[WXC/VFX] VFX Quality problem

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richardlh

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#23502 1-Jul-2008 09:27

I have VFX with linksys 2102 over a Telstra cable broadband connection. I have some problems, and I wonder if these are typical or is something broken.

1. The audio quality is terrible. If there is any background noise at either end, it is really hard to understand the other party. It sounds like a bad cell call - even to landlines.

2. There are dropouts in the audio, mid-call. These last a couple of seconds.

3. Sometimes audio disappears completely for one party and does not come back.

4. There is sometimes no dial-tome when we pick up the phone, but people can ring in.

5. The phone seems to go offline, with calls going to voice-mail, even though WXC can access the unit.

The techs have been very helpful and asked us to log any issues - apart from the audio there is an issue every second or third call - so in the meantime any advice would be appreciated.

cheers,
Richard

sbiddle

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#141793 1-Jul-2008 09:29

Are you using the 2102 behind another router? If so what type?

richardlh

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#141798 1-Jul-2008 09:40

Telstra Cable Modem -> 2102 -> DLink wireless

All nice short new cables.

R

maverick

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#141810 1-Jul-2008 10:39

no this is not normal in the slightest, Generally cable connections are pretty good.

Looking at stats for a couple of your calls we do see some packet loss, not large but probably enough to account for the mid call drop outs,

The audio qulaity and other issues you highlight are not normal we have a number of people using cable and all generally audio is fine, so the first guess is something is possibly broken.

The packet loss is the first issue we would look at before going anywhere else, could you run some winmtr traces to some local web sites and see if you are seeing any packet loss on your connection.

Is this a new spa2102 ?

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richardlh

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#141818 1-Jul-2008 11:07

Thanks! Yes, it is a new 2102.

I ran one test last night and got 3% packet loss.

I'll run mtr tonight on a few local sites and see what I get.

The call at 9.58 today from work to home had a couple of DTMF like sounds on it that I could hear but my wife could not (she was not pushing any of keys on the phone), and one big dropout near the start.

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#141883 1-Jul-2008 14:08

My ata frequently detected dtmf when there weren't any when my female flatmate was using it - mind you she sounded as squawkey as a phone keypad so I can see why it would do that sometimes ;) I just changed my ATA to use inband rather then RFC whatever and it stopped it.

As for the poor audio particularly with background noise, get your codec changed, you are probably using g729, and thats just how it is. Some people are not bothered by it, it would seem since VOIP providers get away with it.

Richard rich.ms

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#141934 1-Jul-2008 16:21

There may be a couple of issues at hand.

I initially had a bad quality issue a few weeks ago - much hiss and static, made calling mobile phones an excercise in frustration. Tried moving the router away from the CRT, changed portable handsets to a DECT-type ( this improved call quality somewhat), but was still not up to par.

I did log a call with WXC, and that's when they asked me to move the router away from the CRT, etc, but that made no difference, but after a couple of tries and reboots, the call quality suddenly came much better, and the help desk at WXC hadnt made any changes when I rang back to report that moving the router away from the CRT made no difference, but coincidentally a day or two after the quality came good.

However, that being said, I'm hunting down an annoying issue that sounds similar to yours - no dial tone, squawks, missing voice segments, etc.

I notice it when I am transferring certain files via wireless connection from a Tivo.
The tivo is connected to a D-Link DWLG-810 wireless bridge, via 802.11G to the Linksys WAG54GP2.
Sometimes the router will even reboot spontaneously a couple of times whilst transferring files. It seems that the CPU in the Linksys gets so busy servicing the wireless side of things that it has no time to service the phone interface, and eventuallty gives up and reboots.

I suspect that there is an compatibility issue between the Dlink and the Linksys - in regards to some packet size thing

I'm not sure if your 2102 is of the same breed as the WAG54GP2 on the phone side of things, but the syymtoms sound similar.

The drop outs that I experience dont occur if I transfer files via Wireless 802.11G from a 802.11g-equipped laptop.

To cut a short story long, are you transferring files via wireless when you notice the voice quality drop out ?

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richardlh

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#141939 1-Jul-2008 16:42

I just checked the packet loss with MTR.

The really bad news is that it started out fine, but after a few hundred cycles it got up to 100% packet loss.

Here are the figures I got at the start:

1. 192.168.1.1                                                           0.0%    19    1.4   1.6   1.3   2.8   0.4
2. pe14-bertha-loopback.paradise.net.nz                      0.0%    19   24.1 14.7 11.9 24.1   3.5
3. ae0-840.ie4.telstraclear.net                                      0.0%    19   10.8 13.0 10.8 33.2   5.2
4. ge-1-2-0-843.ie1.telstraclear.net                             0.0%    19   21.9 21.6 20.3 23.3   0.8
5. jcore2-ge-0-2-0-927-acld.auckland.clix.net.nz            94.1%    18   20.7 20.7 20.7 20.7   0.0
6. g1-0-927.u11.tspn.telstraclear.net                             0.0%    18   24.1 44.1 22.0 230.0 55.9
7. g1-926.u12.brh.telstraclear.net                                 0.0%    18   29.3 38.0 23.6 126.8 27.7
8. lnk-iconz-g1-0-1396.u12.brfd.telstraclear.net             0.0%    18   23.9 24.0 20.9 45.5   6.0
9. ge-0-2-0.sky01-jcore.iconz.net                                 0.0%    18   23.9 23.6 22.6 25.7   0.8
10. ge-0-3-0.air01-jcore.iconz.net                                  0.0%    18   23.2 24.1 22.3 33.6   2.7
11. ge-1-1.cat01-air01.iconz.net                                     0.0%    18   22.2 23.0 21.0 31.3   2.3
12. ip-210-48-72-116.iconz.net.nz                                  0.0%    18   23.5 24.7 22.1 37.1   3.9
13. ip-210-48-71-94.iconz.net.nz                                   0.0%    18   23.9 23.7 22.2 27.3   1.4
14. ip-210-48-74-82.iconz.net.nz                                   0.0%    18   23.6 24.0 22.2 31.5   2.2

and later:

1. 192.168.1.1                                                            0.0%   101    1.5   1.5   1.2   4.0   0.4
2. pe14-bertha-loopback.paradise.net.nz                      76.0%   101   15.8 14.4 11.9 24.1   3.2
3. ae0-840.ie4.telstraclear.net                                      76.0%   101   11.2 13.3 10.8 33.2   5.0
4. ge-1-2-0-843.ie1.telstraclear.net                              76.0%   101   21.3 21.5 20.3 23.3   0.8
5. jcore2-ge-0-2-0-927-acld.auckland.clix.net.nz           99.0%   101   20.7 20.7 20.7 20.7   0.0
6. g1-0-927.u11.tspn.telstraclear.net                            76.0%   101   22.0 38.8 22.0 230.0 49.0
7. g1-926.u12.brh.telstraclear.net                               79.0%   101   37.3 37.2 23.6 126.8 25.7
8. lnk-iconz-g1-0-1396.u12.brfd.telstraclear.net            77.0%   101   21.3 23.6 20.9 45.5   5.4
9. ge-0-2-0.sky01-jcore.iconz.net                                77.0%   101   24.0 23.6 22.6 25.7   0.8
10. ge-0-3-0.air01-jcore.iconz.net                                 77.0%   101   21.7 23.6 21.7 33.6   2.5
11. ge-1-1.cat01-air01.iconz.net                                   77.0%   101   26.0 23.1 21.0 31.3   2.1
12. ip-210-48-72-116.iconz.net.nz                                76.8%   100   23.3 24.4 22.1 37.1   3.5
13. ip-210-48-71-94.iconz.net.nz                                  76.8%   100   23.6 23.6 22.2 27.3   1.3
14. ip-210-48-74-82.iconz.net.nz                                  76.8%   100   23.7 23.8 22.2 31.5   2.0

Interesting thing is that I complained to Telstra weeks ago about packet loss on jcore2-ge-0-2-0-927-acld.auckland.clix.net.nz while looking into something else.

then I tried again on the WxC site:

1. 192.168.1.1                                                                                        0.0%   140    1.5   1.7   1.3   7.8   0.8
2. pe14-bertha-loopback.paradise.net.nz                                                               0.0%   140   13.9 15.7 11.6 105.0 10.6
3. ae0-840.ie4.telstraclear.net                                                                       0.0%   140   11.3 12.1   9.9 31.4   2.6
4. ge-1-2-0-842.ie2.telstraclear.net                                                                  0.0%   140   20.2 20.6 18.3 41.3   3.0
5. ggis-gige-v906.telstraclear.net                                                                    0.0%   140   20.0 21.3 18.8 59.1   5.6
6. g0-1-0-4.akcr8.global-gateway.net.nz                                                               0.7%   139   20.1 24.7 18.8 166.4 16.9
7. v4.aksw7.global-gateway.net.nz                                                                     0.0%   139   23.1 24.0 19.1 49.3   5.6
8. wxc-dom.aksw7.global-gateway.net.nz                                                                1.4%   139   23.1 22.6 19.3 67.6   6.0
9. ge-0-1-0-akl-ae01.wxnz.net                                                                         1.4%   139   34.4 21.7 19.7 34.4   2.0
10. ge-0-0-1-akl-fw01.wxnz.net                                                                         2.2%   139   20.1 22.2 19.9 32.5   2.0
11. umbriel.wxnz.net                                                                                   0.7%   139   21.8 23.1 20.1 35.3   2.6

and another:

1. 192.168.1.1                                                                                        0.0%    67    1.8   1.6   1.2   4.7   0.5
2. pe14-bertha-loopback.paradise.net.nz                                                               0.0%    67   13.1 14.8 11.6 30.2   2.9
3. ae0-840.ie4.telstraclear.net                                                                       0.0%    67   10.9 12.4   9.4 25.5   2.6
4. ge-1-2-0-842.ie2.telstraclear.net                                                                  0.0%    67   19.7 20.7 18.8 31.8   2.1
5. ggis-gige-v906.telstraclear.net                                                                    0.0%    67   22.0 21.0 18.6 34.5   3.1
6. g0-1-0-4.akcr8.global-gateway.net.nz                                                               0.0%    66   21.2 27.8 19.2 128.9 21.2
7. v4.aksw7.global-gateway.net.nz                                                                     0.0%    66   21.4 32.0 18.8 338.9 42.6
8. wxc-dom.aksw7.global-gateway.net.nz                                                                1.5%    66   21.7 23.2 19.2 65.0   6.0
9. ge-0-0-0-akl-core3.wxnz.net                                                                        1.5%    66   21.6 22.1 19.5 45.8   3.7
10. pan.wxnz.net                                                                                       3.0%    66   21.5 22.0 19.4 32.0   2.2

Is there a chance I have messed up the LAN config on the Linksys and dlink, and that that is causing the problem?

If I reset the lynksys the loss goes back down to 0 and races back up again over time on some sites.

sbiddle

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#141949 1-Jul-2008 17:07

Here is my results on TCL cable for comparision. Your traffic is taking a slightly different route.

|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                      WinMTR statistics                                   |
|                       Host              -   % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
|                               SVEASOFT.wan -    0 | 154 | 154 |    0 |    0 |   16 |    0 |
|    203-79-95-1.cable.telstraclear.net -    0 | 154 | 154 |    0 |   17 | 391 |   16 |
|            ae0-840.ie4.telstraclear.net -    0 | 154 | 154 |    0 |    9 |   32 |   16 |
|      e-1-2-0-842.ie2.telstraclear.net -    0 | 154 | 154 |   15 |   17 |   47 |   16 |
|        ggis-gige-v906.telstraclear.net -    0 | 154 | 154 |   15 |   18 |   63 |   32 |
|  -1-0-4.akcr8.global-gateway.net.nz -    1 | 154 | 153 |   15 |   21 | 125 |   32 |
|       v4.aksw7.global-gateway.net.nz -    0 | 153 | 153 |   15 |   21 |   63 |   16 |
|  c-dom.aksw7.global-gateway.net.nz -    1 | 153 | 152 |   15 |   19 |   63 |   16 |
|            ge-0-0-0-akl-core3.wxnz.net -    0 | 153 | 153 |   15 |   19 |   78 |   15 |
|                                  pan.wxnz.net -    0 | 153 | 153 |   15 |   18 |   32 |   16 |
|________________________________________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|
   WinMTR - 0.8. Copyleft @2000-2002 Vasile Laurentiu Stanimir ( stanimir@cr.nivis.com )

maverick

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#142132 2-Jul-2008 09:29

It does look like the issue may be related to your connection by the looks of it, this sudden packet loss would be causing the drop outs and why we are not seeing this on other Cable connections.

EDIT: PS 58.28.20.150 / pan.wxnz.net will get packet loss depending on how the test is done, this is by design

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richardlh

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#142151 2-Jul-2008 10:27

I checked with Telstra last night. They said there was no packet loss and no timeouts.

This morning when I picked up the phone at about 6:30 there was no dial tone. I was able to call my number, but no dial tone.

It them re-appeared after a tried to make an out-bound call.

Interestingly I was on the phone last night and the voice quality was fine, and there we no dropouts. Two family members were on the net at the same time.

I just tried to phone home and got a busy message.

What are the chances that the Linksys is faulty ?

maverick

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#142156 2-Jul-2008 10:33

A definite possibility at this stage,

Next time you have no dial tone can you do a screen shot of the SPA2102 please Info page, (blank out your number

) this way it will tell us what the 2102 is thinking, if the device is online you should have dial tone and it appears the device is registered if you received an inbound call.

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

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richardlh

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#142466 3-Jul-2008 10:48

I seem to have solved the dial-tone issue.

Now we just have to solve the QOS.

Last night we had two calls that dropped:

9:07pm call dropped when answered. second call no audio.

9:36pm call dropped when answered. second call OK.

The call at 10:40 this morning had echo on it.

Also, time on Linksys is one hour out.

richardlh

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#145297 9-Jul-2008 11:21

I have had an email response back from the wxc helpdesk and I am now keeping a log of all issues. Hopefully it should get resolved soon.