VOIP Tech Chat → Re: [VOIPo.COM] Support recommends finding another provider...

We're not aware of any wide-spread issues with this. Based on our side, if we have a widespread issues, we are slammed with hundreds of tickets instantly. Right now we only have 3 tickets in our main queue and 2 tickets in our Tier II queue so there's definitely not a widespread issue going on. See »i.imgur.com/qRP5rV8.png for a screenshot

Generally when we see this type of issue, it's related to specific home network setup or some other variable outside of our control. All VoIP networks are different and interact with different home networks/NAT setups differently. We can account for about 99% of those setups, but there's always going to be about 1% that have issues. That 1% will vary from provider to provider since there is no way to handle things in a way that works with all home routers/NAT setups (only about 99%) because many routers don't handle things in accordance with standards and we have to develop "fixes" in our system to account for that.

Again I don't believe there is a widespread issue here, but I'd be happy to have our CTO look at some of the call examples to make sure there is nothing on our end that we can do. If anyone has a specific call example to check, just e-mail the Call ID from your call logs to me at tim @ voipo.com and I'll be happy to have it checked out. For the 3 of you reporting issues in this thread, please PM or e-mail your VOIPo phone number so he can identify you and pull up your accounts to look at.

I have also had the issue with long calls getting cut off predictably, I've just been re-dialing to get connected again. Next time it happens I'll send related call information. I suspect a lot of us are just not motivated enough to file a ticket for every time we have an issue as long as we can recover somehow (re-dialing included) and that might explain the low ticket volume.

Tim, I don't know how things could get much cleaner here. Start with a 25mbps symmeteric FiOS connection that has extremely low, consistent latency. A brand new, Actiontec Rev I router (experienced the same problems with an older Rev D)... and after forwarding a HUGE block of ports to the Linksys adapter for a long time I finally put the Linksys in the DMZ. No help. And although I've sent specific examples of calls that have these problems to support, there's no real pattern... except for the nature of the problems themselves. And the problems never seem to go away.

I see a few odd things in the Linksys PAP setup, like an extraordinarily long SIP re-registration time (like 17860 seconds!). Maybe there's an issue with the PAP programming? I keep a dynamic DNS address updated... maybe we need to be able to report our current public IP more robustly using this, STUN, etc?

I've been a VoIPo cheerleader for a long time, and to be fair things work well MOST of the time. But a call failure rate of maybe like 5% wears on you, and trying to explain the intricacies of VoIP to my wife after a call to her Mom just went one-way audio or a call doesn't complete doesn't go very far.

Dan

The last time I worked w/ VOIPo support to diagnose my "in network" calling issues, I PM'd you then. You got your CTO involved, and after considerable tests and time spent w/ him, he concluded that the issues were being caused by dual ATAs (on my end) connected to the VOIPo network (first ATA: VOIPo supplied equipment, 2nd ATA: personal BYOD adapter), even though the issues would occur on VOIPo's supplied equpiment when both the VOIPo and BYOD equipment were connected. He further advised that BYOD is unsupported and implied that if issues are occuring due to BYOD, I'm on my own.

Subsequent to that period, tickets I submitted for other issues resulted in an initial response such as "Have you disconnected all other equipment except VOIPo's?" before support would take any action on the reported issues. (One of the issues I reported was that an external VOIPo VM dial-up number wasn't working, even from my cell phone, an issue that had nothing to do any VOIPo equipment on my end. Hence, the response about disconnecting my BYOD equipment was infuriating in that instance).

I've connected multiple ATA's w/ practically every other VOIP provider I've had, yet the issues I've experienced w/ VOIPo's "in network" calling are IMO limited to VOIPo itself. With other providers, "advanced features" like simring work whether I receive calls "off network" (i.e. from the PSTN) or "in network" (i.e. from another VOIPo caller). With VOIPo, after almost 3 YEARS of service, simring still only works with "off network" calls (for me).

The issues where I have one-way audio (from the start of the call) only occur w/ VOIPo "in network" calls.

Off network calls, when they establish (which is 95% of the time), start out w/ bi-directional audio and typically last for the duration of the call; however, I do experience times when the call loses audio in one direction (usally 15+ mins into the call). Hitting the FLASH BUTTON TWICE (once to switch over to the 3-way calling side, a second time to return to the initial call) typically restores the disrupted audio stream.

As others have pointed out, placing calls w/ VOIPo typically works 95% of the time on the first try, but when they fail, the attempted call generates a fast-busy signal. I assume this issue is primarily with "off network" calls since I severely limit the amount of "in network" calls I place (due to the chronic issues I have with them). The fast busy gets annoying after a while, as is having to re-dial, but that's not a deal breaker for me.

BTW, by being forced to place off-network calls (when I could be placing in-network calls) ends up costing you [VOIPo] more $$$, since you pay for PSTN establsihed calls while in-network calls are fee free to you.

Sadly I've determined that when it comes to VOIPo, you get what you pay for. You are very low cost provider, but as a result of that, there are issues w/ the quality of your service. I've had far superior VOIP service in the past w/ other providers, but usually at a considerably higher price. I consider RNK's VOIP Service to be the GOLD STANDARD (among providers I've tried), but finding a reseller for them, let alone one who charges a decent price for it, is extremely challenging.

At this point my VOIPo service is paid up through sometime in 2014, and I believe I'm on the "free" portion of my service (i.e. buy 1 year, get 1 year "free"). Hence, there's really no value left for me to obtain via a pro-rated refund, so I intend to use up my remaining time to see how things progress. If VOIPo fixes its chronic "in network" calling (and other) issues, there's a strong possiblity I'll renew. Otherwise, I'll have to keep my options open.

I'm curious as to who the RNK resellers are to begin with.

I know that both AxVoice and Voxby had been RNK resellers, but I don't know if that is still the case.

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Ah, this is interesting.

RNK back in 2004 offered "Lifetime VoIP" for a one-time payment of $ 999.

Here's the Voip Tech Chat thread from 2004:
»[Other Providers] News-Lifetime Voip $999

I'm still getting a delay in audio of around 8 seconds when I try calling (in-network) to another VOIPo subscriber. Signalling works, the call establishes but there is still that delay. I've put in several tickets to no avail. The last I got was that BYOD is still in beta and not officially supported. I've subsequently decided to just dial in-network calls on a different trunk sent out directly to the PSTN.

VOIPo is a solid provider for what they offer. You do get what you pay for.

Tim,
Is there a star code (*xx) supported by VOIPo which forces a call to go through the PSTN, even if the number being called is a VOIPo number? If not, setting one up may provide a reasonable work-around for affected customers.