Router ALT Firmware for QoS for VoIP

Author	All Replies
Davesnothere No-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6 2 edits	Router ALT Firmware for QoS for VoIP In the past, the reason for doing this was often for support of MLPPP to beat the evil BH#$ELL throttle. Today, I ask simply for the sake of setting a QoS to make my VoIP ATA box have priority over all of my other data, particularly in the UPstream channel, because I hear other folks fine but they often have issues with hearing me cleanly, and pretty much the same issue with 2 different VoIP providers. So, what's the best choice for my WRT54GL router for this purpose : Tomato, DD-WRT, Open-WRT, or something else ? Also, is there a particular version of it which is best suited to managing QoS ? And does the QoS do its thing by prioritizing the particular local IP of my ATA box (which in my case is set to a static IP), or the MAC address of my ATA, or a particular port number or range ? I would prefer to hear mostly from folks who already are using whatever firmware that they recommend, in the same model of router as mine, and are happy with their VoIP clarity. Thanks. -- We have only 2 things about which to worry : (1) That things may never get back to normal (2) That they already HAVE !
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-09 23:10:10 ·
Gone Premium join:2011-01-24 Fort Erie, ON kudos:3	I use DD-WRT installed on a Valet M10 V1 at my shop to prioritize the MAC addresses of the two ATAs we have installed for three VoIP lines. It works well enough.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-09 23:55:08 ·
Ott_Cable @teksavvy.com	reply to Davesnothere I use QoS to reserve my upstream bandwidth for VoIP on cable. I don't use it for the downstream as it basically throws away the extra speed I would have with Rogers Speedboost. Since Rogers uses Speedboost for the first n MB of data, I figure that new VoIP connections should get the extra bandwidth anyways. I wish the people that implemented QoS were a bit more smart to only turn the bandiwidth limiting only during a VoIP session and not on all the time.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 00:46:18 ·
Last Parade join:2002-10-07 Port Colborne, ON	reply to Davesnothere Shibby's Tomato builds
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 02:01:01 ·
Davesnothere No-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6	reply to Ott_Cable said by Ott_Cable : I use QoS to reserve my upstream bandwidth for VoIP on cable. I don't use it for the downstream as it basically throws away the extra speed I would have with Rogers Speedboost. Since Rogers uses Speedboost for the first n MB of data, I figure that new VoIP connections should get the extra bandwidth anyways. I wish the people that implemented QoS were a bit more smart to only turn the bandwidth limiting only during a VoIP session and not on all the time. That all makes good sense to me. So which alternate firmware offers the most flexibility regarding how I can configure the QoS, using my WRT54GL router ? And are you using one of those firmwares, or does your router HAVE QoS capability already ?
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 09:50:10 ·
Davesnothere No-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6	reply to Gone said by Gone: I use DD-WRT installed on a Valet M10 V1 at my shop to prioritize the MAC addresses of the two ATAs we have installed for three VoIP lines. It works well enough. Thanks. OK, so do ALL firmwares do the QoS thing by identifying the MAC of the ATA ?
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 09:52:27 ·

Gone Premium join:2011-01-24 Fort Erie, ON kudos:3 Reviews: ·Start Communicat..	They can, or the IP. There's some specific DD-WRT builds that can do it by port on the router. I don't know a whole lot about Tomato. When I got my WRT610N V2 it was only just starting to be supported by DD-WRT and nothing else. No idea on the status of my WRT320N, and I know the Valet M10s we use at the store have no Tomato support at all.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 10:12:50 ·
FiReSTaRT Premium join:2010-02-26 Canada	Another vote for shibby.. I'm currently running TomatoUSB (Toastman mod, lots of cool QoS stuff in there but I'm not sure if he has a build for WRT54GL).
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 10:16:30 ·
Reimer join:2006-08-14 Toronto, ON	reply to Davesnothere Shibbys Tomato mod does indeed have a build for the WRT54GL. It's also got the Toastman QoS additions incorporated as well so it's a good choice. Go for the tomato-ND-1.28.5x-093-SD-VPN build »tomato.groov.pl/download/K24/build5x-093-EN/
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 11:47:44 ·
Cloneman join:2002-08-29 Montreal kudos:3 Reviews: ·TekSavvy DSL	reply to Davesnothere None of my attempts at playing with QoS have been able to achieve a well-balanced QoS on synthetic benchmarks, particularly on ADSL. The only setup that works perfectly is having only 2 "classes" and limiting non-voip applications to use only at most 40% of the total upload bandwidth (downstream is less important, you can give up to 85%). This is somewhat a big compromise IMO, and is to be blamed on weird quirks I've seen with both how QoS works, and how ADSL handles congestion. If you want the long version of my trials, come to irc, i think you know where
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 21:22:50 ·
Davesnothere No-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6 2 edits	reply to Reimer said by Reimer: Shibbys Tomato mod does indeed have a build for the WRT54GL.... Thanks. So it looks like several folks think that Shibby is 'not too shabby'. How did you know to suggest that particular file ? (Shibby's site is not clear about that) And are you happy with how it works in YOUR WRT54GL router ? Now, for the Caramilk secret - HOW do I get it IN there ? Do I use my WRT54GL router's factory firmware upgrade page and point it to the downloaded image file, or use Shibby's TFTP app ? Also, I notice that Shibby's matrix chart says that ver K26 supports my router - should I bother with that version ?
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:03:26 ·
Davesnothere No-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6 2 edits	reply to Cloneman said by Cloneman: ....The only setup that works perfectly is having only 2 "classes" and limiting non-voip applications to use only at most 40% of the total upload bandwidth (downstream is less important, you can give up to 85%). This is somewhat a big compromise IMO, and is to be blamed on weird quirks I've seen with both how QoS works, and how ADSL handles congestion.... It makes sense to me that we must allow such percentages, when most ISP accounts' overall upstream bandwidth is so much less than their downstream. Mine for example (START Advanced Cable on the Cogeco AGG POI) : 16Mbps DOWN (85% for NON-VoIP leaves 15% for VoIP) 16 x .15 = 2.4 Mbps 1Mbps UP (40% for NON-VoIP leaves 60% for VoIP) 1 x .6 = .6Mbps (If the typical 5Mbps DSL was in use, DOWN would instead be 5Mbps x .15 = .75Mbps, which would be more similar to the upstream than in my case.) My gut feeling is that I could get away with reserving 10% DOWN for VoIP, and 40% for UP, on my particular account.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:14:30 ·
El Quintron Resident Mouth Breather Premium join:2008-04-28 Etobicoke, ON kudos:2	reply to Davesnothere Another vote for Shibby/Toastman here... All Tomato firmwares have excellent QoS though, so you can't go wrong. -- Support Bacteria -- It's the Only Culture Some People Have
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:20:51 ·
Davesnothere No-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6	said by El Quintron: Another vote for Shibby/Toastman here... All Tomato firmwares have excellent QoS though, so you can't go wrong. Now, for the Caramilk secret - HOW do I get it IN there ? Do I use my WRT54GL router's factory firmware upgrade page and point it to the downloaded image file, or use Shibby's TFTP app ?
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:22:35 ·
El Quintron Resident Mouth Breather Premium join:2008-04-28 Etobicoke, ON kudos:2 Reviews: ·TekSavvy DSL ·WIND Mobile	said by Davesnothere: Now, for the Caramilk secret - HOW do I get it IN there ? Do I use my WRT54GL router's factory firmware upgrade page and point it to the downloaded image file, or use Shibby's TFTP app ? Assuming you had Tomato/MLPPP on there, you would upgrade from your management area, clear nvram and everything should be good to go. If you're back on stock the easiest way is to flash dd-wrt mini, and then flash the version of tomato you want afterwards, and clear the nvram. I've only ever tried TFTP on my WNDR3700v2 (the replacement for my RT-N16) and I've never had any luck with it, others may want to chime in, but I haven't succeeded to flash anything with TFTP. -- Support Bacteria -- It's the Only Culture Some People Have
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:28:27 ·
Davesnothere No-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6 3 edits	said by El Quintron: ....If you're back on stock the easiest way is to flash dd-wrt mini, and then flash the version of tomato you want afterwards, and clear the nvram.... Mine is factory, with 'recent' update. Yes, I've heard before of some version of DD-WRT being specified here as a step for other F/Ws on a WRT54 series, prob'ly with regard to MLPPP. So I use the factory F/W to flash in the DD-WRT Mini, next use DD-WRT Mini to flash in the Tomato, then clear the NVRAM from within the Tomato GUI, and finally add my custom settings such as port forwards ? Will it retain any of my original settings thru all of this, particularly my non-standard local IP address for the router ? -- We have only 2 things about which to worry : (1) That things may never get back to normal (2) That they already HAVE !
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:36:11 ·
El Quintron Resident Mouth Breather Premium join:2008-04-28 Etobicoke, ON kudos:2 Reviews: ·TekSavvy DSL ·WIND Mobile	said by Davesnothere: Will it retain any of my original settings thru all of this, particularly my non-standard local IP address for the router ? No you'll have to configure everything all over again when you clear the nvram, but it's very easy with Tomato. -- Support Bacteria -- It's the Only Culture Some People Have
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:44:44 ·
Davesnothere No-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6	said by El Quintron: said by Davesnothere: Will it retain any of my original settings thru all of this, particularly my non-standard local IP address for the router ? No you'll have to configure everything all over again when you clear the nvram, but it's very easy with Tomato. But everything else I recapped above was OK, and my strange IP stays, right up until when I clear the NVRAM, and then defaults to 192.168.1.1 ?
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:48:33 ·
El Quintron Resident Mouth Breather Premium join:2008-04-28 Etobicoke, ON kudos:2	Once you clear the nvram you should end up with 192.168.1.1 with a userid of "root" and password of "admin" -- Support Bacteria -- It's the Only Culture Some People Have
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:53:37 ·
Davesnothere No-BHELL-ity DOES have its Advantages join:2009-06-15 START&Cogeco kudos:6	K00L, thanks. But everything else I recapped 2 posts ago (now bolded) was correct ? I plan to do this tonight, and want to have the least chance of bricking, etc.
	to forum · permalink · 2012-07-10 23:56:46 ·

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