QOS question

[chpalmer]

Pfsense is GREAT and a really love it but it may be overkill

pfSense scales to anything you want it to... Overkill- yikes..

Agreed though... make sure you need qos before you tear your hair out over it...

[KenC]

I am considering VOIPo to replace my current T-Mobile@Home VOIP. My internet connection is kinda middling speed (~ 1Mbps DL ~ 300Kbps upload), but VOIP works fine unless someone is downloading on their computer or watching netflix, youtube, etc. So I'm interested in QOS / Quality of Service settings (but am pretty ignorant of it). My questions:


Do any of the devices available through VOIPo allow me to connect my wireless router AFTER them, and will that prioritize VOIP over computer/netflix downloads from that WL router? If some do and some don't, can I specify the device?

Or would I be better off purchasing a device like the OBI202 which specifically states: Built-In Router with QoS for VoIP Traffic Prioritization, and use that in place of the VOIPo supplied device?

TIA - KenC

[gatorsean]

That's a pretty weak internet connection. You should consider attempting to do some tests online specific for voip prior to purchasing any equipment or signing up with voipo.com since QOS won't help speed up your internet.
This is a type of test you can perform: http://www.whichvoip.com/voip/speed_test/ppspeed.html
You will want to see what it says about the upstream and downstream jitter.

Honestly, if you're going to want VOIP, you should consider pausing netflix and downloads while on the phone.

[KenC]

That's a pretty weak internet connection. You should consider attempting to do some tests online specific for voip prior to purchasing any equipment or signing up with voipo.com since QOS won't help speed up your internet.
This is a type of test you can perform: http://www.whichvoip.com/voip/speed_test/ppspeed.html
You will want to see what it says about the upstream and downstream jitter.

Honestly, if you're going to want VOIP, you should consider pausing netflix and downloads while on the phone.

Thanks, but I've had two different VOIP systems on this internet connection for about five years (Callvantage with AT&T, which they discontinued, now T-Mobile@Home), and they work fine as long as there is no heavy traffic from other devices. I honestly don't know how much to expect from QOS, but I'd hope that I could prioritize the phone, and let the download/netfilx just take its time. I wait for downloads anyhow (usually unattended), and pausing a movie is preferable to repeating "what, I missed that - say again!!??. It's just kind of a pain to yell out to the rest of the family - 'anyone downloading anything, I can't hear Auntie Em?!'

Ping, packet-loss and jitter are good, and that is often more important than raw speed, from what I've come to understand.

FYI - the internet connection is a 'point-to-point' wireless (Motorola Canopy system), so the speed is not the greatest, but OK for most things I do.

-KenC

[OregonVoIP]

Thanks, but I've had two different VOIP systems on this internet connection for about five years (Callvantage with AT&T, which they discontinued, now T-Mobile@Home), and they work fine as long as there is no heavy traffic from other devices. I honestly don't know how much to expect from QOS, but I'd hope that I could prioritize the phone, and let the download/netfilx just take its time. I wait for downloads anyhow (usually unattended), and pausing a movie is preferable to repeating "what, I missed that - say again!!??. It's just kind of a pain to yell out to the rest of the family - 'anyone downloading anything, I can't hear Auntie Em?!'

Ping, packet-loss and jitter are good, and that is often more important than raw speed, from what I've come to understand.

FYI - the internet connection is a 'point-to-point' wireless (Motorola Canopy system), so the speed is not the greatest, but OK for most things I do.

-KenC

Need to setup your router with QoS priority, and what degree of priority. It will slow down your computer and netflix speeds a bit while on calls, but ensures voice packets get first dibs.

[ymhee_bcex]

It is important to clarify a few things:
VoIP calls take about 100Kbps each way. In reality, a little less, and you can play some games with codecs and compression - but to be on the safe side, assume 100kbps.

QoS is not helping if you have insufficient download bandwidth (and with 1Mbps watching HD movies and downloading large files from fast servers might do it for you). If incoming traffic saturates your modem, nothing that you do on your LAN (and QoS is set up on your router - that is, on your LAN) will help. Therefore, QoS will not slow down your Netflix, but you will still have to run around your house asking who is downloading large file. It might have worked before, but all those HD movies are more likely to impact your download capabilities today, and even more tomorrow).

Insufficient upstream bandwidth can be fixed by QoS. It doesn't matter whether you have modem == ATA with router == router or modem == router == ATA with router sequence.