[gazork]

Issue 1 - I am using a PAP2A ATA on voip.ms. About 1 out of every 5 calls I get a dial tone, I dial the number and get nothing - no sound, no connection. I power cycle the ATA and everything works? Ideas anyone? Sometimes I see only 2 of the 4 LEDs shining - then I know I have to power cycle it - I get no dial tone at all then. The ATA is about a month old - could it be defective?

Issue 2 - sometimes the sound is garbled on my end and sometimes garbled on the callers end. Once I couldn't make out what message a person had left on voicemail. It was suggested on this forum that I implement QoS on my modem. However that isn't available on my Bell 2Wire modem apparently. I'm on DSL with Bell now and think that perhaps I should move to Teksavvy and go for cable. I think I'd rather do that than get another modem. I have my wife's POTS on the DSL line at the moment and once I'm comfortable with the voip system. I'll move her over and quit Bell. Power cycling the ATA is not something I wish her to have to do though...

Help much appreciated

g

 

[Mango]

PAP2[T] ATA on voip.ms. About 1 out of every 5 calls I get a dial tone, I dial the number and get nothing - no sound, no connection. [...] Sometimes I see only 2 of the 4 LEDs shining - then I know I have to power cycle it [...] could it be defective?

It's theoretically possible the ATA could be defective, but unlikely if you purchased it from a reputable (non-eBay) source.

Try the following: on the SIP tab of your device, you should set SIP T1 to 1 to mitigate a problem that causes the symptoms you describe. You should also set Reg Retry Long Intvl to 120 so that your device recovers more quickly if it does fail.

I can't remember if you have a Tomato router. If your 2Wire modem is also your router, then you don't and you can ignore this. But, if you do, you should enter Conntrack/Netfilter settings and configure Unreplied UDP Timeout to 10.

If neither of those solve the problem, let us know, and we can do additional troubleshooting.

Once I couldn't make out what message a person had left on voicemail.

Is it that the message itself was garbled? In other words, you could hear "You have one new message. Press one for new messages..." but you could not hear the voicemail message?

If I understand you correctly your issue is likely due to a problem some DIDs are having with the Toronto and Montreal servers. VoIP.ms is currently in the middle of deploying new Toronto and Montreal servers; in the meantime you can switch to Chicago and see if that solves the problem. Note that you will need to re-record your unavailable and busy voicemail messages.

If I misread what you wrote please correct me

Just to note, QoS is typically implemented in the router, not the modem. So you can use QoS just as easily with ADSL or with Cable. Personally, I'd wait a few more months before getting TekSavvy Cable as the popularity of their cable product was unanticipated and they and Rogers are having a hard time meeting the huge demand.

m.

 

[FunkyTown]

Great information Mango. I didn't realize Voip.ms were installing new servers. Do you know why or if the new servers will benefit us?

I agree with you regarding TekSavvy. It's disappointing but I've seen lots of negative feedback from people. I was with them for a while through Bell DSL. I did experience issues with voip while with Teksavvy. When I called about it I was told Bell was doing stuff. It went on for a few months until I finally switched back to cable through Videotron. Teksavvy was trying to get me to stay with them as they deliver through Videotron too but with the voip issues I had I didn't trust it. Plus there's a bigger delay in getting technicians sent to repair lines when going through 3rd party resellers and that concerns me where I depend on voip.

I read that TekSavvy is starting to setup their own cables and ISP so they won't be reliant on the Bells and Rogers. I'd not fool with your Internet if you're using voip. Wait until Teksavvy comes up with a more reliable platform. Or at least has better SLAs with the big guns.

 

[Mango]

Yeah, it's the SLA (or lack thereof) that I hear the most complaints about. From what I read, if you have a problem with Cable, the only way for them to contact Rogers (not sure about Videotron) is by e-mail. This makes for some slow resolution to problems.

I used to be on TekSavvy (ADSL) at the office but recently switched away due to low speeds and random outages. The only response I got from their support was "Can't really says why the upload speeds are low." I like TekSavvy because they are family owned & operated and for their commitment to net neutrality. Sadly, (and ironically) I can get better customer service and better products from the big companies.

For the record, I now use Shaw at the office and Telus at home. My experience is that Telus is more prone to speed issues due to old lines/equipment in the neighbourhood. Shaw always works at the advertised speed. Telus on the other hand has better routing. With Shaw, my route to Seattle goes from Vancouver, to Calgary, to San Jose, and then back up to Seattle.

Back to the topic...as far as the new servers, according to VoIP.ms, the issue I mentioned apparently only affects a small number of DIDs from ISP Telecom, and only on the Toronto and Montreal servers. Oddly, the new servers appear to be located in the same datacentres as the old one, which I would assume means the issue is not to do with routing. But I can't think of another reason a DID issue would be server specific. I don't fully understand it but trust Steve is on the job as usual

-The Predictably Loquacious Mango

 

[FunkyTown]

Well that's interesting. I haven't had any issues with my DIDs in a long while, so the server changes won't affect me. That's a good thing!

One thing that changed recently was the anonymous caller id. It always showed up as anonymous on my phones, but the call log would always show the number. This was great when setting up caller routing that's specific to the caller id. It no longer works for anonymous calls. They are now truly anonymous.

One thing Bell has is a feature named Call Privacy. If you added someone's number to your call privacy list, their number would show on the display even though it's blocked/anonymous. That was very handy because when specific friends call or my brother from cell phones that are blocked, I could identify them. I wish Voip.ms would implement that feature.

Another thing I discovered is that the Busy routing does not always work. I have the flat rate DID plan. This gives me 2 channels. With Bell, Telus, and the other companies once a 3rd person calls they just get voicemail. There are no call waiting beeps or notifications, just voicemail. With Voip.ms, the 3rd caller gets a busy signal EVEN if you've programmed the calls to go to voicemail on busy. It's not a huge deal, but it's something many probably don't know about.

 

[gazork]

PAP2 was bought from Canada Computing so I think it's 'legit'.
Thank you - I set SIP T1 to 1 as you suggested.
Reg Retry Long Intvl was already set to 120 as per your published suggestions.
My 2Wire is also my router.
As you surmised, I can hear the Voicemail prompts but once and a while I get a message that is garbled and once in a while I can't hear the other party on the phone and have to use a POTS line. This is rare but it has happened.
If I have further trouble I'll try the Chicago server. Thank you for your note about Teksavvy.
very best
g

 

[Mango]

Another thing I discovered is that the Busy routing does not always work. I have the flat rate DID plan. This gives me 2 channels.

I'm sure you already know this, but for the new people, the pay-per-minute plan does not have this limitation. You may use more than two channels. I believe for new customers the default is five, though they will increase this limit on request if you can sustain the usage.

Gazork - any luck with your issue?

m.

 

[gazork]

QoS update

Hi Mango
For the past 2 weeks things seemed to have stabilized somewhat. However about 10% of the time I have the experience of no dial-tone and I have to power-cycle the ATA to get the tone, or, I get a dial tone and call out but am greeted with silence, i.e. my call doesn't go through, or, I get garbled the voice of the person I am speaking to is garbled. So I guess I have minimal improvement.

I see that on the Manage DID Numbers page on viop.ms the POP is listed as Toronto-2 however the Proxy on my PAP2 is toronto.voip.ms - is this OK?

The next step is perhaps returning my Bell 2wire modem and getting another that will allow Tomato (whatever that is) and QoS.

comments please... and thank you

 

[Mango]

Hi Gazork,

Did you ever get a chance to try the Chicago server? I'd give that a shot before purchasing new hardware.

You may also want to see if VoIP.ms support has any suggestions. They may have diagnostic tools that they could use on the server to see if that gives us any clues toward the problem.

With regards to Tomato, you should not return your Bell 2Wire modem, because Tomato is only a router, not a modem. So you would use it in conjunction with the Bell modem. If you go this route, you should configure your Bell modem so that it assigns the Tomato router a public IP address (i.e. not something starting with 192 or 10.) There are many routers that can use Tomato firmware. Here is a list: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Tomato_Firmware#Supported_devices_and_revisions

As for Toronto vs. Toronto2, Toronto had downtime yesterday and they moved everyone to Toronto2.

m.

 

[gazork]

Thank you Mango
I've switched to the Chicago server - I'll let you know how that goes.