| |
VoIP Questions and Answers
VoIP Questions and Answers
Question: What are latency, jitter, and packet loss and how do they affect my calls?
Answer: Latency, jitter, and packet loss affect overall call quality.
- Latency
Latency is the delay from when a packet leaves point A and when a response is returned from point B. For VOIP, this is the one-way delay between when something was spoken and when it was heard. The largest contributor to latency is caused by network transmission delay and round-trip latency affects dynamics of conversation. With round trip latencies above 300 msec or so, users may experience annoying talk-over effects. Also make sure that your router has the latest updated firmware for it.
- Jitter
Jitter refers to how variable latency is in a network. High jitter, greater than approximately 50 msec, can result in both increased latency and packet loss. Jitter causes packets to arrive at their destination with different timing and possibly in a different order than they were sent (spoken), with some arriving faster and some slower than they should. To correct the effects of jitter, VOIP endpoints collect packets in a buffer and put them back together in the proper timing and order before the receiver hears them. Processing that buffer adds delay to the call, so the bigger the buffer, the longer the delay. If voice packets arrive when the buffer is full then packets are dropped and the receiver will never hear them. These are called discarded packets.
Packet loss is when some of the voice packets are dropped by network routers or switches that become congested (lost packets), or discarded by the jitter buffer (discarded packets). This will affect the conversation in that you will miss words or parts of words in a conversation. This can often be caused by bad cabling or connection at the local-end or far-end, or problems on the internet backbone due to hardware failure or congestion.
Problem: There is no dial tone.
Solution:
- Check to make sure the phone is plugged into the Phone Adapter Device's "phone port 1"
- Check to make sure the Ethernet link light on the back of the Phone Adapter is active.
- If you do not get a dial tone, try rebooting your home network. (Power down router/switch; Cable Modem; and Phone Adapter and power back on)
Problem: Fast Busy on outbound calls.
Solution:
- When dialing the number make sure you are dialing all 11 digits (i.e., 1-Area Code-555-1234).
- Try rebooting your home network. (Power down router/switch; Cable Modem; and Phone Adapter and power back on)
Problem: My high speed Internet connection uses a USB port, not an Ethernet port.
Solution:
You will need to switch your high-speed Internet connection from USB to Ethernet in order to use our service. If your computer does not have an Ethernet card, you can purchase a USB to Ethernet Converter to connect your computer to the phone adapter, and ultimately the Internet.
Problem: My phone does not ring.
Solution:
- Check to make sure the phone is plugged into phone port 1 on the Phone Adapter
- Make sure the ringer on your phone is set to the proper volume.
- Try rebooting your home network. (Power down router/switch; Cable Modem; and Phone Adapter and power back on)
Problem: Callers do not hear me while I am talking.
Solution:
High internet usage on your personal computer while talking on your phone may impact your calls. If you are sending email with attachments or uploading any files while on the phone, that may be the cause. One way to minimize the effects of this is to use a router that can support QOS (such as the Linksys WRT54G).
Problem: When I dial my number, I receive an operator message stating "The number I have reached is not in service".
Solution:
Report this problem to DSLExtreme at 1-800-774-3379 opt2
Problem: I am hearing static on my line.
Solution:
- Make sure your not downloading or uploading anything on your personal computer.
- Verify the cord from your phone to the phone adapter is securely plugged in and not damaged.
- Try rebooting your home network. (Power down router/switch; Cable Modem; and Phone Adapter and power back on)
Problem: Conversations are choppy sounding.
Solution:
- Make sure your not downloading or uploading anything on your personal computer.
- Verify the cord from your phone to the phone adapter is securely plugged in and not damaged.
- Try rebooting your home network. (Power down router/switch; Cable Modem; and Phone Adapter and power back on)
Problem: I cannot send faxes through my ATA.
Solution:
- To dial a fax number you will need to dial a *99 prefix before dialing the 10-digit phone number of the fax number you are calling.
Problem: I get an "Out of Area" error message when dialing some toll-free numbers.
Solution:
- This is usually due to the way your outbound caller ID is being interpreted. This primarily affects our Toll Free service plan customers since their caller ID is their toll-free number.
- The typical work around is to prefix the number you are trying to reach with a *81.
Created On: 4/28/2005 12:11:00 PM
Last Modified On: 11/21/2017 1:30:00 PM
Article ID: 10859
Viewed 6,447 times
|
|