ITRocks

I have recently subscribed to VOIP with AT&T. I love it, but whenever I make or receive a phone call and surfing the net at the same time, my responses to the phone conversation are delayed by about 3-4 seconds. Do anyone else have VOIP and do you experience the same problem?

Semona

That should not be the case.

What type of Internet connection do you have, cable or DSL?

How is your network configured? Router then VOIP box?

You may need to tweak some settings in your network, you may have to prioritize VOIP packets, but we need to understand what your Internet connection and network looks like. We allso need to know the make and model of your router and VOIP box.

ITRocks

I have DSL @ 728 in/128 out. I have a D-link DVG-1120M that AT&T sent me and a Westell Dual Connect modem from the phone company. I don't have a router, unless the D-link is one. I had to put in a Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC card, because my computer didn't have one. My DSL is connected through USB and the VOIP box is through the Ethernet. As for network configuration, I'm not sure what info you need. . Where do I find it?

Cyborg

OK, I am a bit weak with DSL and VOIP, however, I do know, unlike with cable modem service, you can saturate your DSL upload or download easily with web browsing and/or downloads, which could cause a problem with your VOIP. There may be a way with the DSL modem?? to set up VOIP priority so these packets are sent ahead of browsing and downloads??

Try this: go to Start, Run, type cmd, then type ping www.cisco.com -t and watch the ping times, they should be fairly steady. Then make a phone call and see what the ping times do. Then start browsing and see how the ping times react. If they start getting longer and you hear problems with your VOIP, then you have probably saturated your DSL link?

In the command prompt box, to end the ping, hold down the ctrl key and hit c a few times until the pings stop.

Also do a bandwidth speed test with and without a phone call going and see what happens. Look at this link and choose ADSL:

http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

Let us know what your speeds are.

Try to open a web interface on your DSL router and see if you can find any configuration pages. Do not change anything yet!!

Go to Start, Run, type cmd, type ipconfig. Look at the last line, it should be your Default gateway (192.168.x.x??). Type this IP address in your web browser and see what happens. If you get a password prompt, try admin for name and password or admin for name and password for password.

I will also need to look into the VOIP box you have to see what features is has.

I am sure some other folks may have some suggestions as well.

Let us know what happens.

ITRocks

Thanks for the help. Here are the results:

1st Ping - ranged from 85-92 going up and down
2nd Ping (with phone call) - increased 110-196
3rd Ping (browsing) - 202-247

Packets: sent 123, received 113, lost 10
Approx. round trip times: min=81ms, max=1063ms, avg.=114

commun. without phone call -518KB
comm. with phone call -253.4KB
storage w/o p/c- 63.2 KB
storage w/pc- 30.9
1 MB file DL w/o p/c- 16.2 sec.
1 MB file DL w/pc- 33.1

dslrouter: 192.168.1.1
connect rate: 768KBS/128

I didn't get a password prompt or anything. I have a user name and password. Thanks for all of your help.
__________________

TechBoy

I have Vonage, and what you describe isn't all that unusual. If you want the VoIP phone to have priority, you need to connect it directly to the modem, then connect the router to the VoIP adapter. I put my router into the DMZ of the Motorola VT1005V VoIP adapter, and that solves that issue. Your upload speed of 128 is marginal for VoIP, that's part of the problem.

An option that Vonage has is reduced bandwidth that you can configure, full bandwidth is 90kb/sec, and you can cut it down to 60kb/sec and 30kb/sec, obviously sacrificing some sound quality in the process. I tried mine at 30kb/sec, and the voice was still fine, but my FAX no longer worked, so I put it back.

I have Comcast 4000/384 service, so I have more bandwidth to play with.

Semona

There are a number of types of broadband services. Cable, which is typically your cable TV provider, DSL, which is typically your phone company, and Satellite, which is any number of people, as long as they have a rocket.

You don't need a router, it's just that most folks that have broadband seem to have more than one computer connected to it. Perhaps if you gave us the make/model of the equipment in use, we'd be better able to offer suggestions.

Normally, the VoIP box is first in line to use the bandwidth, and the computer sits behind it. This allows the VoIP to use whatever bandwidth it needs to keep the voice quality at the proper level

Cyborg

You do not have satellite for Internet access based upon the fact you have a Westell DSL modem.

As for your bandwidth John is correct, you upstream BW may be a limiting factor. You might be able to lower you VOIP rate (will reduce voice quality to some degree), this may help. You might be able to increase your uplink BW from 128 kbps to 160 kbps with your DSL provider for a small increase in the monthly fee.

As for your connection between the PC and DSL modem, I think you indicated this is USB? I really am not a fan of USB "network" connections. Not sure this is really hurting anything, just not they way I would configure my network. If you had a router in the mix, you could probably connect you PC via Ethernet and would allow some growth for other PC's and/or a networked printer. Not sure how many computers are in the house and how many to be added? I know you are also looking into a new printer, I personally would not buy a printer these days that does not have a network port! Wireless is another reason folks are using routers as well. Wireless routers are really dropping in price, so for $75 or less you can get almost anything on the market these days! With rebates some are even free!

As for the DMZ (de-militarized zone), I will let someone else cover the ins and outs on this one.

ITRocks

I didn't mean I had satellite internet. I just meant that I had DirecTV, meaning I didn't have access to cable to get a cable DSL. I kinda understand everything that y'all are saying. I'm just not sure what other network information you guys need. My DSL modem does have an Ethernet connection. I had to use that to connect it to the computer. Maybe I have my cords and plugs crossed up. I'm going to recheck tonight. I really do appreciate everything the both of you are doing!

Semona

You connect the Ethernet cable to the VoIP box, then the VoIP box to the router's computer. Note that the VoIP box should have two Ethernet connections...