WRTP54G Dropout with any PtoP torrent application active.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Jul 02, 2007 Posts: 1

Replaced a dead RT31P2 with an WRTP54G.
Have RR broadband, RCA modem connected directly to Voip router.
Now when any of the pc's on the network run a Torrent application like BitTorrent or Azureus my bandwith goes down resulting in serious outbound packet loss.
This did not happen with the RT31P2.
Ran the Voip test with no Torrent software running:

Upload speed: 368488 bps
Quality of service: 99 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum download pause: 50 ms
Average download pause: 4 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 28 ms
Average round trip time to server: 104 ms
Voip test statistics
--------------------
Jitter: you --> server: 4.3 ms
Jitter: server --> you: 9.0 ms
Packet loss: you --> server: 0.0 %
Packet loss: server --> you: 0.1 %
Packet discards: 0.0 %
Packets out of order: 0.0 %
Number of supported Voip lines: 6
Estimated MOS score: 3.8

With Torrent Peer to Peer:
Speed test statistics
---------------------
Download speed: 2935248 bps
Upload speed: 81368 bps
Quality of service: 47 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum download pause: 115 ms
Average download pause: 6 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 482 ms
Average round trip time to server: 718 ms

Voip test statistics
--------------------
Jitter: you --> server: 199.0 ms
Jitter: server --> you: 8.7 ms
Packet loss: you --> server: 3.7 %
Packet loss: server --> you: 0.0 %
Packet discards: 0.6 %
Packets out of order: 0.0 %
Number of supported Voip lines:
Estimated MOS score: 3.1

Any Ideas anyone? This is my second WRTP54G, first could not be activated by Vonage tech.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 6:21 pm Post subject:

The WRTP54G is pretty much useless for BitTorrent or any other form of network application that generates large amounts of dropped connections. The WRTP54G suffers from the older Linksys issue of keeping dropped connections marked as "active" for 5 days, meaning that the connections table fills up.

Add to that the fact that the QoS in the WRTP54G is completely and utterly useless, and you can only console yourself in the fact that the WRTP54G has one of the best Vonage chipsets of the entire line of Vonage devices, so once you stop wasting your time trying to fix it and put a decent router in front of it, it's a very nice Vonage adapter.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 17, 2006 Posts: 5

One way to solve that problem is to use Hawking HBB1 broadband booster. It does not do any miracle but it does prioritize Voip traffic very efficiently when using P2P.

I personally had problems with getting Vonage working for me but it was not P2P related. At first I had problems with P2P but as soon as I inserted the HBB1 between the Linksys and the cable modem those problems stopped. I still had other problems but not related to computer activity at all (I still had the problems when connecting the Vonage box directly to the modem, totally bypassing the computer).

As I have now left Vonage, the HBB1 (totally as new) is for sale. Please send me a private message if you are interested, or you can get one over the Internet. In my opinion the HBB1 is not really a broadband booster but it is a very efficient QoS manager, doing a very good job with Voip prioritizing over P2P traffic!

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:05 pm Post subject:

The HBB1 specifically and the StreamEngine-based units in general have received good reviews on this site, people seem to like it. As you said, it's not a "booster" as much as it is a preconfigured and pretty smart QoS box.

Another alternative is the venerable Linksys WRT54GL Linux-based router that can take aftermarket Linux-based firmware. Then you get the benefit of a router AND a working QoS solution in one box.

Eventually, maybe Vonage will get the hint and add two features to the WRTP54G that could turn it into a serious routing powerhouse:

1. Ability to tune upstream connection speed (so the router can figure out how to do QoS).
2. Shortening the active connection timeout from 5 days to a more reasonable, say, 4 hours.

With those two changes, neither of which represents a structural change to the firmware, but merely adjustments to existing softcoded parameters in the Busybox routing software that the WRTP54G uses, the WRTP54G could be a routing force to be reckoned with. But, with those two settings the way they are (upstream to AUTO and connection timeout to 5 days), it's a barely adequate consumer router.