Optimal settings for Netgear rounter? (WNDR3700)

[turnstyle]

Hi all,

Are there any recommended settings for use with a Netgear WNDR3700 (or similar) router?

Meaning, any settings either for my Obi and/or for my router that would optimize call quality?

(I was just on a call, the caller sounded fine to me, but she said I was a bit stuttery.)

Thanks!

[lhm.]

Trigger ports 16600 ~ 16798 also 5060~5100 ports= both or UDP (not TCP only)

[RonR]

Trigger ports 16600 ~ 16798 also 5060~5100 ports= both or UDP (not TCP only)

If you're going to forward ports, it should be straight port forwarding, not triggered port forwarding:

SIP ports used are : 5060 - 5061

RTP ports used are : 16600 - 16998

[turnstyle]

Thanks for the replies, but I guess I'm not much of a router admin -- could you perhaps give me a bit more of an understanding? Thanks again!

[QBZappy]

turnstyle,

This might help you.

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Netgear/WNDR3700/default.htm

[turnstyle]

Thanks, so to forward the ports, I would need to know the IP address of the Obi?

Stepping back, to what extent does this generally improve performance?

[RonR]

The IP address of the OBi can be obtained by dialing ***1.

Forwarding ports probably won't help with the 'stuttery' issue you mentioned.  You can determine whether your router is contributing to this problem by temporarily conecting the OBi directly to your broadband modem, removing the router from the picture.  Power-cycle both the modem and the OBi after making this connection.  If the problem goes away, then your router is likely at fault.  If the problem doesn't change, then your router is probably not part of this issue.

[Everton]

At the time you were on the phone, do you know if a PC on your LAN was being used and possibly downloading/uploading any data?  You could have a QoS (Quality of Service) issue, where other devices on your LAN are "hogging" your available bandwidth.  What is your Download/Upload speeds from your ISP?  You should also do a Line test to see if there is any Line Quality issues (High Packet Loss, Jitter, Latency , etc.).

[turnstyle]

Thanks, so I could:

1) Disconnect my router from my incoming broadband, and instead plug the broadband line directly into the Obi, and reboot Obi.

If I still have a stuttering problem after that, it could be the broadband service (I gather Google Voice on Obi is expected to sound fairly similar to a conventional phone line?).

Or, if the stuttering problem then goes away, it would sound like the router could be the problem, and I should next:

2) Try messing with port forwarding.

Is that the logical plan?

[tome]

Thanks, so I could:

1) Disconnect my router from my incoming broadband, and instead plug the broadband line directly into the Obi, and reboot Obi.

If I still have a stuttering problem after that, it could be the broadband service (I gather Google Voice on Obi is expected to sound fairly similar to a conventional phone line?).

Or, if the stuttering problem then goes away, it would sound like the router could be the problem, and I should next:

2) Try messing with port forwarding.

Is that the logical plan?

Port forwarding is a red herring in terms of call quality.  Quality (or lack thereof) is a function of traffic congestion and dropped packets from the Obi device all the way to the destination phone. 

Try #1 above, if the problem goes away (your ISP, or your bandwidth to the ISP, is not at fault) then you want to set your router's QOS settings.  QOS settings let you prioritize traffic based on different criteria (like port, or data size, etc).  In other words you can configure your router to handle the voice traffic first, throttling large file transfers and other traffic if need be.   I believe the router you have has a QOS setting in it's menus.

Tom

[turnstyle]

Thanks again, so I'll try the Obi in front of the router -- sounds like a good test.

If you have a sec to clarify:

1) In which circumstances might port forwarding help?

2) Regarding QOS, is that an on/off type thing, or do I have to configure QOS for the Obi? If so, any pointers on that?

Kindly appreciated!

[tome]

Thanks again, so I'll try the Obi in front of the router -- sounds like a good test.

If you have a sec to clarify:

1) In which circumstances might port forwarding help?

First, the question someone was answering when they suggested port forwarding, was I think, "Are there any recommended settings for use with a Netgear WNDR3700..."  That is a separate question from call quality.

Port forwarding can be helpful/essential when you (or someone else) are trying to make a connection between a device behind your router and the Internet.  Your router has an address that is "public" and reachable via the internet.  When you have a device behind the router like the Obi and want to connect to it from the outside, or establish a connection to a service like a web server that is inside your network for example, you need your router to forward the incoming traffic to the appropriate device inside your network and this is done based on the ports contained in the datagrams that define the service the traffic is bound for.

So, the suggestion is that you set up your router so that any incoming traffic to your public IP address bound for SIP (ports 5060 thru 5061) and RTP (ports 16600 thru 16998) are forwarded to the IP address of your Obi.
The Netgear forwarding menus may or may not have SIP and/or RTP already defined.  If they are you select the protocol (SIP or RTP) and enter the IP address of the Obi on your network.  If you have to define a custom service (because SIP and/or RTP are not already in the list), you name it "SIP" or "RTP" (which is just a label), set the protocol to TCP/UDP (for SIP), or UDP (for RTP) and define the port ranges above, and then add the address of the Obi.

There is also triggered port forwarding where a device inside your network connects to a device on the Internet initiating the connection before the port is open.  There are other differences between triggered and regular port forwarding but they aren't important to this conversation.  Triggered port forwarding isn't what you want with the Obi, because you want the call to come in from the outside without any action from a device inside your network.
 

2) Regarding QOS, is that an on/off type thing, or do I have to configure QOS for the Obi? If so, any pointers on that?

Kindly appreciated!

You first turn on QOS, then you define a rule.  Look at the QOS section of the manual:
ftp://downloads.netgear.com/files/WNDR3700_UM_16OCT2009.pdf

Looks like, from a quick read, that you can either define it based on a Mac Address (You can find the Mac address of the Obi from System Status page), or from the physical port on the router something is plugged into, or by Application - some are probably already defined and you can look for voice or voip or you can define your own based on ports (SIP and RTP).

If the QOS software in the Netgear is sound (some is, some isn't) it wouldn't hurt to enable it regardless of the question of ISP bandwidth/quality (though you need to address that if it is a problem) because you don't want voice traffic to have to compete with large file transfers, streaming video, or other things that might be going on on your network at any given time.

Tom

PS:  there is a whole other discussion that can be had about whether or not port forwarding is even needed for most people (I claim it probably isn't) but it also isn't a terrible thing to do - though it does open up another window for hackers.

PPS: there is also another conversation about the fact that the Obi is, by default, getting an IP address via DHCP.  That address can change and therefore your port forwarding would no longer be correct.  With port forwarding you either want to use static IP addresses, or you want to set up DHCP such that the Obi is always assigned the same address.  You can do that on most routers by setting up a dhcp rule that ties that address to the mac address of the obi.

[turnstyle]

Wow, thank you. That was a very generous post. Thank you again.

So does this mean that if my Obi is already capable of placing/receiving calls, then there isn't really much reason to bother with port forwarding? (ie, port forwarding isn't likely to *improve* quality -- and since I would also have to make sure the Obi gets a static IP, I'm gathering it's just too much trouble?)

Thanks also for pointing me to some notes on QOS -- it seems like this is the first point of attack (unless the problem is with my ISP).

[tome]

Wow, thank you. That was a very generous post. Thank you again.

So does this mean that if my Obi is already capable of placing/receiving calls, then there isn't really much reason to bother with port forwarding? (ie, port forwarding isn't likely to *improve* quality -- and since I would also have to make sure the Obi gets a static IP, I'm gathering it's just too much trouble?)

Setting up static addressing isn't very difficult, but it isn't plug and play either, I guess.

Yes.  If you are using a service like Google Voice and/or subscribed voip providers, the Obi is already registered with them and port forwarding is not typically needed. 

If you have multiple Obis (or you want to offer or use friend's Obis to do toll bypass) then port forwarding comes into play.  The true power of SIP is that you can call SIP addresses like phone numbers from the old days and it just works.  That works if someone can initiate a SIP session directly with your Obi - and that only works if the ports are forwarded.  If you end up with SIP addresses you use, and friends that have SIP addresses then you may want to set up port forwarding.  Port forwarding will not improve quality (unless you define quality as being able to receive a call on the Obi directly from someone with a SIP address).

Thanks also for pointing me to some notes on QOS -- it seems like this is the first point of attack (unless the problem is with my ISP).

Well, I would say it differently.  IMHO, you should enable QOS.  BUT you should definitely make sure you have adequate bandwidth and that the ISP isn't misbehaving regardless.

Tom