Recommend QoS Router

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Oct 04, 2005 Posts: 2

I'm having issues with my Vonage phone. I've been using Vonage for over a year now and recently it seems it's been degrading severely. Part of the issue is a recent change in my company's vpn and network. When I have my company laptop at home it needs to now upload more info then it did before. This is causing degraded voice quality to the point of people only hearing every 3rd workd of what I say. For the most part I can hear them just fine.

My upload bandwidth is in the 300's kbps and I have the bandwidth saver set to the lowest (30k). My work laptop is connected to an SMC Barricade wireless router which in turn is then connected to my Motorola adapter from Vonage. Is there a router you guys can recommend that will provide better reliable service for me?

Thanks in advance.

Posts: 42 · Full Forum Member Joined: Sep 27, 2005 Posts: 42

300kbps sounds like more than enough upload bandwith for vonage and for vpn. I too work from home and have a VPN and the call quality has not suffered. I did have many problems with the Motorola adapter and had to return it. I've not had any issues with the Linksys RTP300 and would recommed it. I'm using firmware 1.00.50.

When you get the Linksys, ensure that you connect it directly to your broadband modem (cable or DSL). This will allow the router to prioritize the voice packets (QoS). You can then attach your wireless router to a lan port on the LInksys (hook it up to a LAN port on the wireless router, not the WAN port). The linksys router comes pre-configured to allow VPN traffic to pass through.

Finally, with my VPN software (SecureRemote), I have to ping my server several times before it connects. I think that the router is opening up the necessary ports the first time I try to ping the server. Once the ports are open though, it is smooth sailing.

Good luck!

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Oct 04, 2005 Posts: 4

I use a linksys WRT54G with the following QoS settings for the port where my Motorola VT1005V is connected:

Priority: High
Flow control : Disable

I'm not sure if these are the best settings to use with my particular hardware, but it works great for me. I can be online downloading huge files from multiple machines and I never lose a word when I'm on the phone at the same time.

Posts: 177 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jul 22, 2005 Posts: 177

A couple of relevant discussions:

vonage-forum.com/ftopic8409.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="postlink">best QOS firmware.. bittorrent
vonage-forum.com/ftopic8507.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="postlink">Any QoS experts here?

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Oct 04, 2005 Posts: 2

Thanks for all the replies. I have purchased the Linksys WRTP54G Wireless-G Router and I will install and test to see if I get good results. Hopefully this will solve my problems. I'll keep you guys posted....thanks again for the help.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Oct 02, 2005 Posts: 1

I purchased a WRTP54G last week, to try out Vonage. I've read several threads here talking about how well (or poorly) the WRTP54G handles QOS. My own experience is that the phone works well unless my network is generating a lot of outbound traffic. Then my outgoing VoIP breaks up quite a bit. Since I have several computers at home sharing the same network, I can't stop all my outbound traffic every time the phone rings.

I've upgraded to firmware 1.00.50, but that hasn't helped. I'm wondering if anyone has been successful in configuring QOS appropriately for this router? Cry