calls while using Vonage sounds like it is "in delay&qu

Posts: 4

Has anyone else had this happen while on a *regular* phone call using Vonage....when speaking on the phone, there seems to be some sort of "delay" or "lag" between the time I speak into the phone and when the person on the other end actually hears/receives what I have said, and vice-versa. Has anyone else noticed this and is there anything I can do to correct/eliminate this delay, as it is extremely annoying to those I am speaking with on the phone -- as well as it is annoying to myself (as though I am hearing myself "in delay", similar to how it sounds on talk radio). Hope this makes sense. Thanks! Any answers/replies are most appreciated!

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

Yes, people sometimes report this problem. Actually, I've seen two different kinds of report. In one, the delay only happens when you place a call and only on the first exchange. The RTP300 adapater had this problem, but it was largely (not completely) cleared up with firmware fixes. The other problem occurs throughout the call. As far as I can see, this is caused by network issues which may or may not be something Vonage can address.

Have you run the forum VoIP test? What kind of delays are you seeing?

Posts: 72 · Full Forum Member Joined: Mar 21, 2006 Posts: 72

What you are experiencing is a latency problem with the IP traffic between you and the media gateway that connects the VOIP to POTS (assuming your calls are to a POTS line and not another VOIP user). Does the problem occur on both incoming and outgoing calls? If so then it is likely to be something local to you (your adapter or more likely your Internet connection) since incoming and outgoing calls will use different media gateways in different locations, so it is unlikely to be a problem with them. The latency could be a "genuine" packet delay, such as that caused by using a satellite ISP, or it could be introduced by adaptive jitter buffering in your adapter and the media gateway. This is a technique that will delay received data to allow delayed packets to catch up, rather than dropping packets which causes moments of silence. If there is too much jitter (change in latency from packet to packet), or many dropped packets then the buffering may delay the data too long and cause the effect you are seeing. Again, this is probably an issue with your ISP.

Posts: 4

Hello, and thank you for those who have written back to me with such informative replies - I truly appreciate it! Well, just a little FYI, the "lag" or "delay" effect that I am experiencing seems to happen any time of day, and on outgoing as well as incoming calls. Sometimes the delay is not as bad as others, but there always is one. I am not connected to or speaking with others using VoIP. I have the VoIP phone setup by Vonage, and those on the other end of the phone call are POTS. This could be a problem, as stated in the last reply, with (possibly) my ISP, which in this case is Charter. Oh, the other thing I just thought of, and I do not believe this has to do necessarily with my ISP, but I do notice that when I am surfing the internet, downloading, what-have-you, and speaking on the phone simultaneously, I notice there is a large "breaking up" of the signal...the voices are all garbled, or they just drop out all together. Since I first noticed this phenomenon, I have ceased any internet activity while using my VoIP phone. Does this sound familiar, andf is there anything in the works that Vonage could do to improve this? Thanks everyone! Very Happy

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

Please run the forum VoIP speed test (menu, top left, Vonage information, VoIP speed test). Post the detailed results from the advanced tab here.

Posts: 4 · Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject:

Dear Steve,
Just a quick note to thank you (and all those who have posted helpful advice, diagnostics, etc) for the help, time, and effort you have put forth in helping me with my delay-prblem. I will be sure to run the speed-test and post the results afterward. Thanks again, truly and sincerely, as without helpful replies such as yours I would not even know where to begin to resolve this issue. Other than that one thing, I have been very very pleased with my Vonage VoIP experience!
Kindest regards,
Heather
"nola_style" on the northshore in New Orleans
Very Happy

Posts: 4

Hello Steve!
As promised, here are the results of my VoIP speed test:
Download Spped: 366 kbps
Upload Speed: 116 kbps
QOS: 96%
Jitter: 5.9 ms
Packet Loss: 0.0%
MOS score: 3.6

Overall, the interpretation of the results stated that the speed was good enough to support VoIP without sustaining any loss of sound quality or information. I hope this helps, and I look forward to your replies Smile

Thanks again!
"nola_style" - Heather in LA

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

Hi, Heather. I should have been clearer. After you run the VoIP test, you need to go to the advanced tab and post everything you see there.

I hope Katrina didn't treat you too badly. I weathered 4 Hurricanes in a matter of months a couple of years ago here in Orlando, but bad as it was, it was nothing like what happened to you folks.