[WXC/VFX] QoS/Packet loss issues

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [WXC/VFX] QoS/Packet loss issues

shermanp

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#20232 17-Mar-2008 14:29

I've been having this problem for most of the time I've had VFX, but I haven't really gotten round to trying to find the cause of the problem...

I have a WAG54GP2v2, and have a single VFX line to it. I have FS/FS Xnet HSI broadband, with a downstream rate of 8032kbps and an upstream rate of 1024kbps - basically as fast as you can get with G.dmt...
When I am not downloading anything my calls are almost perfect, occasionally there's a bit of jitter, but it's usable. The problem is when I start downloading anything, the calls become almost unusable, with significant portions of the call get dropped, sometimes in both directions, but mostly at my end. I have no idea where the problem may lie, whether it be a DSL issue or a router issue.

I am using the latest firmware for the WAG (2.01.06)

The problem occurrs when using either LAN or WLAN to the router.

As an example, I called a 06755xxxx number at around 1:45pm today, then started a download of MS expression studio from MSDN-AA, which started at around 1:54pm (according to my PC's clock). I also had steady upload occurring at around 20KB/s during the whole call. The call was perfect untill the MS download started, then the problem as stated above started happening.
While the MS download app doesn't state what speed it's downloading at, it seems to be going at a decent rate, while not saturating my connection.

I have no QoS settings enabled in the WAG.

I have had my line/wiring checked by telecom previously. it all checks out.

My port at the exchange has recently been reset.

I guess what I'm trying to find out is if my WAG54GP2v2 is faulty or not...

If anyone can help, thank you in advance.

nate

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#117158 17-Mar-2008 15:51

shermanp: I have no QoS settings enabled in the WAG.

The reason you're not running QoS is?

brdivu

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#117160 17-Mar-2008 15:57

I have exactly the same issue with my WAG54GP2v2 and xnet fusion.
As soon as a start a download, the call starts breaking up in a similar way to how you described.

The QoS settings on the router appear to be more to do with LAN and Wireless Access Point, than the VOIP.

I did ask the xnet helpdesk for advice, and all they could suggest is to contact linksys support. (I've not done this yet though).

nate

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#117164 17-Mar-2008 16:02

Seems that this has been already covered in this topic.

coffeebaron

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#117231 17-Mar-2008 20:44

nate: Seems that this has been already covered in this topic.

Nope, that never fixed the issue - though this is on a much more marginal ADSL connection - 1.5Mbps. Have tried 2 x WAG54GPV2's. Have tried a ZyXEL router + SPA2102 and used bandwidth managment to throttle web traffic to 512 (this worked until the router re-synced at a lower speed). Now trying Dynalink RTA1320 half bridge into WRP400, but still voice breakup / jitter etc during other Internet traffic.
:(:(:(
Basically YouTube Vs VFX = bad voice calls

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grant_k

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#117243 17-Mar-2008 21:15

It's interesting to hear that you are still battling with this problem Fraser. I thought you had it licked a long time ago

coffeebaron: ...bandwidth managment to throttle web traffic to 512 (this worked until the router re-synced at a lower speed).

If the router is syncing at less than 512kbps, then your line is in very bad shape indeed, but I'm sure you already knew that

Basically, this line is just too long and of insufficient quality to provide a good VoIP experience.

As I see it, you have 2 options:

- Go back to POTS and just use your line for (mediocre) broadband
- Join the wireless revolution and snip those corroded old copper wires completely

coffeebaron

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#117247 17-Mar-2008 21:32

grant_k: It's interesting to hear that you are still battling with this problem Fraser. I thought you had it licked a long time ago

coffeebaron: ...bandwidth managment to throttle web traffic to 512 (this worked until the router re-synced at a lower speed).

If the router is syncing at less than 512kbps, then your line is in very bad shape indeed, but I'm sure you already knew that

Basically, this line is just too long and of insufficient quality to provide a good VoIP experience.

As I see it, you have 2 options:

- Go back to POTS and just use your line for (mediocre) broadband
- Join the wireless revolution and snip those corroded old copper wires completely

Or option 3, keep battling. This is in an area that has been under-served by telco infrastructure for years. Still have the 2 POT's line, but have been trying to move at least one of them to VFX since about a year ago.

The usual sync speed is 1-1.5 Mbps, and since VFX should work on as little as a basic 256k connection, this should be achievable. By throttling the web traffic to 512k, it was all working very well, until the router re-synced to around 1M :(

With no other Internet traffic, VFX works perfect. So either some more work needs to be done on the ADSL, or still better QoS on the router side.

Unfortunately there are no wireless or other suitable broadband alternatives here.

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grant_k

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#117248 17-Mar-2008 21:43

coffeebaron: Unfortunately there are no wireless or other suitable broadband alternatives here.

With the advent of IPStar, there aren't many places in NZ with "no wireless or other suitable broadband alternatives".

However, the installation cost is high unless you are prepared to commit to a 2 or 3-year contract and the latency can a problem for some people (gamers in particular). However, for VoIP calls, it's not as bad as you might think. I tried it, and sure, it was noticeable, but not objectionable. Better than Skype calls to NZ landlines actually.

Here's another thought:

- Have you tried using VFX over Telecom's EVDO network Fraser?
- Surely EVDO would be available in your area (somewhere out West Auckland wasn't it?).
- I guess you have checked out the other wireless options such as Compass, Kordia and the like?

I tried VFX over EVDO, and it works just fine so long as there is no other network activity. Kind of like what you have now I guess, but it would save you paying around $45 for the line rental each month.

My 2c worth anyway

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#117249 17-Mar-2008 22:05

coffeebaron: Still have the 2 POT's line, but have been trying to move at least one of them to VFX since about a year ago.

Sorry for being picky here, but it's POTS (Plain Old Telephone System). It's an abreviation, not plural - and if it were it wouldn't have the apostrophe anyway.

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#117251 17-Mar-2008 22:08

grant_k:
I tried VFX over EVDO, and it works just fine so long as there is no other network activity. Kind of like what you have now I guess, but it would save you paying around $45 for the line rental each month.

Yep, I've used VFX over CDMA EVDO Rev A for a week while the DSL service was being installed at my parents-in-law' place. It worked well and if you use a router like this you can then have mobile broadband and VoIP....

smbunn

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#117254 17-Mar-2008 22:37

I had the same problems but these seemed to go away when I swapped my WAG54 for a replacement unit. If you see my thread on "dropped dial tone" you will see that the problem is not quite gone. It appears there is a problem with the Linksys when heavy traffic occurs on the wireless port. looking at these threads it seems any heavy traffic on LAN or wireless on a WAG54 is an issue. My thread ended up with a comment that Linksys were about to release another firmware upgrade. Maybe it will solve all of these issues?
yeah right

maverick

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#117266 18-Mar-2008 06:55

smbunn:. My thread ended up with a comment that Linksys were about to release another firmware upgrade. Maybe it will solve all of these issues?
yeah right

Actually we took these observations very seriously and have informed linksys, my comments on them releasing a new firmware version was just to inform you of that fact and that they may be already be loking to improve the performance, we have been given a release candadate to take a look at and test so we can also provide feedback on it, if this dosn't address the issue we will be going back to linksys to get them to work on improving performance on wireless and lan.

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coffeebaron

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#117278 18-Mar-2008 08:51

grant_k:
coffeebaron: Unfortunately there are no wireless or other suitable broadband alternatives here.

With the advent of IPStar, there aren't many places in NZ with "no wireless or other suitable broadband alternatives".

However, the installation cost is high unless you are prepared to commit to a 2 or 3-year contract and the latency can a problem for some people (gamers in particular). However, for VoIP calls, it's not as bad as you might think. I tried it, and sure, it was noticeable, but not objectionable. Better than Skype calls to NZ landlines actually.

Here's another thought:

- Have you tried using VFX over Telecom's EVDO network Fraser?
- Surely EVDO would be available in your area (somewhere out West Auckland wasn't it?).
- I guess you have checked out the other wireless options such as Compass, Kordia and the like?

I tried VFX over EVDO, and it works just fine so long as there is no other network activity. Kind of like what you have now I guess, but it would save you paying around $45 for the line rental each month.

My 2c worth anyway

This is out in the hilly, bush clad west in Laingholm. EVDO is not an option, as this is Vodafone turf; I.E. Vodafone works half the time sometimes. Telecom is worse.

Yes, there are IPStar etc, but not really practical. It would probably be more cost effective to have 2 Fusion circuits, one for VFX only, and the other for www. Once fax-email service is launched, we should be able to at least drop one of the POTS lines then; but would rather move them fully over to Fusion.

Hopefully within a year or so, Telecom may come to the party and cabinetise the area; something they should have done years ago here.

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smbunn

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#117386 18-Mar-2008 20:17

Maverick
my "yeah right" comment was intended lightly. I have been impressed by the support from XNET. However even you must admit little old New Zealand will not weigh heavily in the minds of Cisco/Linksys. I was wondering who else in the world is using the WAG54 in naked DSL mode. If we know there is a significant pool of users experiencing the same problems then I would have more confidence in Linksys actually doing something about it. keep the pressure on but at the same time I am not holding my breath.
thanks

grant_k

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#117390 18-Mar-2008 20:28

coffeebaron: It would probably be more cost effective to have 2 Fusion circuits

The cost of 2 Fusion circuits ($140 per month) would more than cover Xtencity 512 @ $129 per month.

This would give you:

- A phone service using VFX that is totally reliable
- 600 minutes per month of free National Tolls
- A separate fax line for $7.95 per month extra

According to Kordia's web site Coverage Checker:

Auckland Laingholm Moderate

I am in an area that theoretically has NO coverage at all, and yet I get a very reliable signal with a high-gain antenna. If you have line-of-sight to Mangere Mountain, you should have no problems getting Kordia Extend.

OK, the download speed is only 512kbps (unless you want to pay an extra $50 per month for 1Mbps), but it is TOTALLY RELIABLE and the speed is consistent. There is no peak-hour slowdown on Kordia Extend

coffeebaron

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#117466 19-Mar-2008 09:06

grant_k:
coffeebaron: It would probably be more cost effective to have 2 Fusion circuits

The cost of 2 Fusion circuits ($140 per month) would more than cover Xtencity 512 @ $129 per month.

This would give you:

- A phone service using VFX that is totally reliable
- 600 minutes per month of free National Tolls
- A separate fax line for $7.95 per month extra

According to Kordia's web site Coverage Checker:

Auckland Laingholm Moderate

I am in an area that theoretically has NO coverage at all, and yet I get a very reliable signal with a high-gain antenna. If you have line-of-sight to Mangere Mountain, you should have no problems getting Kordia Extend.

OK, the download speed is only 512kbps (unless you want to pay an extra $50 per month for 1Mbps), but it is TOTALLY RELIABLE and the speed is consistent. There is no peak-hour slowdown on Kordia Extend

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions here Grant, but alas; no view of Mangere Mt, no view of the Sky Tower, I'm not sure if they have a view of Waitarua.

These alternatives would be worth looking into more if that couldn't get any ADSL at all. But their ADSL works fine for web & email, it even works fine for VFX, just doesn't work fine for VFX + web at the same time.

So the goal remains the same, trying to manage the QoS on the incoming traffic. When you price up the alternative options, not forgetting hardware, they are much for much. Going to Fusion is really the only option that will bring them some real advantage.

It also looks like their exchange - Titirangi, is on the short list for cabinetisation, so this may be all fixed in a few months time anyway (though not holding my breath).

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