Another pro tip: Regardless of whether it is Zoom, Google Meet, MS Teams, WebEx, Skype or any other platform, if you downloaded it more than 24 hours ago, find the place where you can “check for updates,” install them, restart, This something I do in the hour before the scheduled call. These platforms are frequently updated, and if they are out of sync with your operating system, laptop drivers, etc., tech difficulties may ensue. I learned this when Zoom insisted I didn’t have a camera it could connect to right before a meeting, yet my camera showed it was perfectly fine. I clicked my profile photo in Zoom, checked for updates, realized I was 2 updates behind. Lesson learned.
If you have multiple video meeting apps on your laptop, be sure they are all turned off or closed, else they will battle for your camera. Another lesson learned. I worked remotely on laptops from 2000 on, usually using Skype for Business or Cisco WebEx, the earliest versions AND plugging in via a phone line before wifi came along.