Echoey Calls

A couple of times now the person at the other end of one of my VoIP to
PSTN calls has complained that the line seemed "echoey" and prone to
breaking up. All seemed fine at my end. My broadband supplier is
Telewest/Blueyonder, if that makes any difference...

I'm using a Sipura 2100 (that's the "router" one with 2 ethernet ports)
with QoS set to TBF (as recommended by Sipura), otherwise the set-up is
as for a Sipura 2000. Anything I can alter or tweak to improve things?

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Dave Gill wrote:
> A couple of times now the person at the other end of one of my VoIP to
> PSTN calls has complained that the line seemed "echoey" and prone to
> breaking up. All seemed fine at my end. My broadband supplier is
> Telewest/Blueyonder, if that makes any difference...
>

What speed is your broadband? I had 512k dl (256k up) adsl and had
similar issues as you describe. When i upgraded to 1mb the problem
seems to have disappeared. The problem was most noticeable when my
other pc was checking for new mail.

Also,
Do you know what codecs you are using?
Who is supplying your voip service?

davew <daviey.walker*SPAM*virgin.net> wrote:

> What speed is your broadband? I had 512k dl (256k up) adsl and had
> similar issues as you describe. When i upgraded to 1mb the problem
> seems to have disappeared. The problem was most noticeable when my
> other pc was checking for new mail.

It's 512 down/128 up but that should be OK with QoS/little other traffic
on the line.

> Do you know what codecs you are using?

Preferred is G711u with the usual range of others available (standard
set-up).

> Who is supplying your voip service?

Seems to be happening on more than one service. :-/

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"Dave Gill" <spam-egg-chips-n-spam@spamsoff.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1h0aqyn.1wijfxg17hossN%spam-egg-chips-n-spam@spamsoff.co.uk...
> davew <daviey.walker*SPAM*virgin.net> wrote:
>
> > What speed is your broadband? I had 512k dl (256k up) adsl and had
> > similar issues as you describe. When i upgraded to 1mb the problem
> > seems to have disappeared. The problem was most noticeable when my
> > other pc was checking for new mail.
>
> It's 512 down/128 up but that should be OK with QoS/little other traffic
> on the line.
>

Hi.

No that wont be good enough for G711, You cannot expect to use near 100%,
which is what you are doing. Try using G729 or GSM, or get a better upload
speed.

Sorry to say expecting G711 to work reliably is out of the question.

Ian

"Ian" <spam"AT"bathfordhill.co.uk> wrote in message
news:11ec11p55tp779c@corp.supernews.com...
>
> "Dave Gill" <spam-egg-chips-n-spam@spamsoff.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:1h0aqyn.1wijfxg17hossN%spam-egg-chips-n-spam@spamsoff.co.uk...
> > davew <daviey.walker*SPAM*virgin.net> wrote:
> >
> > > What speed is your broadband? I had 512k dl (256k up) adsl and had
> > > similar issues as you describe. When i upgraded to 1mb the problem
> > > seems to have disappeared. The problem was most noticeable when my
> > > other pc was checking for new mail.
> >
> > It's 512 down/128 up but that should be OK with QoS/little other traffic
> > on the line.
> >
>
> Hi.
>
> No that wont be good enough for G711, You cannot expect to use near 100%,
> which is what you are doing. Try using G729 or GSM, or get a better upload
> speed.
>
> Sorry to say expecting G711 to work reliably is out of the question.
>
> Ian
>

For the record, the G729 codec will work fine on a 512/128 connection, I
only have a 300/64k cable conection (as its free with the phone line) and
VOIP works fine and reliably over that with the G729 codec. At another house
where I use the VOIP adaptor there its s 2Mb/200k connection, and I still
use G729 codec as G711 takes up too much bandwidth and jitters alot if my
computer tried to do anything. G729 isnt as good quality, although its
comparable to GSM which I thinks fine, and everyone I call have better
things to do than to listen closely to the quality of the line to see if it
sounds like a mobile or fixed line!

If it isnt a bandwidth issue, have you a faulty handset that leaks some of
the output to the mic/mic circuit? It might not have been noticable when it
was plugged into PSTN, as theres not any lag, and most fixed line phones
play your voice through the earpiece when you talk (so having it relayed to
you instantaneously would sound normal over PSTN), but now that theres the
0.5s ishdelay with VOIP it might be apparent. Try a different handset? If if
its a cordless phone and it has an exceptionally loud earpiece setting then
the mic could be picking that up and retransmitting it (again now with the
noticable delay).

Alex

Dave Gill wrote:
> A couple of times now the person at the other end of one of my VoIP to
> PSTN calls has complained that the line seemed "echoey" and prone to
> breaking up. All seemed fine at my end. My broadband supplier is
> Telewest/Blueyonder, if that makes any difference...
>
> I'm using a Sipura 2100 (that's the "router" one with 2 ethernet ports)
> with QoS set to TBF (as recommended by Sipura), otherwise the set-up is
> as for a Sipura 2000. Anything I can alter or tweak to improve things?
>

I'm not sure about the echo (which can have a multitude of causes), but
QoS is only going to give priority amongst the packets leaving your
router. If you're not using an uncontended (1:1) ADSL connection, you're
going to hear distortions (drops, etc) in the sound path. G711 is likely
to be degraded more than some compressed codecs because of the higher
bandwidth requirement.

jd

John Daragon <john@argv.co.uk> wrote:

> I'm not sure about the echo (which can have a multitude of causes), but
> QoS is only going to give priority amongst the packets leaving your
> router. If you're not using an uncontended (1:1) ADSL connection, you're
> going to hear distortions (drops, etc) in the sound path. G711 is likely
> to be degraded more than some compressed codecs because of the higher
> bandwidth requirement.

I've taken a couple of suggestions on board, to use G729 codec and to
lower the handset volume. Things do seem to be better, although we
haven't had enough calls to know for sure. I notice the handset volume
has crept back up a bit, so I'm hoping the solution was in the codec...

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To help the echoing, turning down earpiece volume on your handset can help.

Some lound people can hear themselves, so turning it down helps

(well i've found this!)