Lag in outgoing long distance phone calls

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 29, 2005 Posts: 6

I'm having lag on outgoing long distance calls only. All other incoming or outgoing calls are fine, but the round trip for a conversation on outgoing long distance calls is close to 3 seconds!! I've phoned Vonage several times on this, and have spent alot of time with techs over the phone trying to fix this, but there doesn't seem to be anything new happening. At first I went to testyourvoip.com and was getting a 1.1 on their scale, and now after making some changes, I'm getting a 3.7. I gave Vonage two different telephone numbers that I call. They called one of them and they did hear a lag themselves. They said they would keep working on it. Its getting very frustrating, and I'm almost at the point of scrapping this whole Voip thing altogether, even though I really want it to work. Ugh. The weird part is that this all started about 3 weeks ago. Before that there was no problems with the outbound calls. I'm using a RPT300. I have cordless phones, and I am not hooked into the house wiring. No extra router. I'm on Shaw Cable. Anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do?

Thanks

Posts: 182 · Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 10:29 am Post subject:

Long distance to where?

If it's to a North American area code then I'd be more surprised. You should get good service to any North American code (with the possible exception of the Arctic codes, 867 and 907).

If it's an overseas number, then Vonage is probably using a Voip trunk and there is latency that is causing that delay in the conversation. Land lines can have that problem too. The best connection I've gotten to Australia, for example, has about a 1.5-second delay. Remember that the delay is effectively doubled because you have to wait for the latency again to get the reply.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 29, 2005 Posts: 6

I live in Surrey BC in area code 604. I am calling Qualicum Beach BC on Vancouver Island to area code 250.

Posts: 182 · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:13 am Post subject:

That's peculiar.

The person you're calling is using a normal landline, not a cell phone or a Voip phone? (Not that that should make such a large difference either...)

It might be worth calling Vonage customer service to let them know about the problem. There might be an issue with how they route calls in British Columbia.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 29, 2005 Posts: 6

Well, I do have an exisiting Service Ticket number with Vonage. Last night I phoned them and we reset the Vonage device back to factory settings and it made things better. There is only a 1 second lag. Still tough to make phone calls though.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 18, 2006 Posts: 3

I'm getting the same delay problem, it started about the same time (three weeks or so). Spent a little time on the phone with Vonage tonight, but they basically said to talk to Telus about it, but if Shaw's having the same problem, I'm not thinking it's Telus... Maybe someone else will get farther with Vonage support?

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 12, 2006 Posts: 9

Hi

I reported the same kind of problem in a different thread

I live in a 902 area code. (Nova Scotia)

Night of 16 Apr and morning of 17 Apr, I called a 819 area code number (Quebec) and the call was very choppy.

However, my wife called her mom who lives in the Yukon, a 867 area code, five minutes after my call to Quebec and the call was very clear without any dealy/choppiness. I tried the call to Quebec several times but the problem was not going away.

I could tell by the sound of the ring that it was going to be a bad call. The first and second ring would sound good then it just sounded different.

I also reported this to Vonage, hopefully this is nothing permanent.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 18, 2006 Posts: 3

Yeah, I noticed the second weird ring as well. Did the support folks give you any ideas, or are we just hoping for the best?

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 12, 2006 Posts: 9

Basically the response I got was that she would create a ticket and if someone else calls in about something similar, they would look into it. She was very vague from that point on.

Next time I call my folks in Quebec and I have the same issue, I will call Vonage back. Hopefully this wont be required.

I am hoping someone from the tech dept read these messages and will look into it.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 24, 2006 Posts: 1

We are having the same problem both from CDN and US Vonage accounts. Calling from Victoria (Shaw premium + Linksys RTP300-VD) to Campbell River, BC, or calling from Columbus, OH to Terrace BC, outgoing calls suffer an unbearable lag.

Yet Columbus to Victoria is flawless. Something bogus is up.

My theory: Vonage connects to the northern Canadian wireline trunks in a different place, and with a lower grade of IP line, than it connects to the southern Canadian metropolitan areas. Has anyone clued Vonage in to the pattern?