Help with Setup Cable Modem -> WRT54G -> RT31P2

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: May 31, 2005 Posts: 3

I have Shaw Cable, in Canada.
5mbps down / 512kbps up

Motorola SB5100 Cable Modem -> WRT54G -> RT31P2
1 PC from WRT54G as well
1 Laptop wirelessly to WRT54G as well

I am trying to get my Vonage connection as good as possible

WRT54G has 4.20.7 firmware
RT32P2 has 1.30.01 firmware and 3.1.6 (LI) voice

WRT54G has QoS off
RT31P2 has QoS off, voice QoS on with 150kbps upstream

this kills my "normal" speedtests for upstram btw

RT31P2 is set to DHCP/NAT/Firewall off
static ip, 192.168.1.150
remote admin enable on port 808 so i can get in

PC is set to static 192.168.1.123

wireless is WEP enabled and MAC allow filter

basically how should i set my QoS on the WRT54G and the RT31P2 to get the best results

I had the bandwidth saver set to 50 (middle) option and my QoS on this site's speed test was 97%

here are my #s after switching back to 90 (highest):

with bit torrents running:
Download 3,137,208 bps
Upload 277,872 bps
QOS 46%
RTT 91 ms
MaxPause 280 ms

with nothing else downloading:
Download 3,002,408 bps
Upload 482,120 bps
QOS 84%
RTT 85 ms
MaxPause 260 ms

these were a little while ago, here's a current one with bt downloading at 90 KB/s and 45KB/s up:
Download 1,940,904 bps
Upload 233,056 bps
QOS 14%
RTT 315 ms
MaxPause 381 ms

(obviously QoS is not working)

here's a current one with nothing downloading:
Download 4,576,640 bps
Upload 495,216 bps
QOS 69%
RTT 86 ms
MaxPause 180 ms

Any suggestions??

Posts: 282 · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 9:50 am Post subject:

I have the WRT54G with 4.20.7 as well, but use the PAP2 adapter, so I can't replicate your config. However, QOS will really only work if it is controlled by the first device in the chain. If you have QOS enabled after the router without QOS, you are trying to control an uncontrolled incoming signal - which is going to give you variable results at best.

Try using port QOS on the WRT54G, and set, for example Port 1 to High, leaving all others on Low. Connect your RT31P2 to Port 1 of the WRT54G. The RT31P2 will now have priority over the other ports on your router. If the RT31P2 is only connected to your phone, I wouldn't turn any QOS on it.

Posts: 24 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 23, 2005 Posts: 24

I have a WRT54GS with the latest firmware and a RT31P2. I have spent exhaustive hours working on the best QoS solution using the WRT54GS unit first but have now come to learn that if you decide to use Linksys default firmware and not third party then the best solution for QoS is to have the RT31P2 first and then the WRT unit behind it. It gives me the clearest signal with no issues with dropped/choppy calls. The disadvantage to this is that my throughput from my cabled PC dropped by 10%. So you will lose some bandwidth but get the clearest calls for Vonage.

Having said that, and not wanting to open a can of worms. There are third party firmwares out there for your linksys router that have far superior Qos capabilities. You can begin researching those yourself and find which firmwares have the features you like.

Posts: 28 · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 5:27 pm Post subject:

Checkout my review done a few month ago on this.

http://www.linksysinfo.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=17

Posts: 57 · Full Forum Member Joined: Sep 03, 2005 Posts: 57

Hi,

I don't know how much of networking skills you have. But if you are like me who knows very little. Get a Motorola SBG900 wireless cable modem instead. I tried to hook up WRT54G with cable modem and RTP32 for days and days and I could not get it to work no matter how I positioned it (I even tried put the WRT54G upside down as the last effort. LOL) I think the process shortened my lifespan by 2 years.

SBG900 has wireless built in. The set up is painless to me. I just plug my SBG900 in another cable outlet in my house as the wireless gateway and left my original Vonage setup untouched.

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Aug 18, 2005 Posts: 20

SBG900 has wireless built in. The set up is painless to me. I just plug my SBG900 in another cable outlet in my house as the wireless gateway and left my original Vonage setup untouched.

Question? Doesn't your ISP have to activate two modems with this setup?

Jim

Posts: 57 · Full Forum Member Joined: Sep 03, 2005 Posts: 57

In my case, yes. They allowed me to do it with no additional charge. I think my IP address is the same for both modems. I just had to call them and gave them the MAC ID. They are pretty cool about it. I called them first to verify I could do it before I went out and bought the SBG900. I only did it this way because I am not very networking inclined and I want to make the process as simple as possible with the Vonage router. The fewer hardware connected to it the better. For me anyway. However you really don't need two cable modems. All you need is the SBG900 and the Vonage router. Skip the WRT54G router, in my opinion. Too much trouble. The SBG900 serves as your wired and wireless Gateway. What a beautiful concept for people like me.

Posts: 277 · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:30 pm Post subject:

Saber wrote:

the best solution for QoS is to have the RT31P2 first and then the WRT unit behind it. It gives me the clearest signal with no issues with dropped/choppy calls. The disadvantage to this is that my throughput from my cabled PC dropped by 10%. So you will lose some bandwidth but get the clearest calls for Vonage.

That's ONE disadvantage. Another significant disadvantage is that the RT31P2 doesn't have a firewall, while the WRT54G has a full SPI firewall, so your security suffers too.

I have exactly this setup, as shown in my signature, except my cable modem is also a Linksys. My Vonage service works perfectly with the RT31P2 behind the WRT54G.

For the original poster - my settings are all exactly as you say, except I *am* running one of the third party firmware versions on my WRT54G. I run the latest HyperWRT, which you can get at www.linksysinfo.org. There are other third party firmware versions out there which have lots more "features", but most of them aren't needed for the average person and there's lots more chances for bugs to be introduced. HyperWRT has stayed close to the original Linksys, but has improved QoS, as well as a few other nice features. Update your WRT to that, and you should be able to run the exact setup you have now, have the best security and get great Vonage performance.

Posts: 28 · Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:37 am Post subject:

try this here for a comaprision of firmwares for the WRT54G

http://www.linksysinfo.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=31