OBi202 - Upstream or downstream of router?

[Standroid]

Yes, I'm a Nubee. Yes, I've searched the forum. Yes, I'm still confused!

Current topology: Wisp CPE (like a cable modem) -> Router (Netgear R6300) -> a variable population (10-15) of wired and wifi devices.

Question: Is it better to install the OBi202 upstream, (a) between the CPE and the Router or to install it downstream, (b) as yet another wired device off of the router?

To realize the benefit of the OBi202s QoS feature, doesn't it have to be (a) between the CPE and the Router? Is QoS important to voice quality?

All of the simplistic illustrations in the OBi documentation seem to show (b) as yet another wired device off of the router. Why?

If the OBi202 is installed (a) between the CPE and the Router, how do I address the OBi202 web interface from a web client that is downstream of the router?

In either case, what non-default setting are needed? Can I just plug it in and expect it work?

Thanks,

Stan

[drgeoff]

Normally, a lot depends on the bit rate you can get and want from your internet connection.  As a router the 202 has a rather low throughput - about 30 Mbit/s.

The 202 QoS facilities can only help significantly with lack of bit rate in the direction from you to the internet.  And yes, all your other devices must be fed from the 202's LAN socket to effectively use the 202's QoS.

However in your case, although I have never used a Netgear R6300, it appears to have user configurable QoS settings so I would suggest using them and not placing the 202 between modem and Netgear. (But again the QoS is really only controlling outgoing traffic.)

If you place the 202 downstream of your Netgear router you can access its local GUI from other computers on that router's subnet by either of:

1.  Putting the 202 into bridge mode.  It then acts as a 3 port ethernet switch with no QoS.  The two ethernet jacks become equivalent.  The third port has the OBi's internals on it.  Set this from the GUI or by dialling ***0 then 30# and follow the directions.

or

2.  Configuring access to the GUI from the WAN socket.  This can be done from the 'System Management', 'Device Admin' page.  Enable 'AccessFromWan'.  Or do it from a phone by dialling ***0 then 31# and follow directions.

[Standroid]

Thank you! That was very helpful.

Yes, the R6300 does indeed offer all the QoS tools I need to give the OBi202 "highest" priority when connected downstream of the router. It was off in a corner of the advanced setup that I had not visited before. That and the ease of accessing the OBi202 UI would certainly seem to make the downstream location best.

I may have more questions in 24 hours - that's when my OBi202 is due to arrive by UPS!

Thanks again,

Stan

[restamp]

I've got a fairly configurable router.  It can easily be programmed to give priority to SIP packets.  The problem with this is that while this helps VoIP traffic, it does not benefit Google Voice/XMPP.  (I don't know what the 202 does in this regard.)  In any event, not all voice traffic benefits from most routers' SIP-priority settings.

Personally, I've configured my router to give precedence to all UDP traffic and any packets originating from one of my OBi boxes.  UDP traffic and OBi boxes have never presented a significant traffic burden on my pipe to my ISP.

To be honest, in my case it is largely academic:  Before I did this, I did not notice a problem with delayed packets in VoIP or GV calls, and I have not noticed any difference since.  But perhaps one day it will prove its utility.

[Standroid]

One of the options for QoS settings in the R6300 is to base the priority on MAC address. The OBi202 has a unique MAC address - seems like a no brainer. Is there any reason not to go this route?

Stan

[drgeoff]

Is there any reason not to go this route?

No

[Standroid]

Thanks again,

Stan