Outgoing Voice Choppy

[rodan]

While I'm on the phone talking with people, a lot of time they complain of my voice sounding choppy.
It's rare when I hear their voices choppy, only happens on their end.
Immediately the thought is bandwidth/internet speed.

Some history: I've been using an Obi-100 for about two years.
For a year and a half, had GV for phone service.

Really hadn't had much issues with choppy voice, incoming or outgoing during that time.

Switched to PhonePower.  Worked great for about three months, then, the choppy voice problem developed. ( only on outgoing, the caller complains of my voice being choppy )

I called my ISP, they had not made any changes.
Called PP tech, they said nothing has changed on their end. 
They suggested modifying my DMZ and SIP settings on my router.

I enabled DMZ ( was disabled )
I disabled SIP  ( was enabled )

Rebooted the router, and then the Obi 100

This solved most of the outgoing choppy voice problem.  I only get it occasionally, now,
and, I think it may be I need to tweak those DMZ or SIP settings some more. Noticed there were some more fields in there. Just not sure which way to go.

Anyone know of any other settings I can change, in my router, or Obi?

[SteveInWA]

Hi:

You really shouldn't have to make any changes to your router, unless you are sharing the connection with someone (yourself included) who is using some application that is hogging upstream bandwidth, like uploading torrents or playing interactive games.

SIP ALG wouldn't cause choppy audio; it would cause one-way audio.  It should always be disabled on home routers.

Your problem is more likely either a bad internet connection, or poor service from PP.  You can troubleshoot this by using the VoIP simulator test on this website:

http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php

Select your location and use the G.711 codec, which is the most demanding of a quality internet connection.  The test will simulate an actual end-to-end VoIP conversation, and will show you a MOS score that reflects factors such as jitter, latency and drop-outs, in addition to raw speed.  This is the only valid test of an internet connection's suitability for VoIP -- sites like speedtest.net can't do this.  If your score is below 4.0, you will need to beat on your internet provider to fix their crappy service.  If your score is 4.0 or higher, and you continue to have problems, there is a small chance you have defective network hardware or cables, but more likely, it's PP's fault.

You may want to consider coming back to Google Voice, now that it is supported by OBi and Google.

[Mango]

Immediately the thought is bandwidth/internet speed.

Your first guess is very likely correct.  Some other internet-connected device on your home network is using too much bandwidth.  To confirm my guess, you can disable your router's wireless features, and unplug all wired internet devices except for your OBi.  If the problem is solved, you can configure your router's QoS features or upgrade to a better router that offers QoS such as any router with Tomato firmware.

It's also possible - but less likely - that your ISP is oversold in your area and is sporadically offering you low upload speeds.  You can test this by using speedtest.net or a similar tool throughout the day.  Minor fluctuations are normal, but if you have drastically changing upload speeds, report the problem to your ISP.  (Don't mention VoIP as it will give them an excuse not to solve the problem.)

Jitter (variation in ping time) is unlikely to be the cause of your problem as this would affect audio in both directions.

Called PP tech, they said nothing has changed on their end.  
They suggested modifying my DMZ and SIP settings on my router.

The tech you dealt with has no idea what they were talking about.  First of all, placing an OBi1 device in DMZ is a serious security risk.  OBi1 devices have no firewall, and placing them in DMZ disables the router's firewall, leaving the device vulnerable to hackers.  Just last week there was a post at DSLR by someone whose ATA was hacked when he placed it in DMZ.  DMZ should never be used with VoIP devices.

Not only is DMZ a security risk, placing your OBi in DMZ would not affect audio quality.  Likewise with SIP ALG.  Any improvement you noticed was coincidental.

[bluechip]

Does the "Oleg Method" take care of all DMZ security concerns?

"Oleg Method":
i.e., Voice Service
SP2 Service->X_InboundCallRoute:
{>'Insert your AuthUserName here':ph}

Question:
How is the "Oleg Method" applied to a Google Voice Service on SP1?
Would using a Google email address work?
i.e., {>abcdef@gmail.com:ph}

[Mango]

No, the Oleg Method does not address any security concerns.

The Oleg Method will prevent scanner traffic from making your phone ring.  It will not prevent the scanner traffic from arriving at the OBi.  The Oleg Method also will not secure the OBi's internal web server.  It is for convenience and not for security.

Since Google Voice does not use SIP, the Oleg Method is not required.

[bluechip]

Has anyone actually reported that their OBi100, OBi110, OBi200 or OBi202 (in DMZ + the Oleg SIP scanner protection method) was hacked (broken into), when they were NOT using either the default OBi password, or a very simple easy to guess password?

Thanks for any additional feedback.

[SteveInWA]

As Mango pointed out, ATAs should never be put in the DMZ.  There's no point to it.  Use the protection supplied by your router.