Call Quality Slidder

[ram104]

I too am interested in this bandwidth modification. I still get inconsistent call quality. Just a few minutes ago somone had called me and the call on there end was choppy and scratchy. I had to hang up and call them back. I check my broadband speed with the following results:


I think alot of it has to do with Comcast.
Hopefully things will get better.

[WayneDsr]

Just to give you an example, my ooma works great. No noise at all.
With my router I am able to see a graph of the actual bandwidth.
Attached is a clip.
The first "bump" was a short call, then hang up. The next increase is a long call. As you can see both upload (red) and download (blue) is well under 73k. ooma shouldn't be taking mbits of bandwidth!

Wayne

[Crazypinoy9]

So I'm a new owner of an ooma system and installed it a few hours ago. I gotta say that I'm so dissappointed so far with call quality. Like many of you, anyone that I call gets a static noise every time I say something. I have the 20/5 package from Verizon so there is absolutely no way that it could be my service provider. I've tried the suggested installation method in the book, as well as installing the hub behind my router (I turned off the wireless function from the verizon modem/router so I can use my Dlink DIR-855). I'm gonna call them in the morning and I better get some answers.

[mthomtech]

So I'm a new owner of an ooma system and installed it a few hours ago. I gotta say that I'm so dissappointed so far with call quality. Like many of you, anyone that I call gets a static noise every time I say something. I have the 20/5 package from Verizon so there is absolutely no way that it could be my service provider. I've tried the suggested installation method in the book, as well as installing the hub behind my router (I turned off the wireless function from the verizon modem/router so I can use my Dlink DIR-855). I'm gonna call them in the morning and I better get some answers.

Are you using the phone from the hub or scout? I also have the same bandwith w/ Verizon. When I connected to the hub is was much better. That may help.

[Timothy]

Crazypinoy9 and WayneDsr, Regarding the Scout..this is exactly the problem all of us on this thread are having issues with regardless our connection, QOS setup or wiring. We are hoping our Mods at Ooma will chime in confirming they are aware of this problem.

Second problem you may notice is that calling into the Ooma Hub the call quality is simular to cell phone (calling in from a landline.) Seems that the phones connected to the Ooma devices quality is fine however the quality on the end that made the call into Ooma is where the quality is near cell phone quality. From a previous note from Mojo there will be an enhancement to allow additional bandwidth. Not sure if that means more bandwidth being provided or just set aside bandwidth for various devices on the network.

Do the both of you agree with this?

[WayneDsr]

I'm not sure, Timothy. I have great audio from both my hub and phone on my scout. I have them connected to each other, not through house wiring.
Calls in are just a clean. I think it has a lot to do with ooma's partner providers along the way. If you'll notice in the forums, some have issues with echo, some with drop outs and some with static. I have none of those issues and I'm using about the same equipment as all of you with issues. I don't have huge amounts of bandwidth with my dsl with only 631k upload and 5 mbits download, even with lots of network traffic. ooma only uses about 48kbit on the upstream, very little.

My ooma hub is connected into my Linksys like a pc.

I've adjusted my QOS (with tomato software in the Linksys) to give the ooma priority over everything else on the network just in case, but I had no call quality issues before I did this unless someone was uploading very large files. (or file sharing) I have 6 pc's on my network some wireless, some hard wired.

I'm sure there are lots of people that are as lucky as me, you aren't going to find them in the forums because they simply have no issues.

Hope everything eventually gets fixed for you!

Wayne

[Crazypinoy9]

Yes, as I've stated in my previous post I seem to be having the same issues that everyone is having.
To answer the other gentleman's question, yes, I'm currently connected to the hub. I don't have the scout installed because I don't need it.
This is just very frustrating because I never had any issues with Vonage. Their call quality was excellent...for both the caller AND the recipient.

So far I've been on hold with customer service for about 20 mins.

*Update*
So After about 30 mins on hold I finally got a service rep on the line. I explained to him the situation and surprise surprise, he didn't sound like he even knew what the heck was goin on. The only suggestions he could come up with were configuring QOS and checking my bandwidth...I told him that I spent at least an hour messing with different numbers in the QOS with no success and there's no way there is a problem with my bandwidth. I guess I really don't blame him though because ooma should be training their customer support better. OH! I almost forgot! I asked him about how firmware updates are applied to the hub; if it's applied by them automatically or I have to download and apply it myself. He told me to check the forums. WOW.

[mthomtech]

Hey Crazypinoy9. Don't give up yet. The cost savings over Vonage are too good to pass up if we can get through these initial bumps in the road. My vonage also didn't have the crackle that we are experiencing.

Myself, Timothy and ram102 all experienced more crackle from the scout. ram102 previously posted the same experience from both the hub and scout, but after unplugging everything and then setting it up and re-powering, the hub sounded better.

Mojo announced an enhancement coming next month to increase the ooma call reserve bandwith. As Timothy mention, we're notcompletely sure that this will fix the problem, but it's coming.

Can you tell us a little more about your setup? You mentioned that you tried putting the hub before and after the router ... which did you settle on? I assume you have Verizon FiOS ... you happen to have the same bandwith package as I do. I ended up putting the hub after the router given that we have plenty of bandwith to work with.

How do you have the phone wiring hooked up to the phone? Did you use the house wiring or plug the phone directly into the hub?

[RCH]

I might give my two cents on the quality issue. I had Vontage and now have been using OOMA for about 5 weeks. The only problem I have had is that my caller ID is still not showing my name, but the call quality is 100% better than what I was getting with vontage. I call my wife each day from work and it sounds like we are in the same room. She has remarked several times how much she likes the sound quality better than vontage. My mother-in-law has also commented and is now interested in getting an OOMA. I am on Comcast cable and have the old 10/1. I didn't install according to the manual as I needed to connect the Hub after my router. I did buy a new Linksys router that allowed me to set the QoS and I set it for audio at 384kb. I have the phone out connection going to my wall plate for the phones and upstairs I connect a cordless answering machine to the wall plug upstairs.(I am using the house wiring to distribute the OOMA phone out connection) Connecting to the cordless answering machine allows my to use the 7 cordless phones that I currently own. I haven't used the scout yet, but might in the next couple of weeks. But, I mainly just wanted to say, that so far in my use, the call quality has been exceptional. Even better than my old line line, which always had static on the line.

RCH

[Bobby B]

Myself, Timothy and ram102 all experienced more crackle from the scout. ram102 previously posted the same experience from both the hub and scout, but after unplugging everything and then setting it up and re-powering, the hub sounded better.

Does the cackle occur when you connect the Scout directly to your Hub (i.e. sit the Scout next the Hub, and connect the WALL port on both devices via a regular phone cable). If you're not hearing cackling when they're connected back to back, then there might be some interference with your home phone wiring.

Also, are you running DSL in your home?