What is the difference....

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 4

...between the QOS settings on the Vonage router and the Bandwidth Saver settings that you can access online?

I set the QOS to ~75% of my upload, do i need to bother with the bandwidth saver?

Thanks

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:35 am Post subject:

Bandwidth saver chooses the CODEC (or algorithm) used to encode your voice. Different CODECs have different bandwidth requirements. If you have a low bandwidth broadband connection you can choose a CODEC with lower quality to conserve bandwidth.

QoS is a setting that allows you to reserve a percentage of your bandwidth for your VoIP calls. [Ignore this: It should be set to reserve the percentage required for the CODEC you have selected under bandwidth saver. ]

So, QoS is used to prioritize your VoIP traffic relative to the rest of your traffic while Bandwidth Saver allows you to decrease the amount of bandwidth your VoIP traffic consumes.

I am not a QoS expert but NateHoy has some articles on QoS at http://vonage.nmhoy.net/.

[EDIT: Corrected some statements that were inconsistent with NateHoy's document, QoS as implemented is not as graceful as the full fledged traffic shaping that I am more familiar with.]

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:48 am Post subject:

I guess I never really answered your question.

No, unless you are having quality issues with your calls then you don't need to adjust the bandwidth saver setting.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 4

Thanks, I rarely have any problems. Sometimes inbound callers hear an echo, but not often. I guess I'll get on some newsgroups tonight and make some test calls and check it out.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 03, 2005 Posts: 6

[font=Verdana]I just read Bob Cringely's latest column discussing "net neutrality." One of the subjects involved BitTorrent downloads while using Vonage.

He mentioned that the 'black box' had traffic shaping capabilities and that it should be wired between the ISP input and the router (versus where it sits now, which is on its own node on the router). The advantage inferred was that the box could then better manage its needs for bandwidth.

My Vonage service suffers mostly from 'skitter.' I'd like to reduce the incidences of it. Think this would help?

Anyone have 2 cents to throw in on this?

Chris in SW Georgia[/font]

scerruti wrote:

I guess I never really answered your question.

No, unless you are having quality issues with your calls then you don't need to adjust the bandwidth saver setting.

Bob Cringley's latest column

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 10, 2006 Posts: 9

tgrim1 wrote:

Thanks, I rarely have any problems. Sometimes inbound callers hear an echo, but not often. I guess I'll get on some newsgroups tonight and make some test calls and check it out.

I've found more of an issue with echo on my cell phone than on Vonage

Posts: 1424

warpwiz wrote:

My Vonage service suffers mostly from 'skitter.' I'd like to reduce the incidences of it. Think this [moving traffic shaper upstream of router] would help?

I think you may mean 'jitter'. Not knowing your traffic patterns, applications, bandwidth or ISP I can only provide general advice.

If are using all of your bandwidth at any time (for example by using BitTorrent), then using a traffic shaper between your modem and router, or using a good router with QoS can help your call quality but will slow your file transfers.

If, on the other hand, you mostly email and web surf on a high speed connection then a traffic shaper is unlikely to do much for you and you probably need to work with your ISP to diagnose your problems.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 03, 2005 Posts: 6

Thanks. That's good information. I do fall into the latter category - big d/l's are a rarity. Unfortunately, the ISP (Mediacom) plays dumb as they're trying to sell their own VOIP service (for more money, of course).

I appreciate your time.

Chris in Georgia