OOMA Quality so much worse than ViaTalk

[ReedPhillips]

I'm beginning to regret the fact that my numbers are about to be ported. I have both ViaTalk and OOMA running behind my router. Viatalk sounds like a fiber optic call. OOMA sounds like a walkie-talkie. The latency is so bad I feel I must say "over" at the end of each thought. There must be a pause of 1-2 secs between speakers, just like a walkie-talkie.

I have TWC's fastest service in RDU, NC. But speed is not the issue. Latency is the issue.

My guess is that the OOMA servers are in CA. The ViaTalk servers are close to the backbone in DC.

I have seen this before. I worked out of my house for a company in CA. The ping plots showed that the hop from TX to CA jumped from 25ms to +95ms. This was very consistent and caused all kinds of problems with the CISCO phone.

I really like the OOMA packaging and the promise of easy to manage QOS. But until the SIP servers can respond to a decent ping rate, the voice quality will always be a problem.

If someone from OOMA will provide the IP of a OOMA server, I will gladly run a multi-day ping plot so you can see the results.

I would really like to keep this service, but I cannot continue to wrestle with such poor voice quality.

-reed

[WayneDsr]

Then your first move would be to call ooma Customer Support at 888-711-6662. They would be the only ones that can help fix your issue.
Open up a ticket hope for the best. I have great service in Indiana.

Wayne

[scottlindner]

Just recently I learned by example that "fastest service" does not necessarily come with a high quality of service. In fact, in my small circle of friends the guy with the slowest service by most measure had the highest quality of service.

Test your ISP performance for VoIP quality here and post the Green/Yellow/Red light results.
http://www.whichvoip.com/voip/speed_test/ppspeed.html

Cheers,
Scott

[ReedPhillips]

I am willing to stand corrected, but unless you run tests against the OOMA VPN servers, you are only guessing about forecasted performance. It is not a VOIP problem since I can place a great call with ViaTalk. It is all about the number of hops and the latency of each hop between my "hub" and the sip server.

I will call Support. I really like the OOMA support. They have been helpful on other topics. This is a very good company. I hope I can work this out.

-reed

[scottlindner]

I am willing to stand corrected, but unless you run tests against the OOMA VPN servers, you are only guessing about forecasted performance. It is not a VOIP problem since I can place a great call with ViaTalk. It is all about the number of hops and the latency of each hop between my "hub" and the sip server.

I will call Support. I really like the OOMA support. They have been helpful on other topics. This is a very good company. I hope I can work this out.

-reed

Who is your ISP provider? I wouldn't be surprised if they are "traffic shaping" to make their services look better and maybe they aren't catching ViaTalk?

I wonder if there is a performance test we can do to isolate where the problem is? I don't have any issues like you're reporting and based on your most recent post it sounds like this should affect everyone and not just you. In fact, I feel Ooma is better quality than my landline. There is less noise on it and there is absolutely no latency in the conversation with people. Just the other day I called my wife and she was checking the voice mail on her cell phone in her other ear while talking to me. I could hear every voicemail through Ooma, but I have never been able to even tell she was doing it through my traditional landline. So my point is... are you sure it's Ooma's servers, because if it is, I would expect all of us to be affected.

I hope customer service has a good solution for you.

Cheers,
Scott

[ReedPhillips]

I'm sorry, but I must not be communicating clearly. I do not believe it is the OOMA servers, but is the location of the OOMA servers, relative to the caller. Any VOIP provider could have the same issue. it all depends on the route of the packet between the "hub" and the sip server.

I ran a quick treaceroute on a couple of domains just to see what the numbers look like. I was told to have a good quality VOIP connect you need a latency of <80ms from my router (hub) to the sip server. I doubt that the following domains are hosted at the same physical location as the sip servers, but it is informative for this discussion.

viatalk.com
11 hops 57ms

omma.com
16 hops 137ms

As started earlier, I have no idea where my OOMA sip server(s) are located, but I believe I am experiencing a latency issue. If that can be resolved, I'm sure the voice quality will improve dramatically.

Time Warner could be shaping the traffic, since they do sell VOIP services and would like to discourage this type of connection. Only a technician will know for sure.

So, hopefully OOMA support can change the route of my hub to point to a server that is closer (Internet speaking).

If it is something else, I will let you know.

[scottlindner]

I'm with ya now. Maybe I wasn't paying attention good enough. It would be interesting to see a location and even an IP list for their SIP servers. I hadn't thought about it that way before.

Where are you located? Your first post said RDU, but I am not familiar with that acronym.

In in Colorado Springs and have impeccable service over Ooma.

Scott

[ReedPhillips]

OOMA support worked their magic and and the call quality dramatically improved. It is now as good or better than my previous provider. Thanks OOMA!

OOMA, you have my permission to remove this tread if you like.

-reed
(NC)

[scottlindner]

They should keep the thread as encouragement for anyone else that is discouraged.

Do you happen to know what they did to correct the problem?

BTW, as a very new Ooma owner this is very encouraging to hear.

Cheers,
Scott

[Luke]

I had a issue and called Ooma support and it was fixed in less than twenty four hours! The Ooma support Tech Bill was very helpful and the issue turned out to be at the Telco Switching site. If you have an issue Ooma Techs can help you.