Hi,

I am fairly new to VOIP.

I have a Broadvoice as service provider and have both a ATA (Linksys PAP2) and EyeBeam 1.5.

With the EyeBeam, I have used both a GNetcom 9350 and Logitech headset. The 9350 wins for sound quality every time.

I have also tried Bluetooth, it sound OK (my issue may have been connecting using EVDO connection!!)

In connecting the ATA, it seems the voice quality is 90% of the POTS service, it sounds like a good cell phone call.

I am considering ditching my POTS and just using VOIP.

When I use the softphone, I am using with Centrino 1.5GHZ, 1GB RAM. Will a faster processor, newer system affect the performance of the softphone (considering Dual Core2 with 2GB memory, likely stick with XP Pro for 2007 and upgrade to Vista 2008). I still plan to use 9350 with USB connection.

My other option is to connect 9350 via RJ11 to PAP2 and connect that way.

The one convenience of the softphone is the integration with Outlook and being able to click to talk, I think I can still do this if I connect 9350 to PAP2.



Questions:

Will faster processor affect the performance of softphone?

Is the Eyebeam one of the top softphones? Is there better?

Is 15/17 hops on trace route considered good for VOIP providers?

Is 4.2MB down and 650K up considered good for speed for DSL service supporting VOIP?

Is there anyway to create some sort of QoS for connection between my router and VOIP providers? ie any tagging of packets


Your response to my questions would be appreciated.

Sincerely

Dave