@YurkshireLad Depends on the video chat service and on the infrastructure of the participants.

Most browser based video chat services use WebRTC which usually uses peer to peer if NAT hole punching works - but that depends on the ISP routers.

This article explains it pretty well: https://blog.nirbheek.in/2023/07/webrtc-signalling.html?m=1

Services that may be easier to selfhost than Jitsi:

https://github.com/miroslavpejic85/mirotalk
https://galene.org/