Good cordless phone for Vonage?

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 30, 2008 Posts: 11

First, my setup:

SpeedStream DSL modem connected to AT&T/SBC -> Netgear FM114P ProSafe router -> Motorola VT1005V Voip modem -> house twisted pair wiring to:
Panasonic KX-TG5432 5.8 GHz cordless phone and aa couple other corded phones

I just did the Voip test, getting all positive results. I SHOULD be getting very good Voip quality.

The problem is I often get complaints from the called party that they can barely hear me, my voice is breaking up, etc. Also, if I leave a message on someone's answering machine they tell me they can't understand it. It's bee this way from the beginning, several years, and I've several times tried to get to the bottom of it. I have plugged the Panasonic directly into the Voip modem without noticably improvement, but it's really hard to tell because I can't leave it that way for long because of the inconvenience of not having the other phones connected. Today I tried something else; placed a call to a friend with teh Panasonic, who reported a buzz on the line. Then plugged an cheap old corded phone in place of the Panasonic cordless and called again. He said it was much better.

So, the question.... is there a cordless phone that would be better for Vonage? I know this question have been discussed before, but a Google pulls up only threads from 2003 which recomended 2.3 GHz phones.

TIA

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

2.4 GHz cordless phones should be avoided if you're running a wireless network. Other than that, any good cordless should work fine with Vonage. I suspect that the unit that was giving you problems was just a defective phone.

Posts: 99 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Dec 25, 2007 Posts: 99

the newest cordless technology is DECT 6.

I use the

"Vonage Whole house System DECT 6 "

the system comes with the new V-Portal and has 3 phones.

would be a great choice for you....seeing how your still using the old Motorola adapter.

the phone system will work using your adapter.

but you could do what I did....just add the new V-portal to your account ( moving your number to the V-Portal )

keep your Motorola in your account ( as a back-up )

and if something happens to the V-Portal....you can move to the motorola with a click of your mouse....using your on-line account.

PSJ aka Marc

.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 30, 2008 Posts: 11

Steve48 wrote:

2.4 GHz cordless phones should be avoided if you're running a wireless network. Other than that, any good cordless should work fine with Vonage. I suspect that the unit that was giving you problems was just a defective phone.

How do I find a "good" cordless phone? I hace a lot of respect for the Panasonic brand, but really wonder about this KX-TG5432.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 30, 2008 Posts: 11

PSJ wrote:

the newest cordless technology is DECT 6.

I use the

"Vonage Whole house System DECT 6 "

the system comes with the new V-Portal and has 3 phones.

would be a great choice for you....seeing how your still using the old Motorola adapter.

the phone system will work using your adapter.

but you could do what I did....just add the new V-portal to your account ( moving your number to the V-Portal )

keep your Motorola in your account ( as a back-up )

and if something happens to the V-Portal....you can move to the motorola with a click of your mouse....using your on-line account.

PSJ aka Marc

.

Pretty pricy piece of equipment when all I need is a phone. Don't know what V-Portal is, which means I don't need it. Thanks anyway.

Posts: 99 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Dec 25, 2007 Posts: 99

jagman wrote:

Pretty pricy piece of equipment when all I need is a phone. Don't know what V-Portal is, which means I don't need it. Thanks anyway.

Sorry, for trying to help.

PSJ aka Marc

.

Posts: 293 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 22, 2006 Posts: 293

jagman wrote:

First, my setup:

SpeedStream DSL modem connected to AT&T/SBC -> Netgear FM114P ProSafe router -> Motorola VT1005V Voip modem -> house twisted pair wiring to:
Panasonic KX-TG5432 5.8 GHz cordless phone and aa couple other corded phones

I just did the Voip test, getting all positive results. I SHOULD be getting very good Voip quality.

The problem is I often get complaints from the called party that they can barely hear me, my voice is breaking up, etc. Also, if I leave a message on someone's answering machine they tell me they can't understand it. It's bee this way from the beginning, several years, and I've several times tried to get to the bottom of it. I have plugged the Panasonic directly into the Voip modem without noticably improvement, but it's really hard to tell because I can't leave it that way for long because of the inconvenience of not having the other phones connected. Today I tried something else; placed a call to a friend with teh Panasonic, who reported a buzz on the line. Then plugged an cheap old corded phone in place of the Panasonic cordless and called again. He said it was much better.

So, the question.... is there a cordless phone that would be better for Vonage? I know this question have been discussed before, but a Google pulls up only threads from 2003 which recomended 2.3 GHz phones.

TIA

Still what are you test results. Flaky upload and latency can contribute well to making it hard to hear you. Also, try a lower bandwidth setting in the dashboard if you haven't already

Posts: 628 · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:09 pm Post subject:

Please also keep in mind that running a VoIP test is not even close to being accurate.

The test runs between you and some random server that hosts the VoIP test. While you may have a great path between you and this random server, does not mean your packets will traverse anywhere near the same set of hops across the internet when going to a Vonage media relay.

So if at anytime, there is an issue with the route your ISP is using to get to a Vonage subnet or even at one of the IP handoff's your ISP uses between you and Vonage, you could experience issues.

So in the terms of Vonage, your audio is UDP packets and any packets that do not make it to an end point are not retransmitted.

Another issue you could have is with your router. The FM114P is an older model Netgear. It does not have QOS functions. So the slightest bit of traffic on your LAN could affect your upstream packets through the router out to the internet. This could be someone browsing the internet, a PC that is running things such a P2P, a virus, or gaming.

It also has DOS detection with the SPI feature. If SPI is inspecting all your packets, many of them could be discarded. This is something you should turn off. At last but not least, while I am sure you have secured your wireless router with some sort of security preventing people from leeching off of your connection.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 30, 2008 Posts: 11

outerfire wrote:

Still what are you test results. Flaky upload and latency can contribute well to making it hard to hear you. Also, try a lower bandwidth setting in the dashboard if you haven't already

I used the Voip test offered from the Vonage main Web page. As I summarized, the results were very positive... nothing lept out as a big problem, or any problem at all. I was going to do the test again just now to send you the specific numbers, but it doesn't seem to be working right now.

Don't know what the dash board is, so I guess I haven't tried adjusting it. Where does one find the dashboard?

Thanks.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 30, 2008 Posts: 11

VonTechMgr wrote:

Please also keep in mind that running a VoIP test is not even close to being accurate.

Well, it's offered from a menu on the Vonage Web page, so I assumed it meant something.

Quote:

The test runs between you and some random server that hosts the VoIP test. While you may have a great path between you and this random server, does not mean your packets will traverse anywhere near the same set of hops across the internet when going to a Vonage media relay.

So if at anytime, there is an issue with the route your ISP is using to get to a Vonage subnet or even at one of the IP handoff's your ISP uses between you and Vonage, you could experience issues.

So in the terms of Vonage, your audio is UDP packets and any packets that do not make it to an end point are not retransmitted.

Don't know what to do about that

Quote:

Another issue you could have is with your router. The FM114P is an older model Netgear. It does not have QOS functions. So the slightest bit of traffic on your LAN could affect your upstream packets through the router out to the internet. This could be someone browsing the internet, a PC that is running things such a P2P, a virus, or gaming.

there is only one other person on the LAN, my wife. She is not a gamer, and often my problems occur when she's taking her nap.

Quote:

It also has DOS detection with the SPI feature. If SPI is inspecting all your packets, many of them could be discarded. This is something you should turn off. At last but not least, while I am sure you have secured your wireless router with some sort of security preventing people from leeching off of your connection.

I do have DOS on... thought it was important. I'll turn it off and see if things improve.

And yes, I do have LAN access secured.

Thank you very much for some very insightful suggestions. I do appreciate it.