mhowie
join:2004-12-28
Avon, IN
| Deteriorating call quality...
Over the past few weeks I have noticed a marked drop-off in call quality, especially during the early-mid evening timeframe. Specifically, I am getting incessant "clips" or quick disruptions that sound like clicks.
I have TimeWarner as my cable provider and supposed it was due to packet loss problems during the evening hours. However,over the past week I have unplugged my cable modem (essentially rebooting it) a couple of times and the quality issues are resolved. This "rebooting" seems to rectify the issues for a couple of nights, and then I am back to click, click, ...
While it might be coincidental that the call clarity improved each time, I found it less likely after the second modem reset that this was mere coincidence.
Before I call TimeWarner to complain, I wonder if I might hear some thoughts regarding what actually might be plaguing my call quality? I want to ensure I complain about the correct culprit!
Thanks, |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| at different times (when the calls sound clean, and when they sound bad) run the diagnostics test to Boston at »www.testyourvoip.com (look at the detailed results)
If you notice any difference in the latency or jitter or packet loss then you have your evidence for the ISP.
BTW ... they already know. That's how cable internet works. It's a shared service, so when demand increases bandwidth is rationed out. Don't kill the messenger.
--
"Teleblend has an agreement with the Assignee to solicit and support former SunRocket customers." |
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·AT&T CallVantage
·Comcast Digital Vo..
 ·Comcast
| reply to mhowie
Sounds very similar to issues I had when I was with Comcast and Vonage. Then I dumped Vonage for Comcasts CDV service which was much nicer.
Switching back to AT&T and using CV so far no issue. The night time thing sounds like it's capacity issue going on in your area. Without further testing I would say it's a TW issue. |
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mhowie
join:2004-12-28
Avon, IN | Thanks for the input! |
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rsmith7
Premium
join:2003-03-11
San Diego, CA | MHowie,
When was the last time you reset your equipment. I am in San Diego and have not had any issues. JM2C. |
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mhowie
join:2004-12-28
Avon, IN
| said by rsmith7  :MHowie, When was the last time you reset your equipment. I am in San Diego and have not had any issues. JM2C. Can you define "reset your equipment"? As noted in my original post, I have rebooted (or reset) my cable modem periodically during the past week which results in temporary resolution of the quality problems.
Thanks. |
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs: | That's what he means. Have you reset/unplugged the TA for call vantage? |
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babylon5
join:2008-01-15
1 edit | reply to mhowie
*** Post on Another Thread ***
»Voice Quality Issues: ATT DSL and CV |
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs: | Any reason why you have the TA in front of the router?
Also have you tried doing a line monitor test here at dslr?
You may want to open a new thread since this is ATT DSL and CV where mhowie is TW and CV. |
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rsmith7
Premium
join:2003-03-11
San Diego, CA | reply to mhowie
Sorry for any confusion. I meant to unplug the power cable from each of your devices, ie (router, TA, cable modem). |
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dzr
join:2004-10-12
2 edits | reply to mhowie
I've had issues with cable modem bandwidth being worse than dial-up in the evening some times.
I've had FIOS lose all connection to the internet for 15 seconds every 5 minute.
Both were issues on the provider's side of things.
My best resource, was using PingPlotter, which is a graphical combo of ping and traceroute, which are done in a concurrent manner. There's a matter of finding the right tech support person on the other side to accept an email with your findings, though.
»www.pingplotter.com
I could keep it running for hours and have a map of when ping/traceroute roundtrips had issues.
ICMP (ping) packets are low priority, so just seeing missed packets doesn't always mean anything...and some routers block ICMP packets. (pingplotter actually also allows you to send other types of packets). Make sure to read their webpage as to the best ways of using the tool most accurately. In both the above cases, the tool was able to accurately point to the culprit. |
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babylon5
join:2008-01-15
| dzr: I think that I problems with my ATT DSL bandwidth and this tool might come in handy. I looked at the website, and there are three versions:
1) Freeware
2) Standard
3) Pro
which version can you recommend if you need to present the results to a tech support person.
Thanks.
Babylon5 |
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dzr
join:2004-10-12
| At only $200, why not go Pro 
Truthfully, I'd recommend the Standard version, which is only $25.
One of the big limitations of the Freeware version, is that you can't save any data to send to anyone (well, you can use Windows to copy/paste an image) and there are more limitations of how you can display data over a long time period:
»www.pingplotter.com/featurecomp.html
Anyhow, the Standard (and Pro) versions have free 30 day trials, so you may even figure out the issue by that time.
It's a very handy tool for me and I bought it quite quickly.
(I'm a happy customer... that's all.)
This tests PACKET LOSS and LATENCY not really bandwidth. VOIP isn't really such a large bandwidth hog, but being a near real-time application, things such as packet loss, latency and jitter cause most issues.
Getting started guide:
»www.pingplotter.com/gsg/
There's even a section in there showing the best way to gather proper evidence to show an ISP.
Once, at least, when I had cable Internet issues, my provider used different internal routes to get to different external routes... So, going to some websites was ok and others just crawled - I could see the different route being taken and where the bottleneck was. So, just because everything looks good if you test against one place, doesn't mean it'll be ok towards another!
Also, realize that outages NOT in your direct area, can cause issues in your area... Just about a month ago, with my FIOS, I was getting slow speeds... It turns out, that someone ran into some FIOS equipment with a car... as a result, alot of traffic that normally goes a different route, suddenly was going over routers my data goes through and there was a data traffic jam...
There are MANY factors... |
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allanwattson
join:2008-02-05
| reply to mhowie
I use time warner earlier before shifting to Vonage. There was a little different issue regarding quality of conversation across net through skype. The quality of sound was bad then..Finally when I opt for »www.rhubcom.com conferencing appliance for professional reasons I change provider to Vonage as I don't want to take any chances. |
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darbacour
join:2005-04-13
Los Angeles, CA
 ·AT&T DSL Service
·Vonage
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to mhowie
My CV is only 2000% better over 1.5 ATT DSL than it was over crappy bad latency, bad ping 6.0 Cable... MMO gaming is about 1000% better too.
My RR HSI connection kept dropping out leaving me with NO phone, NO TV, and NO Internet and at least for me RR HSI suffers from the same issues CrapCast offered me for an insanely exhorbitant charge.
Primary connections are now ATT all the WAY and they are close to perfect! |
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