I have basic Basic 768Kbps DSL. Will an OBi 110 work with my internet?
Educated guess is that's pushing the limits.
Try all the tests here: http://voipqualitytest.com/ - It's sensitive to the Java version you use, but it's a very thorough test. Run it multiple times. Any one of the metrics flagged as red could cause issues, choppy sound, dropped calls, unintelligible conversation, etc.
Another test, make a phone call from within a browser on that network connection. Easiest way to do that is from a Google Gmail session. You do not need to sign up for a Google Voice number to make the outgoing call, look for the phone handset icon on the LH side -- the call will show as originating from Google's offices on Calif.
Quote from: Goose on October 02, 2014, 06:31:43 AM
I have basic Basic 768Kbps DSL. Will an OBi 110 work with my internet?
Though you wrote "DSL", do you have "ADSL"? The "A" stands for asymmetric, meaning that the up and down rates are different. Usually the down rate (data to you) is significantly higher than the up rate (data from you). However services as low as 768 kbit/s may well be symmetrical.
Needless to say, if the rates are different it is the lower one which will be critical for VoIP.
I used basic 768K ATT DSL from 2007 until about a year ago. As drgeoff posted though your upload speed is probably considerably lower than 768k so the only issue I ever ran into is if you do a lot of uploading large files and probably gaming would cause an issue. If you are streaming music or movies it might cause a problem as well. I never did either one and rarely uploaded anything. If you simply use your internet for surfing the web and don't have 5 or 6 computers/devices using the internet connection at the same time it should work fine. I upgraded to 1.5 M about a year ago and really don't see much difference.
A couple of years ago I had the AT&T 3Mbps ADSL and the actual speeds were 2.4-2.5Mbps. I often had problems with phone calls through the OBi110 (stuttering, fading in & out, etc.) when I downloaded large files at the same time. It's OK if I didn't do anything else during the calls. I bought a WD My Net HD Media switch (http://www.amazon.com/WD-My-Net-Switch-Ethernet/dp/B007KZQM8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412473396&sr=8-1&keywords=wd+my+net+switch) and it helped very much.
I used to use ADSL with two voip lines and a number of people browsing. Bandwidth was 2.8M down and I think around 700K up. I didn't have any issues with the voip service on the Obi but the Oooma required more bandwidth. I set up Qos with the router to guarantee enough bandwidth for the Ooma and this solved the problem. Qos will guarantee enough bandwidth for the phone at the expense of bandwidth for all other devices.
Quote from: sailing on October 06, 2014, 04:23:10 AM
Qos will guarantee enough bandwidth for the phone at the expense of bandwidth for all other devices.
This.
I really don't recommend using QoS on consumer-grade home routers, as most will just carve out some of your precious and limited upstream bandwidth. It's best to try to solve the problem by just limiting the use of other things on the network that are sending lots of data, when you are making phone calls. Of course, upgrading service, if possible, would be the best solution :-*
Lots of different opinions expressed here. Which is good. However, IMO, the VOIP Quality test will tell all you need to know. And it's not based on anyone individual's subjective experience.
I agree that a VOIP quality test is the first thing to do. If you get a good result with nothing else using bandwidth, then your line is good for VOIP but the result may be misleading. You will need to rerun the test while using bandwidth. (Download a file or YouTube video). If the quality is then poor, then you know you cannot use bandwidth while on the phone.
It is my understanding that QOS does not restrict bandwidth if you are not using the phone. It just guarantees the phone will have whatever the allocated bandwidth is when the phone is in use. If you do use QOS with only 768Kbps, you will see all non-phone internet activity slow when on the phone.