[nflug] Verizon DSL line VOIP (general comments)

[JJ Neff]

> I got the $199 package (and a promotion that expired on 3/20 that gives 
> me 3 free extra months at the end of the 12 months!)


> They sent me a box that hooks up between my DSL modem and my computer.  
> They tell me I can connect up to three phones to it (like extensions on 
> a regular phone).



> I just got my DSL, Firefox, and Thunderbird all working last night 
> (under Windoze) and hope to get the phone working later today.  I'm new 
> to VoIP, so I'm not clear on the rest of your question.

QOS or quality of Service means you are guaranteeing that service (the VOIP
traffic in this instance) a minimum data rate.  If you start doing torrents or
other stuff the VOIP traffic is supposed to be set to a higher priority so it's
packets get through.  I found the QOS setting did almost nothing on my Linksys.
 I use my own wireless router to connect to Broadband and then hang my Vonage
router off it just as another router.  The Vonage router thinks that my private
192.168 network is the internet and jsut grabs an IP from DHCP.  When I had the
Linksys VOIP box as the 1st device in the chain from Broadband I could not
maintain an ssh or VPN connection for more than 5 minutes (Really bad firmware)
but now that the vonage device isnt asked to pass my normal data traffic I have
ahd a connection to my work machines all weekend, And I'm typing this e-mail
from my backyard watching my son crash his new Razor scooter into the fence and
the gate :-)  Love wireless !!!

> 
> One really cool feature is that they give you an additional phone number 
> with all separate settings, voice mail, distinctive ring tone, etc. for 
> free!  I'm sure I can only use one at a time, but it's almost like 
> having two phone lines on a party line (party lines were before my time, 
> but I've heard about them).

This REALLY attracted me as this is available at an addditional cost with
Vonage.  We want a # in Southern TX so my wife's family can call a local # and
be talking to us whenever they want without charge.  Both #'s ring your house
think of the second # as an alias - In vonage both #'s are pulled up from 1
account but have seperate minutes etc.  All the minutes used on both #'s though
go against one acct.


> 
> Now that I have DSL, Verizon really gave me a data rate something like 
> 800/100.  They told me 768/768 pre-sale.  That should work fine, but if 
> I try to use bit torrent, etc., at the same time, my upline speed might 
> not handle it.

This is HUGE - my wife's most comon complaint is Echo and dropping parts of
words and stuff.  This is very affected by using p2p or BT software.  The qos
is supposed to help but like I said I had very unipressive results fiddling
with QOS.  Try to do yoour p2p/BT stuff after hours or when you don't think
anyone will need to talk for a length of time.


> 
> Do Verizon and Adelphia care if you use things like bit torrent?  Do 
> they get mad about peer to peer data serving etc.?
> >> Sunrocket says they need 90k/90k to work well, so even if I'm using the 
> >> Internet, I should have more than enough bandwidth.

The way I always thought about it was, you're paying for bandwidth - use it. 
The company your paying is guaranteeing a minimum, it's up to you to make sure
you're getting your money's worth.  Of course the provider may disagree.  I
have yet to hear anything from Adelphia and I am a torrent regular.  Of course
you set up the must see web cam site of the century and get a /. effect going
you may hear something :-) (google slashdot effect)

Man- must be the fresh air out here (and the hours I spent rearranging my
network.

Next project is MythTV! (with help from CyberSource of course :-)

JJN

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