Drop-outs during calls

Posts: 24 · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 8:45 pm Post subject: Drop-outs during calls

Since acquiring two Vonage adapters and lines over a year ago, I've experienced frequent drop-outs during calls on each adapter and line: Either the connection simply drops and I have to call the other party back, or I can hear the other party but they suddenly lose my transmission. The latter instances are sometimes temporary drop-outs, sometimes I simply have to hang up and call back. When these problems occur, my cable signal is still adequate for internet connectivity -- but the lights on one or both phone adapters are blinking, indicating they've lost the signal.

I'll be interested to hear if others have similar problems -- and grateful for any suggestions.

Details of my system:
- Location: Weston, CT.
- ISP: Optimum Online (Cablevision).
- Current upload speed: 2.079 Mbps; Download: 7.713 Mbps
- U.S. Robotics (3Com) cable modem CMX, Model 2940
- Vonage adapters: (1) LinkSys RPT300; (2) Motorola VT1005V
- Configuration: Modem --> RPT300
RPT300 Port 1 --> PC#1
RPT300 Port 2 --> LinkSys Wireless-G router
RPT300 Port 3 --> Vonage adapter 2 (Moto VT1005V)-->1st phone
RPT300 Port 4 --> PC#2
RPT300 Line 1:-->2nd phone (and fax)
RPT300 Line 2 [not used]

- Results of test call to Boston via www.testyour voip.com:

MOS Analysis From You TO Boston
MOS analysis chart
Media Quality
MOS
4.2 / 5.0
(Best with G.711 is 4.4)

Degradation Sources
Codec 0.58 73.9%
Latency 0.00 0.0%
Packet Discards 0.20 26.1%
Packet Loss 0.00 0.0%
Codec G.711 (PCM at 64kbps,
20ms RTP payload,
80kbps IP BW)
Round-Trip
Latency 89 ms
Packet Discards 1.1%
Packet Loss 0.0%
Loss Periods
Min: 20 ms
Avg: 20 ms
Max: 40 ms
Random Loss
Jitter
Min: 0 ms
Avg: 2 ms
Max: 36 ms
Signaling Quality
Post-Dial Delay 50 ms
Call Setup Time 60 ms
Media Delay 170 ms
------------------------------------
MOS Analysis FROM Boston To You
MOS analysis chart
Media Quality
MOS
4.3 / 5.0
(Best with G.711 is 4.4)

Degradation Sources
Codec 0.58 86.1%
Latency 0.00 0.0%
Packet Discards 0.09 13.9%
Packet Loss 0.00 0.0%
Codec G.711 (PCM at 64kbps,
20ms RTP payload,
80kbps IP BW)
Round-Trip
Latency 89 ms
Packet Discards 0.5%
Packet Loss 0.0%
Loss Periods
Min: 40 ms
Avg: 40 ms
Max: 40 ms
Random Loss
Jitter
Min: 0 ms
Avg: 1 ms
Max: 30 ms
Signaling Quality
Post-Pickup Delay 95 ms
Call Setup Time 94 ms
Media Delay 129 ms

Posts: 4751 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4751

This is likely to be a tough one, because your scores are good, and there's nothing about your setup that suggests a problem. Are your testyourvoip scores consistent? Have you ever tried re-testing right after a dropout? Are any of your computers running high rate uploads or downloads during these events?

How about your telephones? Are they 2.4 GHz cordless? If so, interference with your wireless router could be an important issue.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 3

I had this problem when I first plugged in my RTP300. I kept my Netgear router ont he line, and plugged the RTP300 into it. I also had increased the call quality from 50 to 90 using the Vonage website. I had awful sound quality on the line, and also I would be talking and the other end could hear me, but I could not hear them. The phone was plugged into Line 1.

Changes:
1. Dropped the sound quality down to 50 (suggestion from the Knowledgebase)
2. Connected the RTP300 directly to the cable modem (not through the Netgear, though that now means that VPN does not work)
3. Replaced the RTP300 with a WRTP54G.

Currently, VPN still does not work, but the sound quality is fine, and there are no reported dropouts. I think #1 on the above list contributed the most to the resolution, though #2 is a good bet as well. #3 was incidental.

Posts: 24 · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:24 pm Post subject:

Steve48 wrote:

This is likely to be a tough one, because your scores are good, and there's nothing about your setup that suggests a problem. Are your testyourvoip scores consistent? Have you ever tried re-testing right after a dropout?

I haven't done much testing. I'm hoping (of course) to find a fix that doesn't require a deep dive into technical arcana.

Steve48 wrote:

Are any of your computers running high rate uploads or downloads during these events?

I rarely transfer large amounts of data either direction. I'm sure these events have happened when no substantial data transfer was occurring.

Steve48 wrote:

How about your telephones? Are they 2.4 GHz cordless? If so, interference with your wireless router could be an important issue.

Yes, my phones are 2.4 GHz cordless. To test this, would it be sufficient simply to move my wireless router itself further from my phones, or would it require removing it from the system altogether?

Posts: 24 · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:54 pm Post subject: Re: One-way conversations

jasmantle wrote:

I had this problem when I first plugged in my RTP300. I kept my Netgear router ont he line, and plugged the RTP300 into it. I also had increased the call quality from 50 to 90 using the Vonage website. I had awful sound quality on the line, and also I would be talking and the other end could hear me, but I could not hear them. The phone was plugged into Line 1.

Changes:
1. Dropped the sound quality down to 50 (suggestion from the Knowledgebase)
2. Connected the RTP300 directly to the cable modem (not through the Netgear, though that now means that VPN does not work)
3. Replaced the RTP300 with a WRTP54G.

Currently, VPN still does not work, but the sound quality is fine, and there are no reported dropouts. I think #1 on the above list contributed the most to the resolution, though #2 is a good bet as well. #3 was incidental.

Thanks for the illuminating suggestions. First, I had not been aware of the option of modifying my broadband width; I just now looked into it. The "Broadband Saver" feature doesn't appear to indicate where you are at the moment, just gives you the option to select a setting -- so I don't know how you found that you were starting at 50, or later at 90 Kbps. Anyway, I've just set (or reset) my width to 50 ("normal call quality") and will see if that makes a difference; if that doesn't fix it, I'll take it all the way down to 30 and check again. (I'll also be very interested to see if Vonage's claims -- that the difference in sound quality should be hardly noticeable -- are true, at least for my connection.)

W/r to your 2nd suggestion, I already have a direct connect from my cable modem to my RTP300 -- and don't require VPN -- so I think I'm OK there.

Thanks again for the tip on adjusting the broadband setting. I'll come back and post the results.

Posts: 4751 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4751

ekaim wrote:

Yes, my phones are 2.4 GHz cordless. To test this, would it be sufficient simply to move my wireless router itself further from my phones, or would it require removing it from the system altogether?

The best test would be to substitute a corded phone for awhile. Alternately, disable the wireless function on the wireless router. You needn't actually remove it, but simply getting it farther away from the phones might be insufficient.

Posts: 24 · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 11:58 pm Post subject:

Steve48 wrote:

ekaim wrote:

Yes, my phones are 2.4 GHz cordless. To test this, would it be sufficient simply to move my wireless router itself further from my phones, or would it require removing it from the system altogether?

The best test would be to substitute a corded phone for awhile. Alternately, disable the wireless function on the wireless router. You needn't actually remove it, but simply getting it farther away from the phones might be insufficient.

Of the several phones in my home office, only one is corded -- and I've had the same problem with drop-outs on that as on my cordless phones. I gather that simply having other devices working at 2.4 GHz in the vicinity (even microwaves, etc.) might cause interference; so using a corded phone in this environment wouldn't help.

If reducing the bandwidth (as I did this evening) doesn't resolve the problem, my next step will be to get the wireless router -- or at least its wireless function -- out of the loop, as you suggest.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Posts: 293 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 22, 2006 Posts: 293

I'm not sure what to think. When I ran my Adapter (even though recommended by Vonage) before my routers, I would experience dropped calls. Planted behind a router, I don't recall having any.

I'm just testing a new setup. I've now put a switch with flow control at the head of my network feeding two routers. One router handles my network computers. The other handles my VOIP lines. So far so good, and I'm not sure why I chose to do it this way, but it was something I wanted to try.

Posts: 24 · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 1:19 pm Post subject:

outerfire wrote:

I'm not sure what to think. When I ran my Adapter (even though recommended by Vonage) before my routers, I would experience dropped calls. Planted behind a router, I don't recall having any.

I'm just testing a new setup. I've now put a switch with flow control at the head of my network feeding two routers. One router handles my network computers. The other handles my VOIP lines. So far so good, and I'm not sure why I chose to do it this way, but it was something I wanted to try.

Your idea is intriguing, but I'm not sure I understand it. I think my confusion may stem from the distinction of adapters and routers, which isn't entirely clear to me. If by "adapter" you mean a telephone adapter, such as Vonage provides, do you mean you originally ran a cable from your modem directly to the phone adapter and then additional cables from your adapter to your routers? And, with that configuration, you experienced dropped calls -- but when you went from modem to router to adapter(s) you resolved this problem?

That would be puzzling to me, for a couple of reasons. First, as far as I know a modem (at least a cable modem) has only one cable to attach to another device; if you attach it to a phone adapter, then you'd have to cable everything else on your system from that adapter, which -- in my case, for example -- would not give me enough connections. Second, I've been using the modem-->router-->adapter config from the start, and have had a serious drop-out problem with that config.

I'll be interested to hear how your current fix pans out. If it does, next I'll be interested to know some specifics about your "flow-control" switch.

Regards,

Ed

Posts: 400 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: May 05, 2005 Posts: 400

ekaim wrote:

outerfire wrote:

I'm not sure what to think. When I ran my Adapter (even though recommended by Vonage) before my routers, I would experience dropped calls. Planted behind a router, I don't recall having any.

I'm just testing a new setup. I've now put a switch with flow control at the head of my network feeding two routers. One router handles my network computers. The other handles my VOIP lines. So far so good, and I'm not sure why I chose to do it this way, but it was something I wanted to try.

Your idea is intriguing, but I'm not sure I understand it. I think my confusion may stem from the distinction of adapters and routers, which isn't entirely clear to me. If by "adapter" you mean a telephone adapter, such as Vonage provides, do you mean you originally ran a cable from your modem directly to the phone adapter and then additional cables from your adapter to your routers? And, with that configuration, you experienced dropped calls -- but when you went from modem to router to adapter(s) you resolved this problem?

That would be puzzling to me, for a couple of reasons. First, as far as I know a modem (at least a cable modem) has only one cable to attach to another device; if you attach it to a phone adapter, then you'd have to cable everything else on your system from that adapter, which -- in my case, for example -- would not give me enough connections. Second, I've been using the modem-->router-->adapter config from the start, and have had a serious drop-out problem with that config.

I'll be interested to hear how your current fix pans out. If it does, next I'll be interested to know some specifics about your "flow-control" switch.

Regards,

Ed

You would put the wireless router after your modem and then feed your phone adapter with one of the LAN ports from your router to your phone adapter.

If you have the PAP2 then you can not put this after the modem because it has no LAN ports to feed a wireless router.