[WXC/VFX] VFX and Linksys SPA2102 a PITA to setup, now VFX call quality abysmal :-(

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › [WXC/VFX] VFX and Linksys SPA2102 a PITA to setup, now VFX call quality abysmal :-(

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Geek
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#115092 6-Mar-2008 23:28

grant_k:
Wizardling: Is this also definitely the right product?

Hmmmm, I just noticed this:

Mfg. Part #: WAG54GP2-SG

And on looking more closely, I see that Ascent were offering the same version as well.

It looks to me as though these units were intended for the Singapore market, and have probably come in via a Parallel Importer.

It would pay to check with Maverick whether this version of the WAG54GP2 is compatible with VFX or not. I have only seen the -NZ and -AU versions until now, and both of those are OK, but -SG I'm not sure about.

Hmmm... Singapore... well I'd guess it _should_ work, but could you clarify, Maverick? Any info on this model?

TIA,
Jamie Kahn Genet

grant_k

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#115093 6-Mar-2008 23:33

Wizardling: ...how much does Maverick like Top Gun? Or am I on the wrong track?

Nope, you've hit the nail right on the head

Maverick is a huge fan of Top Gun and if you look back through his posts, you will find a picture of the actual helmet used in the Top Gun movie. He'll probably put in an appearance tomorrow at the crack of dawn and post a link to it for you.

Wizardling: Wonder if anyone knows why I'm 'Wizardling' most places on the 'net ;-)

Something to do with Harry Potter maybe???

Care to enlighten us?

Wizardling

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Geek
Inactive user

#115097 6-Mar-2008 23:46

grant_k:
Wizardling: ...how much does Maverick like Top Gun? Or am I on the wrong track?

Nope, you've hit the nail right on the head

Maverick is a huge fan of Top Gun and if you look back through his posts, you will find a picture of the actual helmet used in the Top Gun movie. He'll probably put in an appearance tomorrow at the crack of dawn and post a link to it for you.

Heh, I thought so :-)

Wizardling: Wonder if anyone knows why I'm 'Wizardling' most places on the 'net ;-)

Something to do with Harry Potter maybe???

Care to enlighten us?

Nah, Wizardling is a term found in Diane Duane's excellent Young Wizards series that I've been reading for over 16 years.

maverick

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WorldxChange

#115107 7-Mar-2008 07:49

The SK version is a singpore shipped device , it is fine to work on VFX,
the only issue is that they have the wrong VCI settings on the dsl setup due to them being Singapore setup devices.

Our service team will be taking a look at your connections as well as this the prime concern first up.

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

Wizardling

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Geek
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#115195 7-Mar-2008 13:51

That is appreciated, Maverick. Can someone please contact via email me with the results? I've had terrible trouble getting through to Xnet phone support and then difficulty in hearing them through the static and dropouts.

Regards,
Jamie Kahn Genet

maverick

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WorldxChange

#115237 7-Mar-2008 16:03

Support have tried to phone you a few times today I believe, the connect looks stable so the issue will come back to the router and network setup,

The thing to remember here is as long as you have a decent connect then the VFX service works the same for everyone, and what I mean by this is that if the service was having issues everybody would have it, we would have this forum filled with people making the symptons you described, the VFX network just can't pick out your connection and decide to the call quality bad as the ports used will change every time you make a call, so the only factors that can cause issues are

1. The Connection
2. The Local Area Network (Customers Setup)
3. The Device itself

As I have said before of all the issue we have seen over the several thousand custys we have on VFX, 60% of the time the issues relate to the customers own network setup and the the other 39% will be equipment and connection issues , an actual VFX service issue would be less than 1% ,

And bascially this is where the helpdesk spends most of their time and they become overloaded with helping people with thier own local network issues, this is the majority of the Tech Support Calls we get, so we are damed if we do and damned if we don't, all we can do is try and help where we can and this we will always do.

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

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Wizardling

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Geek
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#115242 7-Mar-2008 16:16

Trying out equipment that might work for me would be very helpful. Maverick - I'm told you're the guy to ask. Any possibilities? *pathetically hopeful look* I can't really afford to waste more money here and too be frank - my tolerance for troubleshooting is at a minimum after the recent debacle trying to get a computer that's not a lemon. Any help to relieve my stress here would be hugly appreciated. And hell, if my problem is actually solved - and that would be a first in over three months of tech support calls to other companies - I'll throw a bloody party to celebrate your success. And yeah - I know I'm getting silly here :-) But if I don't I'm going to go the other way and take a hammer to my compter first, then my networking gear.

Another thought - would JUST replacing my ZyXEL P660H ADSL router with a cheap Linksys router be more likely to work with the Linksys SPA2102? Though I still do not understand why the SPA2102 isn't using SIP in any way the P660H can see.

Is this Linksys gear really any good? Linksys doesn't exactly have a great reputation in some quaters. One reason I went ZyXEL is it had a good reputation and my success with ZyXEL gear - till now (assuming it is at fault) - seemed to bear that out.

Regards,
Jamie Kahn Genet

P.S. I've not heard the phone ring once since I got it. Is it still immediately putting incomming calls through to voice mail? This was set up when my connection with Telecom was severed seven days prematurely and I had no phone service at all.

Wizardling

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Geek
Inactive user

#115244 7-Mar-2008 16:23

I need a reliable way to talk with VFX techs. Do you guys have Skype running there?

Wizardling

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Geek
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#115248 7-Mar-2008 16:35

Ok, I'm utterly screwed. I cannot get my messages because the phone service is not good enough to set a new pass code and voicemail message (I THINK that's what was said). I cannot seem to get any incoming calls. I cannot make calls that are coherent.

But none of this would matter if I hadn't been prematurely cut off from Telecom. Had I had a chance to tell my VFX service wasn't working (whatever the reason - the Linksys adaptor, the ZyXEL ADSL router - anything) I could have held on to my Telecom home phone service. If only I'd been given that opportunity I'd be fine now. I really wish I'd held on to the name of the guy who originally singed me up. I'd be phoning him and even if I couldn't hear him - based on my experience so far - he'd be able to hear MY swearing.

Regards,
Jamie Kahn Genet - who doesn't give a damn if he's being unreasonable now.

maverick

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WorldxChange

#115249 7-Mar-2008 16:40

Wizardling: Trying out equipment that might work for me would be very helpful. Maverick - I'm told you're the guy to ask. Any possibilities? *pathetically hopeful look* I can't really afford to waste more money here and too be frank - my tolerance for troubleshooting is at a minimum after the recent debacle trying to get a computer that's not a lemon. Any help to relieve my stress here would be hugly appreciated. And hell, if my problem is actually solved - and that would be a first in over three months of tech support calls to other companies - I'll throw a bloody party to celebrate your success. And yeah - I know I'm getting silly here :-) But if I don't I'm going to go the other way and take a hammer to my compter first, then my networking gear.

Another thought - would JUST replacing my ZyXEL P660H ADSL router with a cheap Linksys router be more likely to work with the Linksys SPA2102? Though I still do not understand why the SPA2102 isn't using SIP in any way the P660H can see.

Is this Linksys gear really any good? Linksys doesn't exactly have a great reputation in some quaters. One reason I went ZyXEL is it had a good reputation and my success with ZyXEL gear - till now (assuming it is at fault) - seemed to bear that out.

Regards,
Jamie Kahn Genet

P.S. I've not heard the phone ring once since I got it. Is it still immediately putting incomming calls through to voice mail? This was set up when my connection with Telecom was severed seven days prematurely and I had no phone service at all.

I might be able to do something on Monday will need to check my loan spares levels, you will need to PM with your deatils then

As for the reason why your router dosn't see the SIP packets....million dollar question really and something I can't answer we don't use them but if it's not pick them up I'm quessing this may be a part of the issue , as for what is a better router every body has their own preferences some will like Linksys and some won't but it works well for us and VFX generally, it's the whole Ford vs Holden thing every body has there favourite....Holden SS-V rocks btw

oh btw...thats the original helmet from the Movie located in the bar where they are playing Great Ball of Fires

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

Wizardling

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Geek
Inactive user

#115256 7-Mar-2008 16:56

Heh, ok - for some reason seeing that helmet brought me back into good spirits :-) Cheers dude. Well, the hell with my tech troubles today. I'm off to play WoW! Anyone else here a MMORPG player?

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

grant_k

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#115257 7-Mar-2008 16:57

Wizardling: ...One reason I went ZyXEL is it had a good reputation and my success with ZyXEL gear - till now (assuming it is at fault) - seemed to bear that out.

That was my experience too... until I entered the world of VoIP.

I have had 3 different ZyXEL routers now and this is how they responded to VoIP:

P324: No QoS functions at all, VoIP passed through without any hassles (I still have it as an emergency standby).

P334W: Had QoS and Bandwidth Management, but the QoS was unable to recognise VFX traffic, Bandwidth Management sort of worked, but was buggy. A lot of playing around needed to successfully reserve bandwidth for VoIP, if you entered the bandwidth budgets in the wrong order, the router would crash and require a cold reset to get going again, at which point you were back to square one with all settings lost. Lightning got this one in April last year.

P335U: Also had QoS and Bandwidth Management, but the QoS was still unable to recognise VFX traffic, Bandwidth Management sort of worked, but was buggy in different ways than the P334W. Some of the Bandwidth Management functions no longer worked at all. It seemed like a step backwards from the P334W. Lightning got this one in July last year.

Since that time, I've had a Linksys WRTP54G, and everything just plugged in and worked with one or two minor gremlins before the firmware got upgraded remotely by WxC. Never a problem in the 5 months since then.

I am reluctant to completely write off ZyXEL as I still think their hardware is good. But their software seems to be pretty crappy, especially where VoIP is concerned. Unless there was no alternative, I wouldn't buy another ZyXEL.

P.S. Why don't you use a cellphone to talk to the techs at WxC. Their 0800 number is accessible from cellphones. Just a thought until you get VFX up and running?

Wizardling

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#115261 7-Mar-2008 17:05

grant_k: P.S. Why don't you use a cellphone to talk to the techs at WxC. Their 0800 number is accessible from cellphones. Just a thought until you get VFX up and running?

This will sound strange given I'm a total geek myself... but I loath cellphones and don't even own one right now.

I MIGHT get an iPhone when they're released here cause (imported ones friends have bought) are the only cellphone I've not hated right off the bat. Mainly I want to browse the web, IM, etc out and about. Phone service is a distant second and I don't ever want people to get the habit of thinking I'll always answer the phone away from home (or even when I'm at home, sometimes :-D ).

maverick

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WorldxChange

#115264 7-Mar-2008 17:16

Okay I have lsiten to the call you made to the helpdesk and the quality is fine from here,

And this is what we see here at our end not to bad on the upstream to us basically we are seeing everything you are sending

uri	mos	timestamp	packets-passed	packets-dropped	packets-lost	current-jitter	average-latency	packets-duplicate	fraction-lost
From:sip:7570xxx@as.wxcnz.net	4.15	16:08:38.726 Fri 2008-03-07	74016	0	0	0.134	0	0	0
session-id:0x08C2DC5B66505C8F min-jitter:0.004 max-jitter:16,777.364 min-TTL:253 max-TTL:253 streamIndex:0 channel:1 min-latency:0 max-latency:0 codecs:G729 PCMU PCMA NSE telephone-event
Media Type	audio/g729
Observed
uri	mos	timestamp	packets-passed	packets-dropped	packets-lost	current-jitter	average-latency	packets-duplicate	fraction-lost
From:sip:0800149638@as.wxcnz.net	4.16	16:08:38.726 Fri 2008-03-07	73805	3	1	0.109	0	4	0

But this is what your device is seeing, you are dropping a lot of packets 1674, your DSL connection looks okay I had support check it out today but for some reason your not getting these passed to the 2102 it is not the QOS on the 2102 either this has nothing to do with it btw, so I think the router is still causing the problem and dropping them

Timestamp     : 16:08:38.720 2008-03-07
Direction     : RX
Remote IP/Port: 118.xxx.xxx.xxx
Local IP/Port : 58.28.20.150
Transport     : UDP
----------------------------------------
BYE sip:0800149638@as.wxcnz.net:xxx;maddr=58.28.20.150;transport=UDP SIP/2.0
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 192.168.1.34:xxxx;branch=z9hG4bK-afd0e62f
From: 0757xxxx2 <sip:757xxxx2@as.wxcnz.net>;tag=577abb6cf7392166o0
To: <sip:0800149638@as.wxcnz.net>;tag=96141c3a-13c4-47d0abed-c0c66e76-3f56e74a
Call-ID: 2e6bd064-1b1650ce@192.168.1.34
CSeq: 103 BYE
Max-Forwards: 70
Authorization: Digest x
User-Agent: Linksys/SPA2102-5.1.9
P-RTP-Stat: PS=74009,OS=1480020,PR=72321,OR=1446420,PL=1674,JI=2,LA=0,DU=1480,EN=G729a,DE=G729a
Content-Length: 0

So on Monday we can look to get you a loan unit if you have one, if this works for you ?,

Yes I am a employee of WxC (My Profile) ... but I do have my own opinions as well

https://www.facebook.com/wxccommunications

Wizardling

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Geek
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#115267 7-Mar-2008 17:25

maverick: Okay I have lsiten to the call you made to the helpdesk and the quality is fine from here
[snip]
So on Monday we can look to get you a loan unit if you have one, if this works for you ?,

That would be awesome, man. I can maybe scrape together some cash on Wednesday, but if I can avoid another costly shot in the dark by getting a loaner and using that to test - well, that would make my day :-)

If you email me on jamiekg@wizardling.geek.nz (has this been added as my new contact email?) I'll provide you with my work phone number where you can reach me on a working line.

Cheers,
Jamie Kahn Genet

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