RTP 300 and Network Cable Unplugged Errors.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Posts: 5

I got Vonage about a year ago, recently in the past month or so, I've been getting network cables unplugged errors every few seconds, it disconnects and reconnects instantly that I can barely notice, doesnt seem much of a problem most of the time, but I often stream video, and it really affects it, now I've replaced the cables, and even directly connected my modem to my pc and the errors stopped, so the last possible thing left that is causing the problems is the phone adapter, any solutions? or any idea why this has started happening? Also tried plugging my modem into the different ports on rtp 300, and they also have this problem, sometimes even worse. Reset and reboot so many times, still having the problem.

I have comcast, going into the modem, than into the rtp 300, than going into my phone and pc.

And also whenever I stream, my phone starts breaking up and really sounds like crap, any solutions for this as well?

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:28 pm Post subject:

Two things:

1. The RTP300 recently (as I understand it) got a new firmware version, and there have been some reports of it affecting what little quality the RTP300's routing function started out with in the first place. What firmware version does your RTP300 read? Vonage may be able to bump that back to an older, better-working version for you.

2. The RTP300 isn't the worlds best router to start with. Its QoS (Quality of Service - http://vonage.nmhoy.net/qos.html ) is very weak. I have its wireless-enabled cousin, the WRTP54G, and I finally gave up on it and put a real router in front of it, and relegated the Vonage router to Vonage duty only. Once I stopped using it as a router, my Vonage line actually sounded considerably better, and my network got a LOT more stable and easier to manage.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Posts: 5

Firmware 1.00.62 is what I have now.

What would you recommend I do? Get a better Vonage device, router, etc..?

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject:

Hmm, 1.00.62 is a pretty stable release. I think they came out with a 1.01.something-or-other that is where the real problems started.

The RTP300 is a GREAT Vonage device. Unfortunately, it's only a "decent" router, and if you want to be streaming media upstream on your Internet connection, its lack of working QoS will almost certainly cause you major problems.

Personally, I'd get a real router. That's exactly what I ended up doing a couple of years ago when I finally realized after months of frustration and headaches that my WRTP54G just wasn't ever going to cut the mustard as a decent router.

Personally, I got a WRT54G (now known as the WRT54GL), which is a Linux-based router, and loaded up some aftermarket firmware. For under $75, you really get a networking powerhouse in those little blue boxes (as long as you stick with the WRT54GL, and not the WRT54G and WRT54GS).

Having said that, though - just about any router with working QoS is going to run circles around your RTP300. A lot of people like the Hawking HBB1 or other SpeedStream-based "VoIP optimization" boxes.

And even some of the cheaper Buffalo routers can take aftermarket firmware now. The $45 Buffalo WHR-G54S is basically a clone of the WRT54GL, and can take my current favorite aftermarket firmware, called "Tomato".

http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato

If you've got an older computer and a couple of network cards sitting around, you can also "build your own" firewall using Smoothwall or M0n0wall or IPCop or any one of a dozen more specialized Linux firewall distros.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Posts: 5

So just use a router to go to my pc and the Vonage device. Alright I'll try it out...I have a place I can pick up a router, see if it solves my problems, thanks for your help... Smile

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:07 pm Post subject:

No problem. Just to clarify, I am suggesting option 1 in the following diagrams (though, if you are desperate for Ethernet ports, Option 3 works as well).

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

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Posts: 5

Just did it (option 1), I'll let you know what happens in the next few days about my phone quality, and network cable error, thanks again for your help.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Posts: 5

nope, wen i did it, the cable unplugged thingy went away but voice quality got worse...even without streaming, now am back to old setup which works fine with Voip wen am not streaming but that error keeps coming up every few seconds, so whats the best Vonage device out there now.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:42 am Post subject:

as far as an actual Vonage device, the RTP300 uses the TI chipset, and from what I've read that's about as good as it gets. I know my WRTP54G sounds every bit as clear as a landline.

What model router are you putting out front? All routers are not created equal, unfortunately.

Posts: 52 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jan 10, 2007 Posts: 52

Before you start diving into hardware issues. Check out your bandwidth. Do some speed tests http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest and see what you are getting on your dl and ul. Remember, Voip requires 90 kbps for phone calls. Also, Voip is streaming audio, so when you start streaming video with that, your network traffic is going to jump up, significantly. That is why it is a good idea you check to see if you bandwidth can accomodate that kind of traffic and check to see if you are getting at least 70% QoS from your ISP.