Draytel outgoing voice quality [Archive]

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jonnycocacola

31-01-2006, 04:48

Hi all

I'm new, so apologies if this is already addressed elsewhere.

I have ntl 1MB which I want to use for VoIP via a Draytek Vigor 2100V and Draytel. I have it set up and it is very good except for one thing: outbound voice quality is unusable.

The only conclusion I can make is that my ntl upload is too slow/insufficient, even when using the minimum quality codec.

Does anyone have any experience of VoIP through ntl 1MB connection? I had assumed it would be enough, but it looks like I am going to have to upgrade to 2MB.

Any advice appreciated.

R

Ignition

31-01-2006, 05:30

KevAmiga

31-01-2006, 11:24

I doubt its a bandwidth issue (1mb speeds)... whats your internet browsing like?

Could be a routing issue causing a bottleneck on the connection...

jonnycocacola

31-01-2006, 12:41

The quality is the same even with the computer switched off. One of the reasons I chose a VoIP router + normal handset over a softphone was that I should be able to use the phone when offline or with the computer off.

Down/Uploading data to the computer is not the problem. Even with the computer on I make sure that nothing else is taking any bandwidth - I do not run any p2p software or anything like that.

Draytel has a echo/latency test you can do to hear what you sound like on the other end. I have tried this many times, and regardless of the codec the quality is awful, with a long delay. Incoming quality is fine though.

Why can't this be simple?!:mad:

Thanks for the responses

R

punky

31-01-2006, 12:52

Can you go here: http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedtest.asp

and post back the upload speed you are getting?

jonnycocacola

31-01-2006, 13:07

Hi Punky

I have done a few speed tests, one of which showed 11kbps, one of which showed 82kbps.

Here are the results for the one you requested:

Direction Actual Speed True Speed (estimated)
Downstream 800kbps (100KB/sec) 864kbps (inc. overheads)
Upstream 87kbps (10.9KB/sec) 93kbps (inc. overheads)

This is strange, because even when using the lowest quality codec (6.5kbps, my voice is broken up and delayed. It's actually hard to understand what I am saying, like on a mobile out of reception.

Ignition

31-01-2006, 16:15

Your download speed is a bit slow, I've suspicion you might be seeing packet loss.

http://www.dslreports.com/linequality

Not ideal as your upload is so poor it doesn't really qualify as broadband but still might be alright. Give it a try anyway.

punky

31-01-2006, 16:26

What Ig just said. :tu:

---------- Post added at 16:26 ---------- Previous post was at 16:19 ----------

Another thing, Could you go to your MS-DOS prompt (Start -> run -> cmd) and type in:

ping www.draytel.org

And let me know if there is any % loss at the bottom?

If they come back as 0, you can do

ping www.draytel.org -t

Which will keep going until you hit ctrl-c, and see if that % loss is any higher.

And whilst your are in the DOS prompt, could you type in

tracert www.draytel.org > c:\results.txt

And then open up c:\results.txt on your computer and paste the results to us?

jonnycocacola

31-01-2006, 18:02

OK I did the line quality test.

And here are the results you've all been waiting for...

http://www.dslreports.com/quality/nil/1973964

Generally a pass, but no flying colours.

Punky - I will post back very soon when I have run those commands.

Thanks for the help

R

etccarmageddon

31-01-2006, 18:41

I have the same problems as you I'm on voip on 1mb and receiving sound is ok but people I ring say there is an echo and the quality is poor. even when I'm not surfing.

---------- Post added at 18:41 ---------- Previous post was at 18:35 ----------

here's some advice left on the other thread for you:-

If your VoIP adaptor (Linksys PAP2?) is using the g711 codec then you'll need 90kbps in either direction for it to work. This is 64kbps for the audio plus all the packet overheads added to that.

Switch your codec to something like G.729 as this only needs about 30kbps in each direction.

It'll also be worth doing a proper speed test on your link using something like ADSLGuide's website. I tested mine out the other week (1mbps down, 100kpbs up) & got a pathetic 56kpbs upstream speed. I could successfully place VoIP calls used G729 & QoS on my router prioritising VoIP traffic.

jonnycocacola

31-01-2006, 19:32

Punky

I did the command prompts you mentioned.

There was no loss when pinging either time.

Cannot cut and paste results from route trace, so will attach.

thanks

Graham M

31-01-2006, 19:34

No Packet Loss and the Ping Times are fine. I can't suggest anything?

punky

31-01-2006, 22:09

No Packet Loss and the Ping Times are fine. I can't suggest anything?

Me either... Faulty phone maybe?

rossco555

31-01-2006, 22:35

It might be a good idea to upgrade your Draytek Firmware, which may help to sort out your probs. Outbound VOIP on the1MB service was not good when I tried it...I upgraded to 2MB & the fluctuating voice/poor outbound speech got sorted when I upped the codec

etccarmageddon

01-02-2006, 08:24

I recon the 1mb upload speed is just too poor for the codec - when I'm feeling brave I'll try a test with that lower codec. I wouldnt think it's the firmware as I have the same problems but with a different hardware setup (linksys pap2).

"outbound voice quality is unusable." doesn't describe my line though - it's just embarrassing and people tell me I need to get my phone line fixed!

---------- Post added at 08:24 ---------- Previous post was at 08:13 ----------

now using G729a - the line appears to be lower quality but I'm not hearing any echo on it anymore.

jonnycocacola

04-02-2006, 11:53

Good news if anyone is still interested.

Problem solved with an upgrade to 2MB.

Thanks for all your help. :)

R