DHCP and QOS

[tebbens]

My network setup....

ISP is Optimum Online Boost (aprox 32Mbps down, 4.5Mbps up)
Cable-Modem > Cisco 1811 > Ooma > Laptop

Can I turn off Ooma's DHCP ?
Would like my 1811 to assign the laptop IP address.

QOS on your HUB just isn't working correctly.
(I tested this while placing calls on Ooma)
With default setting of 384k-UP, I get less bandwidth then if I turn
both Up & Down off with 0, 0. Infact, if I set the correct numbers
in Ooma, 4000 up and 30000 down, my laptop bandwidth drops to
almost nothing.

I'm going to video this and post somewhere here.

Matthew

[Bobby B]

Hi Matthew,

Unfortunately there isn't a way to disable the DHCP settings on the ooma Hub. You can set static IP addresses for your laptop, but I don't think that's what you're looking for.

In your case, I'd probably just connect both the ooma Hub and laptop directly to 1811 and setup QoS on the 1811. The Cisco 1811 has some advanced QoS settings (LLQ or priority queue) that we can use to prioritize traffic from ooma over your laptop traffic.

I'd definitely be willing to help you out configuring the QoS on the 1811 - just let me know.

By chance, do you know what bandwidth speed you were seeing when the upstream QoS bandwidth was set to 384kbps and you had an active call going?

Thanks,
Bobby

[tebbens]

Hi Matthew,

Unfortunately there isn't a way to disable the DHCP settings on the ooma Hub. You can set static IP addresses for your laptop, but I don't think that's what you're looking for.

In your case, I'd probably just connect both the ooma Hub and laptop directly to 1811 and setup QoS on the 1811. The Cisco 1811 has some advanced QoS settings (LLQ or priority queue) that we can use to prioritize traffic from ooma over your laptop traffic.

I'd definitely be willing to help you out configuring the QoS on the 1811 - just let me know.

By chance, do you know what bandwidth speed you were seeing when the upstream QoS bandwidth was set to 384kbps and you had an active call going?

Thanks,
Bobby

Hi Bobby!

When I built the house I never though I would need more then 1 Ethernet
port next to my bed. That location has my phone and the Ooma HUB,
and I like using my laptop in the master bedroom area. I usually go wireless
but I thought it would be interesting to test out the bandwidth through
the Ooma HUB to my Laptop. I disable the Laptop wireless before testing.

Results:
--------
ISP = Optimum Online Boost.
Advertisied Speeds are 30Mbps Down & 5Mbps Up.

To & Through Ooma HUB (CAT5e rated wire & ports)
------------------------
CableModem (SBV5120) > Cisco 1811 > Ooma HUB > Laptop

All the results below are started and taken AFTER connected call to my VM.
I hang up and wait 30secs before the next call.

The first line of each set are the Settings I put in the Ooma HUB.
The results are from http://nyc.speakeasy.net in kbps.

0d / 0u
------------
32434 / 4535
33283 / 4494
33299 / 5059
33438 / 4578

0d / 384u
----------
7748 / 209
7765 / 209
7714 / 208
7688 / 210


33000d / 4500u
------------
18514 / 3542
18488 / 3534
18486 / 3529
18482 / 3492

0d / 384u
------------
7766 / 203
7769 / 210
8037 / 204
7771 / 209

0d / 0u
------------
31746 / 4672
31336 / 5162
31605 / 4479
31056 / 4362

Its very interesting to see that the DEFAULT Ooma HUB settings have the
worst results. Using the correct settings have better results. Completely
disabling QOS have the best results. Using QOS for someone who
doesn't have enough bandwidth to cover Ooma and everything else on their
network might work out better, but for me the results show that your
QOS settings are just not working correctly.

Matthew

[Bobby B]

Hi Matthew,

Interesting results. I did some tests this morning to see if I could reproduce some of these results. First, when configuring 384 Kbps, it is normal to see a ~160 kbps drop in your upstream speed only when you're on an active call (I used speedtest.net and got about the same ~210 kbps in the upstream direction). The ooma Hub allocates ~128 Kbps of this 160 Kbps for calls, voicemail retrieval and other voice functions. Just a FYI also - this 128 kbps bandwidth allocation value was chosen so the ooma system could handle multiple phone calls and voice functions all at the same time without affecting the quality.

The ~40 Kbps is used as a “buffer” to slightly underestimate the bandwidth available because upstream bandwidth can be variable with certain internet connections. If you know your bandwidth is going to be constant (say with a dedicated T1 line), you can work around this 40 Kbps buffer by configuring the QoS to be 424 Kbps (384+40).

I can't quite explain the downstream results you were seeing, especially with the 0d/384u case. I used an upstream Cisco router to artificially rate-limit my downstream traffic in the range of 1.6 Mbps - 5.5 Mbps and didn't notice any affect on my downstream download rate when I was on an active call. I'll need to run some additional tests on a faster downstream connection. I will let you know what I find.

Thanks!
Bobby