Reliable QoS solution?

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 08, 2006 Posts: 3

I need to find a reliable QoS solution for my home office phone lines. I have 2 lines, one used for voice and one for fax. The audio is choppy at times, particularly when PCs access the internet. Faxing is very hit and miss, mostly miss. At this rate, I'd be better off going back to regular land lines!

I am willing to spend money if needed for a QoS setup that works. If it takes more than a consumer router, so be it.

Here is the troubleshooting info as suggested:

1. Your location

Houston, Texas

2. Your ISP name and type (cable, DSL, wireless etc)

Oplink.net DSL

3. Upload and download speeds

promised:
1.5 Mb/s down
384 kb/s up

measured:
2.5 Mb/s down
400 kb/s up

4. Modem make and model

Westell Wirespeed model B90

5. Type of Vonage adapter used ie RT31P2 or PAP2

Motorola VT1005V

6. Setup of Network ie Modem---->Vonage Adapter-->PC

Modem -> Router -> Vonage adapter
Router -> 10/100 switch -> PCs (approx 6)

Router is Linksys WRT54GL (S/N CL7A...) running latest Linksys firmware. Previously ran DD-WRT v23, had to abandon after stability problems with this firmware; incoming calls to Vonage would reboot the router!

I have Linksys QoS settings enabled via "port priority". Vonage adapter on port 1 with high priority, all other ports low.

7. Issue you are experiencing ie dropped calls, choppy audio etc

Intermittently choppy audio, unreliable fax. Audio much worse when internet in use.

8. Run this Voip Test: After the test has fully completed, in the Advanced Tab, click on "View Text" in the lower right hand corner. Copy-N-Paste that data into your post.

Results with little internet activity:

Speed test statistics
---------------------
Download speed: 2588216 bps
Upload speed: 404752 bps
Quality of service: 99 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum download pause: 34 ms
Average download pause: 4 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 56 ms
Average round trip time to server: 56 ms

Voip test statistics
--------------------
Jitter: you --> server: 4.0 ms
Jitter: server --> you: 9.0 ms
Packet loss: you --> server: 0.0 %
Packet loss: server --> you: 0.0 %
Packet discards: 0.0 %
Packets out of order: 0.0 %
Number of supported Voip lines: 6
Estimated MOS score: 3.9

Results while downloading CD ISO image from Sourceforge:

Speed test statistics
---------------------
Download speed: 1396416 bps
Upload speed: 387408 bps
Quality of service: 59 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum download pause: 375 ms
Average download pause: 8 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 202 ms
Average round trip time to server: 210 ms

Voip test statistics
--------------------
Jitter: you --> server: 4.2 ms
Jitter: server --> you: 9.4 ms
Packet loss: you --> server: 0.0 %
Packet loss: server --> you: 0.0 %
Packet discards: 0.0 %
Packets out of order: 0.0 %
Number of supported Voip lines: 6
Estimated MOS score: 3.9

Thanks in advance for any help.

-Doug

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:06 pm Post subject:

The native firmware for the WRT54GL should do well, but you need to configure your upstream speeds manually, and of course it won't help at all with your downstream (QoS for downstream applications is pretty much nonexistent).

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

You may also want to try HyperWRT Thibor as an aftermarket firmware alternative. I used it for about a year and it worked VERY well. Rock solid stable for me.

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

In my self-help guides (link below), you'll see some other QoS articles, including setting the upstream bandwidth for the WRT54GL running HyperWRT Thibor 14 (slightly older version).

Note: Port priority didn't work all that smoothly for me, though it did work decently. I had much better luck with MAC address priority.

Posts: 37 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Feb 09, 2005 Posts: 37

Another option you may want to consider is the Hawking HBB1 Broadband Booster. Its very simple to set up and use. I know there are several forum members who have successfully used this device. I have used it for the last 6 months and found it to be very effective. Google Hawking HBB1 and you will find all the information you ever wanted to know (and even some that you didn't Rolling Eyes

).

As Nate indicated, none of the solutions (software or hardware) will help with your downstream apps. cheers

Posts: 94 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Sep 15, 2006 Posts: 94

I second the Hawking Broadband Booster, although I have the D-Link version -- DI-102. I would try doing this before doing anything else. It simply sits between your cable modem and your router. I did have to manually configure it to tell it my uplink speed, but other than that you don't have to do anything. Makes Vonage calls almost at the same quality as regular phone calls.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:21 pm Post subject:

Meaning no criticism of the Hawking HBB1 or StreamEngine chipset, because many people have reported good results with them here...

dougr already owns a perfectly capable QoS router. The WRT54GL is a champ. It just needs to be configured properly.

While putting a StreamEngine-chipset-based router in front of it might work, it's (IMHO) spending money unnecessarily.

However, (directed at dougr): If you end up not wanting your WRT54GL, I can find a good home for it... (grin)

Posts: 37 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Feb 09, 2005 Posts: 37

NateHoy wrote:

...

dougr already owns a perfectly capable QoS router. The WRT54GL is a champ. It just needs to be configured properly.

Sorry, I guess I hadn't read Doug's original post well enough. I didn't realize he already had the WRT54GL. It probably would make more sense to spend some time configuring its qos capabilities. I must tell you though that I had the WRT54GL for a short while and was never pleased with its stability. It appears from most of the posts that I have read on this forum that I was in the minority and maybe I got dud, but my 54GL would shut down and reboot itself 3 or 4 times a day. Often the Vonage adaptor would need to be reset when the linksys went down which was inconvenient because we both worked and phones were down until one of us could get home and manually reset the adaptor. I only have the one pc connected so I now use the RT31p2's basic router and have not encountered any problems. I can't remeber the last time the router went down (probably months). I admit the RT31p2 is not the greatest router but my needs are very simple and with the HBB1 in front of the adaptor, my system and Vonage work great.

Posts: 94 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Sep 15, 2006 Posts: 94

I will say that the Hawking/D-Link boxes are worth a go just because they are so inexpensive, and so easy to install. You don't have to mess with port forwarding, etc. Newegg sells the D-Link DI-102 for $65.

Posts: 120 · Member of the Week Joined: Aug 30, 2006 Posts: 120

Alternatively you can try to convince Vonage to give you a discount on the vt2442 (they give them for free to us Canadians Smile

), place it up front between your cable modem and your existing router. Shouldn't need any tweaking, just plug and go, as the vt2442 will automatically prioritize all Voip traffic. That's how I have mine setup and it works better then the countless other variations I have tried with my wrt54gs (version 2), including QoS, 3rd party firmware, port forwarding, etc.

Current setup:

cable modem -> vt2442 -> wrt54gs -> all pcs

Default config for all devices, except of course locking down my wireless network.

Posts: 94 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Sep 15, 2006 Posts: 94

You Canadians get all the freebies! Very Happy

Posts: 86 · Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:39 pm Post subject:

I am impressed with the RTP 300 built in QOS.

As seen in my signature, I have the RTP 300 first in line after the cable modem, with wired computers and the wireless router set up as a switch connected to the RTP 300 as well.

QOS just works. I have been on the phone and started uploads and been in the middle of uploads and made calls with no disturbance to the phone call quality.

When I run MySpeed Bandwidth Test, it always shows about 200 kbps Upload speed when I am using the phone, and double that when I am not.

-----

Edit: The RTP 300 firmware is 1.00.62. For some reason, the firmware in my RTP 300 is not automatically upgraded anymore. I cannot vouch for QOS in any firmware version other than 1.00.62.