3x RPT300 + Cable Broadband + 6 PCs.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 16, 2006 Posts: 3

Hello everyone,
i visited my friend's house yesterday, he is running vonage and says he keeps dropping calls and internet connection is extremely slow and keeps dropping calls.. his set up is as follows:

comcast cable broadband to a rpt300.
the rpt300 has 3 pcs connected, 2 phones and another rpt300.
from the 2nd rpt300 has 2 pcs connected, 2 phones and another linksys router which has 2 phones connected.

what do you guys thing is the best connection that i can set up for him to have all 6 phones working with out dropping calls and have 4 pcs running as well?

thanks in advanced.

Posts: 26 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jan 03, 2006 Posts: 26

I beleive the optimal setup is to have all Non-Vonage gear (pc's, laptops, printers etc...) on their own router and have all the phones connected to one vonage device. Has he converted his house wiring onto Vonage? Is there a reason he has two RTP300's?

Also, with that much stuff running, he may not have enough bandwidth..what are the 5 pc's doing generally?

I would have him run some bandwidth tests and some testyourvoip.com tests both with the setup as is, and then with 1 pc connected directly to the modem for a truer test.

Once he has that, post the results and we can go from there...

~Andrew

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

With that much crap, you HAVE TO have some sort of QOS (Quality of service). My recommendation:

1) Go buy a Linksys router (WRT-54GS/L) that does QOS.

2) Go buy a hub to fit all the PC's.

Connect as follows:

Cable Modem to WRT-54GS/L. (configure port 1, 2 and 3 for highest priority QOS)

WRT-54 Ports:

Port 1: RTP #1
Port 2: RTP #2
Port 3: RTP #3
Port 4: Hub

Now connect the RTP's to their Port's.

Connect the other PC's to the Hub.

If this proves to be a problem with moving stuff, he can always use the WRT wireless for the PC's too.

This setup will allow the voice traffic to always get priority over data, and hence cut out alot of his issues. He also needs to watch doing any PTP and downloading music/movies with this setup. I expect that his bandwidth is already taxed.

Posts: 26 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jan 03, 2006 Posts: 26

Completely agree navydavy...Although I still wonder why he has so many RTP's?

The only thing I would change, is the hub, get an 8 port Linksys to act as a switch, otherwise you are going to get a lot of useless broadcast traffic Smile

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 16, 2006 Posts: 3

well, thats what i did yesterday, i did a bandwith test with a laptop connected to the modem and test came out to almost 4mbits per second, if i do it with the set up he has, i only get less than 1mbit.
he is running 6 lines because he is starting a little business from his appt. and once he gets better, he is going to improve all his communication and move into a building

Posts: 26 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jan 03, 2006 Posts: 26

It's not so much download as it is upload.

I think he has too much stuff for his connection, I understand he's trying to get off the ground, but VOIP needs a nice stable connection with enough bandwidth.

One option would be to use the bandwidth saver feature and drop it down to to 50k or 30k and see if that helps.

Otherwise, try the setup that navydavy came up with and possibly with my change to it and you should see a big improvement.

Is he using any bittorrent type programs? What's his business primarily doing?

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

"get an 8 port Linksys to act as a switch"

Absolutely, great advice!

"One option would be to use the bandwidth saver feature and drop it down to to 50k or 30k and see if that helps. "

Oh yeah, with that many lines going, you hit the nail on the head.

You got some good advice here and please let us know the result when it's all said and done. And remember, we're standing by to help too.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 16, 2006 Posts: 3

if i plug in an 8 port switch and plug the 3 vonage on one port each on the 8 port, then the phones will be connected on the 3 vonage devices, the PCs will be connected straight to the 8 port switch. wouldn't the PC get the highest priority and give the phones less priority and make them lag a little?
BTW, they are only using email for the internet and web browsing... they dont run any torrents or any large file downloads during the day while they are working

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

The phone adapters connect directly to the WRT. QOS enables them to have prioritized traffic. The hub/switch connects all the PC's on only ONE PORT of the WRT, and is NOT set for high priority. Right?