Periodic voice dropped

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 13, 2008 Posts: 2

Seems I am not the only one having this problem with Vonage. Periodically people will not be able to hear us when we are speaking. Of we wait for 10 seconds or so they can hear us again. We can always hear them while this is going on. Sometimes when we go to dial, we will not have dialtone but it usually returns less than a minute. The Vonage adapter always as a blinking light when this is going on. We have had Vonage for quite a while and have liked it but my wife is ready to throw in the towel with Voip and go back to Qwest.

I have had Comcast come out to the house. They increased our bandwidth, changed some of the wiring out, and did other diagnotics. Still not seeing a real difference.

1. Vancouver, WA
2. Comcast (cable)
3. Upload and download speeds
4. Modem Motorola SURFboard SB5120
5. Type of Vonage adapter Motorola Voice Terminal VT1005V
6. Setup of Network ie Modem---->Vonage Adapter-->Router-->PCs(2)
7. Voice dropped, choppy audio, missing dialtone
8.
Speed test statistics
---------------------
Download speed: 1625280 bps
Upload speed: 1504440 bps
Quality of service: 89 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum download pause: 94 ms
Average download pause: 20 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 78 ms
Average round trip time to server: 93 ms

Voip test statistics
--------------------
Jitter: you --> server: 1.4 ms
Jitter: server --> you: 3.6 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: 25
Estimated MOS score: 4.0

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Posts: 656 · Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 11:17 pm Post subject:

I can't guarantee this will be the end all and fix your issue but it has in many other cases. The SB-5120 has many issues that have become known. Not all 5120's have them but I think it has something to do with where it was manufactured. Mexico vs Malaysia I believe. If Comcast can swap this out for a 5100, 5101, or another standalone modem(no router built in) you have nothing to lose.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 13, 2008 Posts: 2

I will give Comcast a call and see what they can do. It is definitely worth a try.

Thanks,
Derek

Posts: 1179 · Member of the Week Joined: Feb 28, 2005 Posts: 1179

Am I missing something VonTechMgr, I have the SB5120 and it does not have a router with it.

Some items to consider Derek, consider lowering the bandwidth down to 50 or even to 30 although people have said that when I went down to 30, I sounded like I was talking into a tin can. So I keep it at 50.

Another thing, when these voice issues happen are you in the middle of any P2P or big download or heavy computer use?

Lastly, do you have a wireless router and using a 2.4 ghz wireless phone? they can cause interference etc. just trying to think through all the possibilities. Although your wireless router is after the Vonage device but with interference, a lot of weird stuff can happen. In other words, if there is interference b/w your wireless phone, if you have one, and a wireless router, the problem can be before it even gets to the Vonage router hence, not an ISP problem.

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 12:15 pm Post subject:

The facts are the the SB5120's have audio issues and loss of registration issues with Vonage. I know this for a fact. There are issues with certain versions of the SB5120 depending upon firmware version and where it was manufactured.

My statement was not saying it had a router built in. It was a suggestion just to let him know to attempt to get a replacement. An SB5100 or 5101 would be choice but if Comcast did not stock them, to get something else as long as it does not have built in routing functionality.

More then 85% of all Vonage audio issues are caused by the customer's hardware, LAN, or path between ISP and Vonage COLO's. If an issue is constant on all call types, Von to Von, Von to PSTN, PSTN to VON, this would suggest the issue lies within the customer's on LAN. In most cases, if bandwidth is sufficient, there isn't a router performing SPI, customer isn't using P2P or gaming, does not have an open wireless access point for people to leech from, the issue is the modem.

He also mentions device goes into a blinking sequence and lost dial tone. This would not have anything to do with bandwidth so adjusting codec would not apply. My guess is internet may be dropping out completely at the modem so checking the modem's LED's might be a good indication of what is going on. Obviously this would not be something too noticeable when using http protocol as it is TCP and packets will retransmit which will not happen with SIP and RTP.

Posts: 1179 · Member of the Week Joined: Feb 28, 2005 Posts: 1179

Quote:

I know this for a fact. There are issues with certain versions of the SB5120 depending upon firmware version and where it was manufactured.

for the sake of all of us who have an SB5120, can you give us specifics about firmware so that I can check them on my own? So which country is bad, Mexico or Malaysia?

It was my understanding that firmware for cable modems are pushed by the cable company.

The reason for reducing the bandwidth was for the issue of having intermittent upload voice issues which apparently goes away after 5-10 secs or so.

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 1:27 pm Post subject:

I believe one of the software versions is SB5120-2.19.0.10-SCM01-NOSH when used on Hardware version 1. If I recall, if the modem was made in Mexico and usually issued by Cox and Camcast.

Again the modem replacement is last resort when all else checks out OK and everything else has already been swapped out. In ongoing issues where there are periods lost connectivity and audio issues that are constant and have no resolution, replacing known problem modems has solved a large percentage of customer complaints.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 05, 2005 Posts: 1

I know exactly why you are having the dropped audio problem. I had the same problem over the last 3 months ever since Comcast installed a new cable modem - Motorola Surfboard SB5120. I took my Vonage device to a friend's house who also have Comcast Internet service but they have a previous model of Motorola Surfboard 5100 and everything worked great over there using my Vonage device. My wife and I made calls lasting over 35 minutes each and there was not a sigle dropped audio during the call. I got Comcast to replace the Motorola Surfboard SB5120 with a Motorola Surfboard SB5101 and now everything is perfect! So, get either a Motorola SB5101 or a SB5100 - anything other than SB5120 will work great.