Ooma Placement Question

[thalaivar]

Folks,

I recently acquired an Ooma system and since then have been having voice quality issues with it. My setup is DSL Modem ---> Router ---> Switch ---> Switch ---> Hub.

My connect speeds as per the Verizon plan are 3Mbps down and 864kbps up. My speeds as measured by Speedtest are in the range of 2.73Mbps - 2.88Mbps down and 0.71Mbps - 0.78Mbps up.

Both the switches are Gigabit Ethernet switches. There is very limited traffic on the network inside the home as I am in the process of wiring up the entire house. The first switch is a D-Link DGS-2208 and the second one is a TrendNet S50-TXE.

All the connections are made over CAT-5e cable to make the best use of gigabit ethernet.

The outgoing traffic is not substantial as my spouse works from home 2 - 3 days a week. Irrespective of whether there is any VPN traffic or not the voice quality has issues like broken voice and sometimes low volume.

The router is a Buffalo WHR-G54S that has been flashed with Tomato 1.25 firmware.

My first question is, based on the layout given could my placement of the hub be the cause of my voice quality issues?

Secondly, I have also tried to do some basic QoS settings on the router but that has not helped.

Any pointers on what I am doing wrong would be greatly appreciated.

Attached is a screenshot of my QoS settings as done on the router.

[scottlindner]

Do you have your DSL modem in a bridged mode or is its router also enabled?

I don't see anything wrong with you configuration. I would suspect the QoS settings on your router. Can you post what settings you have made?

Scott

[murphy]

The first thing that I would try is to connect the hub directly to the router to get rid of the repeater delay of going through two switches.

[scottlindner]

Good point, start simple to isolate the problem first. I haven't had my first cup of coffee yet! :/

Scott

[thalaivar]

scottlindner,

The modem is a dumb device, nothing in it, no router or for that matter even a simple webserver.

The Buffalo on the other hand is the driver on the network, handing out DHCP addresses, allowing wireless plus the QoS.

murphy,

I thought of doing that but it means I have to kind of find a way to install the ooma in the basement as I have the modem hooked up to the telco line there. The idea was to get the whole house ready for VoIP.

[scottlindner]

The modem is a dumb device, nothing in it, no router or for that matter even a simple webserver.

The Buffalo on the other hand is the driver on the network, handing out DHCP addresses, allowing wireless plus the QoS.

Interesting. I was under the impression most DSL modems are actually routers. My DSL "modem" is a router. I disabled it when I put it in a bridged mode so I have only one router in the chain. What is the part number for the DSL modem that you have?

I thought of doing that but it means I have to kind of find a way to install the ooma in the basement as I have the modem hooked up to the telco line there. The idea was to get the whole house ready for VoIP.

I intend to do the same thing. What Murphy is suggesting is a test to isolate the problem, not how he intends you to keep your configuration permanently.

Scott

[thalaivar]

Scott,

My DSL modem dates back to 04/2003, at that time I do not think Verizon was giving out the combo devices. The model is a Westell Wirespeed. The part number is B90-210015-04.

I thought that Murphy was just trying to get to the root cause of the problem, but it came to me later on as soon as I completed replying.

[scottlindner]

Scott,

My DSL modem dates back to 04/2003, at that time I do not think Verizon was giving out the combo devices. The model is a Westell Wirespeed. The part number is B90-210015-04.

I thought that Murphy was just trying to get to the root cause of the problem, but it came to me later on as soon as I completed replying.

From looking at a user's guide for your DSL modem, it includes a router but so far I haven't found a way to disable it. If you go to the administration page for it and click on LAN Advanced, you'll find your local network configuration which includes DHCP configuration and NAT settings. This means it is providing a router. I haven't found any information on disabling the router yet. With my DSL "modem" the only way to disable it was to put in a fully bridged mode.

I ask because I have had troubles with cheap routers (actually a firmware problem) causing QoS problems with Ooma.

See if you can find a firmware update for the DSL modem, and hopefully there will be additional features to put it in a bridged mode so you can bypass the built in router. That would be a good first thing to look for.

Scott

[scottlindner]

I just looked at your settings after you updated the top post. Those are the exact settings to use, and using Tomato is a definite winner. One thing to consider is reducing your inbound and outbound max rates to 80% of the actual max rate. This will free up your router to improve the QoS.

It must be something else in your environment, not that router or your QoS settings.

Scott

[thalaivar]

I just looked at your settings after you updated the top post. Those are the exact settings to use, and using Tomato is a definite winner. One thing to consider is reducing your inbound and outbound max rates to 80% of the actual max rate. This will free up your router to improve the QoS.

It must be something else in your environment, not that router or your QoS settings.

Scott

If you have a soft copy of the manual for the modem, would you care to forward it to me. This will allow me to take a look at what exactly are the capabilities of this modem, some friends did tell me that this thing has a router built into it but I could not find a way to access it.