VOIP - Slows down connect?

I'm considering taking the plunge into VOIP (SunRocket's $199/year plan seems too good to be real). My main concern is how would the VOIP effect my Comcast High-Speed connection? Would it be noticeable, especially when downloading large files?

Reply to
Spiderman
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I have ATT callvantage (voip) and Comcast broadband: downloading is hardly affected, but it can be observed (slight drop during busy phone calls).

Reply to
Rick Merrill

There's unlikely to be any impact unless there's calls active. And when calls are active they do take up "some" bandwidth.

The bigger problem to watch out for is network congestion. If you want your calls to go through reliably then you need to be sure your upstream network isn't congested. Or that it takes efforts to properly prioritize VoIP calls over other network traffic. It does you no good whatsoever to have a high-speed local link if the upstream network can't pass you the traffic properly.

-Bill Kearney

Reply to
Bill Kearney

How much bandwidth is needed in both directions for most calls?

Reply to
Spiderman

It's not just about bandwidth, it's about latency. A wide pipe is useless if the packets get bogged down going from point to point. Your segment at the house being 'high speed' is worthless if the upstream network can't prioritize the traffic such that VoIP maintains a higher QoS (quality of service).

As for bits per second on the wire, it can vary depending on the codec being used. As much as 64k down to as little as 4k. Of course the audio quality degrades accordingly. And it's bidirectional, your speed in is just as important as your speed out.

A search on 'voip bandwidth' brings up several pages. Here's one:

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So what you really need to pay attention to is not just speed. You need to make sure your VoIP gateway is out there in front of anything else. If your cable modem already includes a firewall you may need to get a different one and reconfigure the modem to be just a dumb router. If your VoIP gateway gets the first crack at the wire then it can gobble up as much bandwidth as it needs. Your PC activities behind it will get less bandwidth, but only during active calls. That and a PC's demand on the bandwidth is much more capable of tolerating possible slow downs. A voice call and the quality loss is a lot less tolerant.

-Bill Kearney

Reply to
Bill Kearney

I received my SunRocket kit today. Installation was easy and the VOIP call quality is excellent! My Internet connection appears to be unaffected as well. I'm a very satisfied customer!

Reply to
Spiderman

Let us know how you like it as time goes on. I've been with them for about 15-15 months so far and am just now getting ready to renew my annual plan.

Reply to
ukcats4218016

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