of steps from when a client starts connecting to a server until the other side confirms the signal was received. In other words, availability is guaranteed by the ability to confirm each time whether the other side received the data. On the other hand, UDP, which sends data continuously, cannot confirm whether the other side actually received it.
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All WebRTC solutions are incompatible with each other, as the standard only describes methods of transmitting video and sound, leaving the implementation of methods for addressing subscribers, tracking their availability, exchanging messages and files, scheduling, and other features to the developer. In other words, you cannot call from one WebRTC application to another.
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WebRTC reveals users' real IP addresses. Neither proxies nor using the Tor network will help maintain anonymity. IP addresses can be hidden using various VPN services, as well as when using a TURN server.
Popularity
Today, WebRTC technology is the second most popular after the proprietary Zoom protocol and surpasses all other standard (H.323 and SIP) and proprietary (Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex) protocols.