OBI202 and Port Forwading

[ChristyinManotick]

Hello everyone.

I've been using my Obi202 (voip.ms) for over a year now.  Pretty well up to speed on that aspect of it.  We starting with a NETFLIX subscription recently and now notice people have a hard time hearing us on the phone (when NETFLIX is streaming).  I figured it was a bandwidth issue by my provider (cable) says that I need to Port Forward from our Router.  Looking around the internet I can see how to setup for on-line computer streaming .. but not for my Obi.

We're configured ...
Thompson DCM476 Modem ---> Linksys EA3500 Router (Port 3) ---> Obi202

Other notes:
I use a computer hooked up directly to the Router to control the Router inputs.
I also use another separate computer hooked up to LAN port on the OBI to control the OBI inputs.
I can see the OBI IP and MAC addy via the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi setup portal. 

Any help would be greatly welcomed and appreciated.

Thank you.

Christy

[SteveInWA]

Hi Christy:

As you've discovered, streaming Netflix is hogging your broadband connection, which will cause dropouts on the real-time streaming used by VoIP services such as you are using with your OBi device.

The cable provider gave you incorrect advice.  You need to give priority to the OBi via a setting on your router.  Technically, it's known as "QoS" (Quality of Service), a technique which gives priority to traffic for device(s) you specify.  On your Linksys Smart WiFi portal, it's called "Media Prioritization".  Enable the feature on the router's portal page, and add your OBi as a priority device.

[ChristyinManotick]

Hello Steve and thank you for your quick reply.  I made the change as suggested and
tried a phone call.  No joy as it was still breaking up and the other end had difficulty hearing
me.  I tried with the base settings - downstream bandwidth 6248, WMM Support ON and No
Acknowledge OFF.  I also tried with the WMM support OFF.

Speedtest shows a Down of 5.38Mbps and an Up of 0.22Mbps with NETFLIX running.  I think
I might have to go to the next bandwidth upgrade (15 to 30).  Netflix is being streamed wireless
with no issues.  The Speedtest is done on my main computer that is hooked directly into the
router. 

What about a Cat 5 vs. Cat 5e cabling scenario?  Would having a Cat 5 cabling cause the slower
speeds/connectivity issues?

Christy

[SteveInWA]

Your issue has nothing to do with Ethernet cabling.  Cat5 cable, while obsolete, will generally support 100 Mbps, and if it was defective, you would experience other problems (total failure to connect, or horrible performance on Netflix).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable

VoIP conversations use about 80-90Kbps, well within your speed test.  However, that speedtest is pretty meaningless for VoIP, as it doesn't fully test nor display all the factors that impact VoIP traffic.

If you want to try a more accurate test, use the V.711 CODEC VoIP test here:  http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php

This test uses a Java applet to simulate a true, end-to-end SIP VoIP "conversation".  It reports the results using a telephone industry measurement called "Mean Opinion Score", or MOS.  A MOS of below 4.0 won't provide reliable results.  Try the test both with and without Netflix streaming running.

If you've got cable TV/Internet service, I'd suggest that you contact your cable company, and tell them that you're considering leaving, because their service is crappy.  If you are persistent in negotiating, they'll likely give you a free or discounted upgrade to the more-current level of service, which is much faster than what you've got now.  You also may need to buy a new cable modem to take advantage of the improvements.

[ChristyinManotick]

Hello Steve.

Thank you again for all of your help yesterday with tracking down my issue.

I could not run the visualware test as there was a missing plugin that was not
identified.  Also tried with Chrome (NPAPI) that seems to be discontinued.

I spoke again with my provider this afternoon and was presented with a test to measure if it
was the bandwidth -or - the router itself. 

I went ... Modem ---->  OBI202 ----(LAN)---> Wired Computer

Streamed NETFLIX and made a phone call with absolutely no issues.  Crystal clear
was the reply on the other end.  It probably helped that it was to a wired computer
and not a wireless laptop.

Because I'd prefer to have the OBI behind the router it looks like I'll be digging around to find
one with a few more bells and whistles.  The EA3500 I have now was selected for range plus
it had a dual input.

Steve, again thank you very much.

Christy

[lrosenman]

look at the ASUS RT-AC68U

[SteveInWA]

Hmm:

The test requires the Oracle Java plugin.  You didn't mention which browser you tried to use, but Chrome Browser versions 45 and newer now block all NPAPI plugins for security and stability reasons.  I suppose you could run the test using a different browser, such as Firefox, which would ask you permission to run the plugin.  

But anyhow, your reconfiguration of the OBi ahead of your LAN router was another way to give the OBi QoS priority (it does this itself, internally).

The problem is, that the built-in router in the 202 was designed before the broadband "speed wars" over the past couple of years resulted in broadband service now far surpassing the internal throughput ability of the OBi's built-in router.  Placing the OBi in front of your LAN will limit throughput to 30Mbps at best, or slower if you're on a phone call.  Since you only have 6Mbps internet service now, that's not an issue, but it is something to keep in mind if you upgrade your broadband service to say, 50Mbps.

Here's an excerpt from the OBi admin guide:

IP Routing Features
In router mode we refer to the network connected to the OBi Internet Port as the WAN side of the OBi202/OBi302, and the network connected to the OBi LAN Port the LAN side of the OBi. The WAN side may be connected to another Ethernet switch or directly to an access device such as a cable or DSL modem for Internet access. The OBi202/OBi302 routes traffic between the LAN side and the WAN side, thus allowing the devices (such as PCs) attached to the LAN side to share Internet access. The OBi202/OBi302 supports subnet masks as big as 255.255.255.0 to accommodate up to 253 IP addresses on its LAN side subnet.

In addition to being a NAT (Network Address Translation) router, the OBi202/OBi302 includes a DHCP server, a DNS forwarder and a basic firewall. It supports port forwarding, DMZ, QoS, and VLAN (802.1q). The maximum routing throughput between the WAN and the LAN side is approximately 30 Mbps.  This speed can be achieved when there are no active calls in the system. Otherwise the throughput will be limited to a slower speed to accommodate the load for voice processing. Note that if the WAN side is connected to an Internet access device directly, then the throughout could be further limited by the speed of the Internet uplink and downlink.

So, you can either leave it this way, or you spend money on a new router and new broadband service; your choice, but the EA3500 should have been able to properly handle QoS.  I have a newer model Linksys router, and it uses the same system to control QoS, so just buying a new model won't do anything for that particular issue.  If it were me, I'd negotiate with the cable company for better service.  6Mbps is now outdated for cable internet.