VOIP and GRLevel 3

[dasman]

OK...  This is going to be long winded but here we go.  I have OOMA VOIP for my telephone.  My wife this spring was complaining of occasional call quality issues.  I was out of town for the better part of 3mos so it had to wait.  Since getting home in May I have been trying to find the problem.  I found the issue 2 weeks ago.  When GRLevel3 uploads a file to my web site, the voice quality on a VOIP call is indistinguishable for 2-4 seconds.  Then the quality is excellent until the next upload.

My ISP is ATT Uverse.  My package is 18mbps downstream and 1mbps upstream.  At speedtest.net I get 15.5 down and 0.67-0.74 up.  The ping is between 10-15ms.  OOMA replaced my equipment which did not help.  ATT found a bridge tap in my service line 200ft from the house.  They came out and fixed it.  It did not help.  The file that GRLevel 3 was uploading is 1.4mb.  I removed the background (map) and replaced with a generic color.  This reduced the file to 0.5mb.  Now on the VOIP calls you Can understand the words during an upload but the quality is still poor for that couple seconds. 

My ATT all in one (gateway,modem, router) does not have a QoS feature.  OOMA tech support had me change a QoS setting in the OOMA to reserve most of the upstream bandwith but that did not help.  I went to Best Buy and bought a Netgear N750 Dual Band Router to plug into the gateway.  This way if the ATT all in one was Choking on the 2 uploads at once, the netgear could "package" them better before the ATT equipment gets the data.  In fact I set the QoS on the new router to give the highest priority to the port the OOMA was connected to, and the lowest priority to all other ports.  Once again this did not help.  OOMA has given up.  They actually said we can't get our VOIP to work through your file upload.  ATT also gave up since the line is good and the all in one is good (I forgot to mention we changed it out as well) and the speeds are good.  They also checked for noise interference and jitter,  all were good.

Any ideas!

Dave

[ocala]

 
I'm not nearly as tech savy as most of this board  but this doesn't make any sense.
I would venture to think it's not GR3 at all but some other issue.
Just for the heck of it try uploading some other large file and see what happens.
You also may want to visit a VOIP specific forum and try your luck there.
Good luck.

[dasman]

Ok... I tried having GRLevel 3 save to a folder then upload with Fling...No luck, in fact it was even a little worse.  I thought it was possible that since GRLevel3 downloads data then immediately uploads, its causing the modem to "switch" directions and that the "noise" from that is what is screwing up the VOIP.  This also does what you (ocala) suggested since fling is just grabbing the file from a folder and uploading it.  I have been on the OOMA and VOIP boards but have tried everything they suggested.  I just figured if I posted it here, someone might have a "NEW" idea.

Thanks for the shot!

Dave

[ocala]

Before you bought the new router were you connected directly to the modem or was it wireless through the gateway?

[WeatherHost]

I thought it was possible that since GRLevel3 downloads data then immediately uploads, its causing the modem to "switch" directions and that the "noise" from that is what is screwing up the VOIP

If anything it's just file size creating a bandwidth issue.  As suggested, try uploading some other large file(s).  How many GR products are you pushing?  Try limiting to just one.

At speedtest.net I get 15.5 down and 0.67-0.74 up.

Isn't that like dial-up speed?  Your upload should be much faster than that with a 15Mbs download capable line.  How far are you from the cable node?

[dasman]

Before you bought the new router were you connected directly to the modem or was it wireless through the gateway?

Wired directly!  The modem and the gateway are one unit.  Though I did try wifi to see if it would help...It did not.

At speedtest.net I get 15.5 down and 0.67-0.74 up.

Isn't that like dial-up speed?

The upload speed for my package is "up to" 1.0mbps.  Cable offers higher uploads 2-3mbps, but cable by me is garbage (comcast).  I have 2 friends on my block and their internet which should do circles around mine is slower.  I am 500 ft from the AT&T office (yard).  The main fiber optic trunks are there.

As suggested, try uploading some other large file(s).  How many GR products are you pushing?  Try limiting to just one.

I just uploaded a 9.5M pic and yes there was digital garble.

I upload 5 products!

I have gone down to just one to see if it would help.  It does not...still digital garble when the upload occurs.

Both the AT&T and the OOMA techs both agree I have plenty of bandwith, for some reason the computer and the OOMA are not playing nicely with each other when the data passes through the modem.

From OOMA:
•(c) "High Speed Internet" refers to an internet connection capable of data speeds of at least 384 kilobits downstream and 256 kilobits upstream.

That leaves 400kilobits or more for other uploads.  Remember the QoS setting is supposed to constrain the port on the modem to the user defined bandwith.  I had Netgear techs on the phone with me for 3 hours, They remotely verified the modem was set correctly to have OOMA run unimpeded, and anything else connected would share the remaining bandwith.