DSL or cable?

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 14, 2009 Posts: 11

At this point I have Verizon DSL, however I could get a faster speed from Cox cable. Which do you think Vonage works with better?

I have up to 1 mg on DSL, will I need a faster speed. Right now I am on the temporary line and everything works fine. In fact the line is much clearer then verizon. i am really shocked.

Posts: 227 · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:09 am Post subject:

I have performed a lot of Voip installations using Vonage and other Voip service providers. I have seen Vonage work well with both cable and DSL Internet service. But there are occasional ISP-induced problems, generally related to insufficient bandwidth or excessive packet-loss and jitter (variable network packet-delays). When such problems appear, it is usually the uplink direction. This is because most Internet service providers maximize their downlink performance, expecting their customers to be mostly browsing the web. These problems, though rare, are more frequent with DSL than with Cable.

DSL is available in different bandwidths at different prices. Verizon's DSL-lite service offers 768 kbps down and only 128 kbps up. This is insufficient uplink bandwidth for more than one voice channel. If the user wants to use both phone ports on the Vonage service simultaneously, or to use only one port but to place a three-way call (which uses two voice channels) then they experience severe packet-loss uplink. At least one of the parties with whom they are trying to converse will hear drop-outs.

Most cable service is a lot faster than most DSL service. Here in NJ, we get 15 Mbps down and 1.5 Mbps up using Cablevision's Optimum Online service. Verizon FiOS provides similar performance. These services are typically more expensive than DSL, but you get what you pay for. Voip works very well with either of these services.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 04, 2010 Posts: 2

I recently ordered At&t DSL along with a Vonage connection. I am using a Linksys WRTG5S router and when I connect these devices as per vonage's guidelines, I was getting a phone ringtone, but unable to browse anything on the web,.

After calling Vonage, they asked me to change my TCP/IP settings and provided a static DNS address (4.2.2.1) and i could access the web, but i cannot access the web on any other machine provided by my office (I cannot change any settings there due to admin previleges). All my systems can detect a WIFI network, but unless I use that static DNS address, it won't allow me to connect to the web.

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

Connection as follows:

Ethernet from DSL goes directly into Blue port on Vonage
Yellow port from Vonage goes into the Router.

If I connect the DSL directly on my laptops, I can browse the web too, but not through WIFI

Posts: 86 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Jan 03, 2009 Posts: 86

What DSL modem / router do you have? Most of the AT&T modems will have a conflicting network address with linksys default network address (192.168.1.0)

I would suggest DSL Modem Ethernet port connected to the internet port of the WRT54GS and connect the Vonage TA WAN/Internet port to one of the LAN ports of the WRT54GS.

The WRT54GS has a Firewall (the S is for security) And perhaps an address conflict with the ATT modem.
Set the DHCP server LAN IP to 192.168.5.1. Set the DHCP pool to 192.168.5.100-192.168.5.200 and configure port range forwarding to 192.168.5.10 for UDP ports 10000-20000.
Set the Vonage WAN as static IP 192.168.5.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway 192.168.5.1.

If your networked computers and printers use the WRT54GS as the default gateway the will all connect using the private network address 192.168.5.0 and will be able to share files and printers. And the Address conflict that was keeping your internet access at bay will be solved.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 16, 2010 Posts: 2

Google "Vonage voice quality" and you will see numerous complaints about Comcast but few with other internet providers. I dumped Comcast for DSL and even though I get less bandwidth, I am much happier with more consistent speed. Streaming media is significantly better. Getting faster speed 99% of the time with Comcast still equates to poor voice quality and interrupted movies if you are left waiting 1% of the time.