QoS with RT31P2?

Posts: 26 · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:53 pm Post subject: QoS with RT31P2?

I'm trying to get somewhere with poor voice quality. I have my Bandwidth Saver turned down to 30Kbps per Vonage tech support. I was looking at QoS on the router and noticed that Voice QoS was enabled and set to 256Kbps. It might make sense to turn it down to match the 30Kbps Bandwidth Saver setting, or it might also make sense to turn it off to save router overhead. All other QoS is turned off.

I've read various opinions here on QoS, any opinions specific to my situation?

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:04 pm Post subject:

Not familiar with the QoS on that router, but I assume that is labeled "Upstream" or "Upload" bandwidth?

If so, that number is a measure of your TOTAL upstream bandwidth, and is used by the router to determine how much can be uploaded at one time so it can "shape" the traffic to fit that bandwidth.

http://vonage.nmhoy.net/qos.html

Can you post a screenshot, or private message me and I'll give you an email address to send a screenshot to? I'd love to learn more about the QoS on that router to see if it actually works. The presence of a manual upstream field is promising.

Posts: 26 · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject:

NateHoy wrote:

Not familiar with the QoS on that router, but I assume that is labeled "Upstream" or "Upload" bandwidth?

no, it is not upstream bandwidth, it is specifically labeled "Voice QoS"

NateHoy wrote:

If so, that number is a measure of your TOTAL upstream bandwidth, and is used by the router to determine how much can be uploaded at one time so it can "shape" the traffic to fit that bandwidth.

http://vonage.nmhoy.net/qos.html

Can you post a screenshot, or private message me and I'll give you an email address to send a screenshot to? I'd love to learn more about the QoS on that router to see if it actually works. The presence of a manual upstream field is promising.

I will PM you, thanks.

Posts: 185 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Dec 18, 2005 Posts: 185

The VOICE QOS on the RT31P2 is specifically how much upload bandwidth is reserved for voice. You should NOT set this at the 30 you have on your BW saver. The reason is there are 2 parts to a call. The first part is your regular incoming and outgoing traffic talking to one person. The second is the Call Waiting, or 3-Way part of the call, and if you are on a 3 way or Call Waiting call, the second part of the line is ALWAYS at 90kps, so if your BW saver is at 30, you need at least 120kps reserved.

Posts: 26 · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:15 pm Post subject:

very interesting. So would you say voice QoS is worthwhile on the RT31P2, or does it create unnecessary overhead?

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:46 pm Post subject:

nikwax wrote:

very interesting. So would you say voice QoS is worthwhile on the RT31P2, or does it create unnecessary overhead?

If the WRTP54G and RTP300 (which both came after the RT31P2) are any judge, the entire QoS subsystem in that router is unnecessary overhead unless it happens to manage to calculate your available upload/upstream speed properly. And that's not likely.

Posts: 26 · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 10:38 am Post subject:

yup, Vonage says to leave Voice QoS turned off.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 10:44 am Post subject:

If your voice quality issues happen all the time, even with no other computers on your network doing any sort of heavy traffic (and especially if your Vonage line is the only thing hooked up at all), then I'd say the problem is your Internet connection itself and you need to diagnose it from that angle first (testyourvoip tests, etc).

If your voice quality issues are only when heavy traffic is being sent over your Internet connection, then:

1. OUTBOUND (other people hearing you) issues can be helped with working QoS. This is going to require that you purchase a router with working QoS. I can make recommendations based on what has worked for me and some other people I have helped, but in a nutshell the Vonage routers don't do QoS, or at least it doesn't always work.

2. INBOUND (you hearing other people) will have to be solved by throttling whatever applications are doing large downloads, or by upgrading your connection. No ISP on this planet is going to allow your QoS preferences to affect their routing engines, even if you had an SNMP router that could send the proper requests to them.