multiple IPs and QoS

Posts: 1 · Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 7:46 am Post subject: multiple IPs and QoS

Hi:

I am using Vonage on a ADSL connection with two static IPs, and thus, two independent networks.
Using the ATA as a router isn't technically feasible given this configuration, so I needed another solution for QoS management.

I have the Linksys RTP300 behind one of my two routers, which are both coming from a switch from the modem (a broadxent 8012U ADSL bridge). In case it matters, the two routers are a D-link DI-604, and a D-link DI-524 modified to run like a DI-624.

Between the switch and the routers, I have a D-link DI-102 QoS box so trafic shaping is effective at layer 7 bridge rather than only available on one side, as would be the case if I were to use the RTP300.

The problem I'm having isn't specifically a Vonage one; the issue I'm having is that, while the QoS box does provide a good amount of overhead for UDP packets and Vonage doesn't break up outgoing anymore even with heavy upstream TCP activity, it doesn't give me my full upstream back when calls are not in progress.
I have 768 KBPS up, and I am basically limitted to 512 K, which is about right considering the unit wants to have a 192 bit overhead...
Thing is, I'd appreciate it if it were a bit more dynamic about allocating upstream bandwidth for supposedly non-critical applications when there is little or no UDP trafic.

The DI-102 is not very configurable, and D-link tech support wouldn't say much. Furtthermore, there seems to be no firmware upgrade for this unit, or, for that matter, much of anything available online other than a manual.

I asked a friend of mine who knows a bit more than I do about this kind of thing, and he said the following:

"what is happening is that the load balancing is not configured in a round
robin fassion so that the prioritised packets continually cycle through the
system, otherwise the bandwidth would reset itself i am not familiar with
that specific switch but i'd suggest taking a look for round robin settings."
Makes sense, but I can't do anything from this configuration.

What I'd like to know is if any of you here are running a similar network, and have encountered the same issues. If so, would I be better off with a nice, high-end router that can handle multiple WAN IPs and can do QoS management, or are there any better, cost-effective layer 7 inspection QoS boxes around?
I don't want to spend loads and loads of money on this, but it'd be nice to be able to actually use all of my available bandwidth when needed as I am paying about $100 a month for it, and there are no other ISPs in this area that offer this kind of upstream.

Posts: 177 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jul 22, 2005 Posts: 177

On the consumer-level gear that I've used, there is always a performance penalty due to QoS, although losing one third of your upstream bandwidth seems a bit excessive. I have seen about a 10% hit with the Sveasoft iptables-based QoS implementation.

I use a Xincom XC-DPG502 dual wan router with my DSL and cable connections and have been pretty satisfied with its performance. I have it configured to prioritize Voip traffic with its QoS functionality, which is bound to my DSL connection. I haven't done any exhaustive bandwidth tests with the Xincom configuration, but I was able to flood its QoS functionality by sucking up all bandwidth with heavy ftp traffic. I found that curious since I was not able to break the Sveasoft implementation...