Qos questions

Posts: 81 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jan 02, 2006 Posts: 81

So my wife and I just bought a house and I've been working the last couple of days to wire the whole place up. We've been using vonage for about a month before we moved, so I had it working at our old place pretty good.

Our setup is as follows...we have the vonage adapter, 2 home computers, one work computer, tivo, sony ps2, and an apple airport adapter.

Reading the boards here I heard the WRT54GL router named a lot so I went out and got one. I followed the directions from that one website and set it all up. But I have some basic questions.

First, do I have to list all my devices? If I don't list any device will it default to low priority automaticly? Some devices like tivo and the sony ps2 don't really show up on the dhcp tables until they need to connect...so finding their mac address and adding them to the table seems like a lot of work. Both should get low priority either way, so I wanted to know if it will default to that.

Second question is that in the example, they had a machine that was dedicated to bit torrent stuff. I use my main machine and occasionally I'll use bit torrent, limewire, and irc dcc. I added bit torrent to the application list as recommended...but I'm not sure what ports limewire and irc dcc use. Any help there would appreciated. Also, if my machine is rated as priority high, will it still treat those application as low priority?

Vonage rocks btw! I love having simulring since I'm always out of the house going to buy more stuff that we forgot...I don't think I've gotten a vm yet cause I always pick up the call. The fact that my local telco company was telling me I had to get a new number for moving 4 miles away really drove me to look into Voip...and I'm so happy I did!

Btw, anyone else catch that vonage informercial? I was flipping through the channels the other day and caught a couple minutes of it.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:35 pm Post subject:

First, do I have to list all my devices? If I don't list any device will it default to low priority automaticly? Some devices like tivo and the sony ps2 don't really show up on the dhcp tables until they need to connect...so finding their mac address and adding them to the table seems like a lot of work. Both should get low priority either way, so I wanted to know if it will default to that.

Depends on the firmware. With the native firmware, anything not listed is the lowest of the low. With aftermarket firmware (recent builds of HyperWRT Tofu and Thibor) unlisted devices are halfway between LOW and MEDIUM so you can specify devices as LOWER than the default (which comes in handy from time to time).

Second question is that in the example, they had a machine that was dedicated to bit torrent stuff. I use my main machine and occasionally I'll use bit torrent, limewire, and irc dcc. I added bit torrent to the application list as recommended...but I'm not sure what ports limewire and irc dcc use. Any help there would appreciated. Also, if my machine is rated as priority high, will it still treat those application as low priority?

The latest HyperWRT (Thibor) has an automatic setting for all P2P clients. I don't know precisely how it works, but it seems to work better for me than anything I've tried before. My machine that uses BitTorrent is also my primary machine, and BitTorrent doesn't seem to affect browsing using the new settings as it used to.

Thibor can be found at http://www.thibor.co.uk/ - I've been testing a new version he has that loads directly on the G/GL routers, but for now you have to load Tofu or DD-WRT first. Or PM me and get me an email address, and I'll email you a copy of the new build (it's the same firmware, but with a load pattern that fools WRT54G/GL into thinking it is loading G/GL firmware, when it's really loading SpeedBooster GS firmware).

Posts: 81 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jan 02, 2006 Posts: 81

Thanks for the quick response....since I followed your direction from you excellent site, I have the following version:
"v4.30.1, HyperWRT 2.1b1 +tofu13c"

So if I understand correct, I don't need to worry about setting up the p2p with ports, it should recognize them and prioritize them accordingly?

One thing to note...and this is a nuiscance more then anything...is that the router doesn't seem to have notches to mount it vertically. Since I have a structured wiring system in my house now, I like things that I can mount on my board...so far the cable modem and this new router are not so friendly so I've have to resort to unique ways to mount them. I'll snap some pictures to show what I mean soon.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 10:07 pm Post subject:

From Tofu 13c, I would recommend loading Thibor 14. You can use the "Thibor 14 (latest)" version at the web page I listed above.

I know, you loaded Tofu based on my recommendation, then I tell you to switch this fast. Things change fast in this stuff. (grin)

Thibor has done a LOT of work on prioritizing P2P lately. I set P2P to "All Recognized" - "Lowest", My Vonage MAC to Highest, DNS to "High". Everything else is left at default (especially the "Low Ports" and "High Ports").

Here is a series of screenshots of my current QoS configuration using Thibor 14.

http://vonage.nmhoy.net/thibor14qos.html

In your case, since you're already on Tofu, it's a simple matter of loading the new firmware "Thibor 14 (latest)" image and tuning QoS. A factory reset can't hurt, but it means rekeying your settings.

http://www.thibor.co.uk/

Posts: 81 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jan 02, 2006 Posts: 81

Gee....making me update my firmware so many times tonight. No biggie. I'm update now to:
v4.70.8, Hyperwrt 2.1b1 + Thibor14

All my settings are pretty much as yours except that I have about 5 devices mentioned to your one. I could probably remove a couple devices since they would be ok in the low-med default range...but I'm lazy.

As promised before...here's an out of focus last minute shot of the structure wiring stuff i've been working on:

So far it supporting my office (two ethernet, one phone), the basement (one ethernet, one phone), and the living room (two cable, one ethernet, one phone). When I get a chance I'm going to wire up the bedroom as well. So far were using expandable uniden phones so its no hurry on the wiring the bedrooms for cable and data yet.

If you really get bored and want to see all the picts..bore yourself out here: http://www.pbase.com/roiegat/structured_wiring_project&page=all

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:54 pm Post subject:

Two words: wire ties!

Those pics are from an install I did a few years back...without wire ties, it's a total mess. Even for temporary wires, I wired-tied things to keep them orderly. Not clearly visible in the picture, but each wire is clearly labelled and given a # on both ends. The access doors to each rack have an index and flow-chart of each wire's path. While this might seem extreme, it makes trouble-shooting A LOT easier when you know which wire comes from where (especially when it's 3am and you're trying to figure out why some alarm keeps going off).

You've got a good idea started there... a little organization will make it a real showpiece.

Posts: 44 · Full Forum Member Joined: Feb 21, 2006 Posts: 44

roiegat wrote:

GeAs promised before...here's an out of focus last minute shot of the structure wiring stuff i've been working on:

Why would you go to so much trouble to leave things looking a mess?

Posts: 81 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jan 02, 2006 Posts: 81

Ok Ok....I get the hint...my wires are a bit messy. I do have all the wires labeled that are coming from different parts of the house. They are also tied together before they come to this board.

Overall, I was planning on waiting until the bedrooms were done (an additional 9 wires would be added) before really cleaning it up.

But thanks for the suggestions!