[kwlug-disc] [OT] QOS router

[John Van Ostrand]

----- Original Message -----
> Can anyone give me some guidance on a QOS engine? I've got a Dlink QOS
> router with the QOS running so that my voip calls take preference. But
> it doesn't work worth a darn. Anyone doing any uploads/downloads makes
> my calls choppy. I think even my kids playing on XBOX live make it
> choppy.
> 
> I've got traffic shaping, dynamic fragmentation, qos engine, and
> automatic classification all enabled in the router. Seems like the
> router should take it from there? I can do manual settings if needed,
> but not sure I should have to.

As I understand it (but have not practised it) QoS is an Ethernet thing. So you would use QoS on your LAN switch to prioritise traffic. QoS on switches is generally unneeded in small offices. On your router you need to traffic shape. I suppose a router could recognize QoS in an Ethernet packet and prioritize the packet going out.

The problem is that you can't prioritize the incoming packets, at least not in a useful way.

So if the remote end of your calls says that you sound fine, your QoS and traffic shaping are probably working correctly or not needed at all.

If you find that the remote end breaks up, then you may have incoming traffic shaping problems.

Only your ISP can be effective at shaping incoming traffic. I only know of one that provides automatic VoIP traffic shaping, that's Unlimitel. I'm sure there are others.

-- 
John Van Ostrand 
CTO, co-CEO 
Net Direct Inc. 
564 Weber St. N. Unit 12, Waterloo, ON N2L 5C6 
Ph: 866-883-1172 x5102 
Fx: 519-883-8533 

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