QoS

[#1]

The Three mobile network provide a service that allows calls to be made and received over broadband where signal strength indoors is poor, as it is here. I gather it's a form of VOIP. I was hoping to use that service but I'm finding the quality is very poor, with lots of dropped words. A bit of reading and asking around suggested that Quality of Service (QoS) configuration might improve things but my router (supplied ages ago) doesn't seem to support QoS. So:

• Is it correct that a router supporting QoS might help with VOIP quality?


• Should I have received a router upgrade at some point, or does it not work that way?

[#2]

QoS should only make a difference if your Internet connection, especially the upload bandwidth, is being heavily used at the same time as the VoIP call.
Posting the ADSL stats from your router should help determining if your broadband is working optimally, see the speed issues thread for details.
I assume the call is made from a smartphone using a wireless connection to your router? Then you'll also need a decent quality wireless signal. You could experiment with changing the wireless channel (generally keep to 1, 6 or 11), or perhaps get a WiFi analyzer app to check your signal strength and neighbouring wireless networks.
What router do you currently have? Plusnet don't automatically offer new routers, if you request one, they'll probably want you to start a new 12-month contract. Also, the current model, the Hub Zero a.k.a. the Sagemcom 2704N, has had various problems so many people probably wouldn't recommend it. It doesn't have any QoS features you could configure.

[#3]

Thanks very much for your response. I'll take a look at the thread you mentioned and see if I can dig out some ADSL stats to post.
The VOIP is indeed from a smartphone via WiFi. The signal strength should have been good when I tried it because I was close to the router and neighbouring networks aren't a problem in this sparsely-populated rural area. I do have a second WiFi access point in the house at the moment, which will be on a different frequency of course, but I'm not sure offhand which ones. I'll load up an analyser app as you suggested and take a look.
My current router is a Belkin F5D8633 802.11n, and on checking I see that it isn't the one supplied to me by PlusNet. That was a D-Link DSL 320B from about 2008 that died and I think I must have bought its replacement myself. I have just signed up for a new 12-month contract (started less than a week ago). I don't know whether that means PlusNet would be willing to supply a new router but if the current model is not recommended then it might not be worth trying anyway. Are there any recommendations for more suitable ones?

[#4]

Without really knowing exactly what the problem is, I don't know if a new router would help.
If you're on an exchange with ADSL2+ "up to 17Mb" speeds available, it might be as simple as needing your upstream speed uncapped, to give you more upload speed, which Plusnet can easily do, for free. Unfortunately that's not available for free on exchanges that only have ADSL1 available.

[#5]

Quote

see if I can dig out some ADSL stats to post.

Here we go:

 
 
 
   

ADSL
Type	Interleave Path
Status	SHOWTIME
	Downstream	Upstream
Data rate(Kbps)	3584Kb	448Kb
Noise Margin	7	19
Output power(dBm)	124	187
Attenuation(dB)	59	31

Quote

If you're on an exchange with ADSL2+ "up to 17Mb" speeds available

Apparently we're getting "ADSL Max". I don't know whether that's ADSL 1, 2 or something different to both. According to Wikipedia ADSL Max was formally retired in June last year and replaced by Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) but my exchange still reports Max and not yet WBC, so I don't know where that leaves me.

[#6]

with your stats you would only see a small change in download speed on ADSL2 but your upstream would probably increase by 50%
You are on a 20CN circuit or ADSL Max and ADSL2 is on 21CN
If you check on SamKnows that will show
Mine shows
BT Wholesale information
ADSL status: Enabled as of 30/09/2000
ADSL Max status: Enabled as of 31/03/2006
SDSL status: Enabled as of 24/07/2005
21CN WBC status: Enabled
FTTC status:
Available in some areas
FTTP status:
Available in some areas

[#7]

Unfortunately ADSL1 is all that's available at this exchange, so 448k upload is all you get, unless you pay extra for Max Premium.
I wouldn't have thought voice data even uses that much bandwidth, I'm guessing it would be similar to MP3 bitrate, mono, so it might only be 96kbps, but it would be uploading and downloading simultaneously. It would depend on the quality of the audio and how it is encoded. The downstream speed seems reasonably good for the line attenuation, so no obvious issue there.

[#8]

Quote

on ADSL2 but your upstream would probably increase by 50%

That sounds like it should be a useful improvement if upstream is likely to be the limiting factor for VOIP.
From a bit more googling I see that my exchange is one of only three in the county that haven't yet been upgraded to FTTC. Apparently "work on roll-out" of fibre is due to start by the end of this year but IIUC that won't help me since there aren't any cabinets here, we're all connected directly to the exchange.Is it likely that the exchange will be upgraded to ADSL2+ at the same time as FTTC work, do you think?

[#9]

Sometimes a new cabinet and an FTTC cabinet is installed very close to the exchange, but your line is too long for this to be of any help to you. Upgrading the exchange to ADSL2+ doesn't generally get done at the same time as FTTC cabinets are installed. BT have been upgrading some exchanges to WBC ADSL2+ recently, this work still seems to be ongoing, but NSDLS isn't on the list of exchanges to be done over the next few months.