Internet unusable while on phone

Posts: 25 · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:42 pm Post subject: Internet unusable while on phone

I have recently noticed that when I am on the phone my internet becomes completely unusable. I have to Voice upstream set to 90 and my Bandwidth saver set to high to support my Tivo Phone line. I have done speed tests on my line I am getting 9mbps Down and almost 1 Mbps upstream so it shouldn't be a bandwidth issue unless my linksys router is not properly routing the packets. I have the LInksys WRT54GP2 which is the first generation router with Voip ports that Vonage supported. Any ideas?

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 28, 2005 Posts: 5

mjmellin,

I'm not familiar with the Linksys WRT54GP2 box, but have you tried increasing the upstream rate to 1 Mbps (or even disabling it)? I have the Linksys RT31P2, and initially set my upstream QoS to 100 kbps. When on the phone, my upload rate would drop from 375 kbps to almost nothing, only to mysteriously return when I hung up. After setting the QoS to 350, I improved to ~124 kbps up. I finally disabled the QoS, and currently get ~280 (280 + 90 = 370), about what I expect.

FYI: If you call Vonage tech support, their answer is generally to call your ISP for bandwidth issues.

-Jason

Posts: 25 · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 4:00 pm Post subject:

That is definitely interesting. I am trying to find out what is considered the correct setting for that part of the router. If disabling it is what we are supposed to do I definitely would disable it.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 28, 2005 Posts: 5

Here's another thread that discusses this same topic:
RT31P2 and QoS = My Results, Can People Test my Formula?

Generally, it seems like there is a lot of confusion about what the hell QoS means. If my call quality starts suffering then I can always turn QoS back on, but for now it's okay.

Err, these ones might be more specific to your router:
WRTP54G QoS Priority for Voice Traffic not sufficient?
moderm to WRT54G to RT31P2, choppy voice with QoS
PAP2 and Linksys WRT54G QOS Problem
How exactly does the voice QOS on the wrt54gp2 work?

Posts: 646 · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:44 pm Post subject:

The QoS number is supposed to match your available upstream bandwidth, although it does seem to reserve more than it should.

Posts: 25 · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 9:47 am Post subject:

paul248 wrote:

The QoS number is supposed to match your available upstream bandwidth, although it does seem to reserve more than it should.

Does this mean that I should set my QoS to 1024 being I am supposed to have 1Mbps upstream? That is what that statement claims but other threads make it sound like it should be set 1750 using this formula

(Uplink - BW needed for vonage)/0.4

I plugged in the following values allowing for the fact that cable is shared technology

(900- 200)/0.4 = 1750

What is your thought?

Posts: 646 · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:46 am Post subject:

I never really did believe that 0.4 formula anyway, and it was based on someone's RT31P2, not the WRT54GP2.

I recommend you set it at 1024, then do some bandwidth testing while you're on a phone call. If you can tell that it's dropping the speed too much, then you can increase the number some. Post your findings.

http://www.vonage-forum.com/ftopic4187-0-asc-20.html

I just posted a bandwidth test procedure last night in that thread which seems to be more accurate than online speed tests. Basically, you do an upload to a good FTP server, and have DU Meter (or an equivalent measurement program) find the average speed over a whole minute, during the middle of the transfer.