voip.ms discussion - Page 121 - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

Mikey0124 · 2011-05-24, 09:21 PM

From what I was reading through on a very well written QoS thread is that ACK shuoldn't be prioritized cause that is what P2P apliacations use such as torrents. I asked here cause I want to get more opinions

PeterT · 2011-05-24, 10:58 PM

I think you will find that most people feel that applies to heavy P2P users; not light ones.

And besides think this way... Which would you rather penalize? Time sensitive voice communications or P2P ?

As http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials...to-and-QoS.htm says

Quote:

Second, you can tell Tomato to give priority to certain packets that are used in network negotiation. Most users will want to leave SYN, FIN, and RST unchecked. There is some debate over whether ACK packets should receive priority. These so-called "acknowledgment" packets will pile up when using a connection-intensive protocol, such as BitTorrent, leading some to suggest that heavy torrent users should not prioritize ACK packets. The counterargument is that delayed or lost ACK packets will result in data retransmission, causing an even greater flood of network resources. Short answer: most people should leave ACK prioritization enabled, but heavy torrent users might experiment with the disabled setting.

j0dest3r · 2011-05-26, 05:54 PM

Well not to jinx it, (knock on wood!

but my audio problem now seems to be resolved. Staying away from Toronto and been on Seattle for a few weeks and the sound quality is pristine! The final test will be the next time the wife calls SK.

01010 · 2011-05-28, 03:45 PM

Just curious, anybody know how secure voip.ms is compared to pstn or rogers home phone? I know skype uses some sort of encription. Does voip.ms do the same?

are you comfortable giving out your business information or credit card # when using voip.ms?

Mango · 2011-05-28, 03:54 PM

VoIP.ms does not have encryption, but very very few VoIP providers do. One reason is that it is impossible for a VoIP provider to provide true end-to-end encryption, since the PSTN is not encrypted. A partially encrypted call will do little to improve security.

In some cases, a PSTN phone can actually be easier to tap than a VoIP phone. Most PSTN demarcs (at least here in BC) are located outside the house at ground level and it would take about 20 seconds to attach a couple of alligator clips connected to an FM transmitter or recorder. Wear a t-shirt with the Telus logo, carry a clipboard, and no one would look twice.

VoIP on the other hand is much more difficult to tap. Assuming you don't do something silly like run an unsecured wireless network or use WEP, place your VoIP device in DMZ, let someone trick you into opening an attachment that gives them remote access to your computer, or have your equipment in an area where it is accessible by the general public, you should be safe. In order to tap a VoIP call you'd need to be a high level employee at either your ISP or your VoIP provider...and this risk is assumed any time you purchase phone service from a company.

So, I'm comfortable using my VoIP.ms phone like a regular phone.

m.

Mikey0124 · 2011-05-30, 02:25 AM

Hello all! I have been running the ping test to the montreal.voip.ms -t server to make sure my QoS is setup optimally for my connection. I have been noticing when running this test I am getting the odd "Request Timed out" messsage coming up. My ping time are averaging about 26ms with the very odd jump to 150-200ms. Should I worry about the "Request time out"? By odd I mean it may pop up after 50 hops then maybe more or maybe less. I am having a little bit of audio troubles lately with choppy voice and so on. I am not sure if that is the problem or maybe something else. I was using the Toronto server but switched to the Montreal server cause I think it is because the Toronto server is overloaded. So far today my voice quality is good. And yes I have tested other servers and even pinged google and still had the same Request time out pop up

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

j0dest3r · 2011-05-30, 11:01 AM

The wife used the phone twice this last week and complained about bad audio quality. The last one was really bad so bad she had to ask her son to repeat 3 times. (was on TO orig. now on Seattle) I am not very popular right now with this crazy phone. I'm not sure what to do at this point. I will review more of the troubleshooting ideas in Mango's thread and go from there.

Cap · 2011-05-30, 04:41 PM

I will say it again. I live 50K from Toronto. Yet I get better quality from CHicago or Montreal. Some say because Toronto is so busy the other may have higher ping but quality is a little better.

Kraven · 2011-06-01, 09:03 AM

Hello all,

Am moving in a few months (new house woohoo) and im considering going w/ voip. First question, how much do you spend a month on average in terms of billing? Personally, I might talk to an hour a month, however, the GF is a true talking machine.... so am curious if VOIP will bust the bank or not.

Im still reading most of these posts and the voip.ms site to understand it better from the technical side.

Cheers, K

MarcP · 2011-06-01, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kraven

First question, how much do you spend a month on average in terms of billing?

I put $30 in my account back in March. Now we're in June. With daily use and almost daily long distance calls to Ontario, my account just got below $10.

PeterT · 2011-06-01, 09:36 AM

Just got through my first true full month with voip.ms. Looking at

$5.95 for all incoming / outgoing calls
$0.21 for CNAM queries
$1.50 for e911 recovery
$0.99 for DID

Sure, I did have some other costs not listed here. I picked up some new handsets for multi-line usage, and had to buy a few pieces of wiring / adapters to fix some wiring issues.

Kraven · 2011-06-01, 10:52 AM

Thanks for the replies. What exactly is the DID? Am assuming I should be able to keep my existing phone number too (Videotron phone) so how would that work? According to the how-to's, I just add the number in the portal, but this just seems a bit too easy.

Also to clarify, I can use two types of phones: one is an IP phone, which uses a cat5 to the router. and the other would be a regualr phone via an adapter (example Linksys SPA2101) connected to the router which has an RJ45 output.

I currently have access to several Cisco IP phones which I can bring home to test. Would it be possible to set up tonight, but change the number in 2 months?

Cheers, K

DdDave · 2011-06-01, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kraven

What exactly is the DID? Am assuming I should be able to keep my existing phone number too (Videotron phone) so how would that work? According to the how-to's, I just add the number in the portal, but this just seems a bit too easy.

...

Would it be possible to set up tonight, but change the number in 2 months?

The DID is the direct-inward-dialing #, which is your phone number. You need to port your existing number from Videotron to voip.ms via a port request. It will take a few weeks to complete, and you have to set-up a voip.ms account first so you can add funds to it to pay for the port.

If you want a NEW phone number (DID), you can just request one in the customer portal and it will show up pretty much right away.

You can set-up voip.ms tonight and start making outbound calls as soon as you add funds to the account. To receive inbound calls you can get a new "temporary" DID for $0.99 per month (may be higher depending on location) and can start using it right away. Once you port your current number over you could then cancel your temporary DID, or you could just keep it and have either your old phone # or your new DID ring to your house.

I haven't calculated my costs in the last couple months, but when I looked at it at the beginning of this year my average monthly bill including my DID and e911 was $6.77.

PeterT · 2011-06-01, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Thanks for the replies. What exactly is the DID? Am assuming I should be able to keep my existing phone number too (Videotron phone) so how would that work? According to the how-to's, I just add the number in the portal, but this just seems a bit too easy.

Also to clarify, I can use two types of phones: one is an IP phone, which uses a cat5 to the router. and the other would be a regualr phone via an adapter (example Linksys SPA2101) connected to the router which has an RJ45 output.

I currently have access to several Cisco IP phones which I can bring home to test. Would it be possible to set up tonight, but change the number in 2 months?

Cheers, K

When I initially tried voip.ms I initially obtained a new phone number (DID) from voip.ms and call forwarded my Bell Canada number to thew new number. I then disconnected the Bell line from the internal house wiring (at the demarcation point in the basement) and plugged a PAP2T into the house-wiring to enable the existing phones in the house to work.

Within voip.ms I created a sub account for the PAP2T to use, and then created a Ring Group that only contained this new sub-account. This Ring Group I set as the "Routing" for incoming calls. The reason for doing this was to provide me with flexibility down the road. I also created voice mail boxes for my wife and I, and setup a very basic IVR to allow people to select which voice-mail box to leave a message for. This IVR was then associated with the Destination Busy, Destination Unreachable, and Destination No Answer routing options.

After a few weeks of running like this I initiated the porting of my original number from Bell Canada to voip.ms.

As soon as voip.ms had accepted the porting request the DID appeared in the list of managed DIDs and I was able to replicate the programming on this DID. By doing this it meant that when the porting actually happened, the number would just work!

Since then I have also replaced my existing hand sets in the house by two line phones, added an additional sub-account with voip.ms associated with the same DID, and configured the PAP2T to have it's second port associated with the new sub-account. This way, even when we are on the phone, a second call can come in on the second line, and be answered, or a second call can be initiated.

Additionally, my wife and I also both run X-LITE on our PC's so are able to place calls using out PC headsets for extra convenience. Yes I did experiment with adding their sub-accounts into the Ring Group as well but decided against it.

WalterP · 2011-06-01, 02:47 PM

I ported two lines from Videotron to voip.ms a couple of months ago.

The process was initiated through voip.ms (don't contact Videotron until the port is completed), and the lines were ported within a week. I recommend that you contact Videotron once the lines are ported to ensure that there aren't any billing issues. In my case, my lines were still showing as active on my Videotron account after the port, and it took a few calls to convince their billing department that the lines had been ported. They instructed me to return the modem to a local Videotron outlet, and the lines were removed from my account once the return was processed. I didn't get hit with a cancellation fee, and the billing was retroactively terminated as of the porting date. Bonus points to Videotron for good customer service...

2011-05-28, 03:54 PM	#1805
Mango Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Alberta Posts: 795	VoIP.ms does not have encryption, but very very few VoIP providers do. One reason is that it is impossible for a VoIP provider to provide true end-to-end encryption, since the PSTN is not encrypted. A partially encrypted call will do little to improve security. In some cases, a PSTN phone can actually be easier to tap than a VoIP phone. Most PSTN demarcs (at least here in BC) are located outside the house at ground level and it would take about 20 seconds to attach a couple of alligator clips connected to an FM transmitter or recorder. Wear a t-shirt with the Telus logo, carry a clipboard, and no one would look twice. VoIP on the other hand is much more difficult to tap. Assuming you don't do something silly like run an unsecured wireless network or use WEP, place your VoIP device in DMZ, let someone trick you into opening an attachment that gives them remote access to your computer, or have your equipment in an area where it is accessible by the general public, you should be safe. In order to tap a VoIP call you'd need to be a high level employee at either your ISP or your VoIP provider...and this risk is assumed any time you purchase phone service from a company. So, I'm comfortable using my VoIP.ms phone like a regular phone. m. __________________ Mango's dial plan for an OBi ATA

2011-05-30, 04:41 PM	#1808
Cap Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Oshawa Posts: 497	I will say it again. I live 50K from Toronto. Yet I get better quality from CHicago or Montreal. Some say because Toronto is so busy the other may have higher ping but quality is a little better. __________________ 50PX75U, (rogers') 8300HDPVR, 42PD50, Macbook Pro Imac 3.2ghz, Apple TV2, Iphone4, Time Capsule, VOIP Line,

2011-06-01, 09:36 AM	#1811
PeterT Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 64	Just got through my first true full month with voip.ms. Looking at $5.95 for all incoming / outgoing calls $0.21 for CNAM queries $1.50 for e911 recovery $0.99 for DID Sure, I did have some other costs not listed here. I picked up some new handsets for multi-line usage, and had to buy a few pieces of wiring / adapters to fix some wiring issues.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

2011-05-24, 09:21 PM	#1801
Mikey0124 Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 53	From what I was reading through on a very well written QoS thread is that ACK shuoldn't be prioritized cause that is what P2P apliacations use such as torrents. I asked here cause I want to get more opinions

2011-05-26, 05:54 PM	#1803
j0dest3r Veteran Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,617	Well not to jinx it, (knock on wood! but my audio problem now seems to be resolved. Staying away from Toronto and been on Seattle for a few weeks and the sound quality is pristine! The final test will be the next time the wife calls SK.

2011-05-28, 03:45 PM	#1804
01010 Rookie Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 11	Just curious, anybody know how secure voip.ms is compared to pstn or rogers home phone? I know skype uses some sort of encription. Does voip.ms do the same? are you comfortable giving out your business information or credit card # when using voip.ms?

2011-05-30, 02:25 AM	#1806
Mikey0124 Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 53	Hello all! I have been running the ping test to the montreal.voip.ms -t server to make sure my QoS is setup optimally for my connection. I have been noticing when running this test I am getting the odd "Request Timed out" messsage coming up. My ping time are averaging about 26ms with the very odd jump to 150-200ms. Should I worry about the "Request time out"? By odd I mean it may pop up after 50 hops then maybe more or maybe less. I am having a little bit of audio troubles lately with choppy voice and so on. I am not sure if that is the problem or maybe something else. I was using the Toronto server but switched to the Montreal server cause I think it is because the Toronto server is overloaded. So far today my voice quality is good. And yes I have tested other servers and even pinged google and still had the same Request time out pop up Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated Thanks

2011-05-30, 11:01 AM	#1807
j0dest3r Veteran Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1,617	The wife used the phone twice this last week and complained about bad audio quality. The last one was really bad so bad she had to ask her son to repeat 3 times. (was on TO orig. now on Seattle) I am not very popular right now with this crazy phone. I'm not sure what to do at this point. I will review more of the troubleshooting ideas in Mango's thread and go from there.

2011-06-01, 09:03 AM	#1809
Kraven Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: South Shore, QC Posts: 530	Hello all, Am moving in a few months (new house woohoo) and im considering going w/ voip. First question, how much do you spend a month on average in terms of billing? Personally, I might talk to an hour a month, however, the GF is a true talking machine.... so am curious if VOIP will bust the bank or not. Im still reading most of these posts and the voip.ms site to understand it better from the technical side. Cheers, K

2011-06-01, 10:52 AM	#1812
Kraven Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: South Shore, QC Posts: 530	Thanks for the replies. What exactly is the DID? Am assuming I should be able to keep my existing phone number too (Videotron phone) so how would that work? According to the how-to's, I just add the number in the portal, but this just seems a bit too easy. Also to clarify, I can use two types of phones: one is an IP phone, which uses a cat5 to the router. and the other would be a regualr phone via an adapter (example Linksys SPA2101) connected to the router which has an RJ45 output. I currently have access to several Cisco IP phones which I can bring home to test. Would it be possible to set up tonight, but change the number in 2 months? Cheers, K

2011-06-01, 02:47 PM	#1815
WalterP Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 107	I ported two lines from Videotron to voip.ms a couple of months ago. The process was initiated through voip.ms (don't contact Videotron until the port is completed), and the lines were ported within a week. I recommend that you contact Videotron once the lines are ported to ensure that there aren't any billing issues. In my case, my lines were still showing as active on my Videotron account after the port, and it took a few calls to convince their billing department that the lines had been ported. They instructed me to return the modem to a local Videotron outlet, and the lines were removed from my account once the return was processed. I didn't get hit with a cancellation fee, and the billing was retroactively terminated as of the porting date. Bonus points to Videotron for good customer service...