How to improve VoIP quality using my home Wi-Fi?

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I'm using a VoIP service on my Android, and it's working great from the office, and even over 3G/4G, as I have purchased the g.729 codec.

However, when I'm home, my 3G switches to home wifi, and I can barely have a decent conversation, and after some time, the quality deteriorates.

I know the problem is not related to bandwidth used by other connected devices, since g.729 uses very little bandwidth, so it's not a matter of having QoS. What could be the problem ?

My SIP provider is FreelyCall

My internet provider is Ogero and is land based. It's the country's main telco.

For Wifi, I'm connected to a repeater which itself is connected to an access point bundled with a DSL modem. I have tried my repeater in 802.11b/g modes, 2.5Ghz frequency (channel 6).

Thanks

steelmans1980

Posted 2013-12-04T12:32:10.043

Reputation: 11

1What VoIP service are you using? Its entirely possible your 3G/4G provider is using deep packet inspection to throttle your VoIP traffic. – Ramhound – 2013-12-04T12:37:56.503

What is your rated broadband speed? What sort of wireless do you have currently? What does the layout of the flat look like? What is the wireless signal strength where you make calls? – Austin T French – 2013-12-04T12:50:25.550

@Ramhound I'm using FreelyCall SIP service and I mentioned my problem is on my home wifi, my 3G is perfect

– steelmans1980 – 2013-12-04T13:02:08.660

@AthomSfere my bandwidth is 1Mbps/256kbps. I currently have DSL modem with access point in my in-laws house, and have a repeater in my house, and my devices are connected to this repeater. The signal strength between repeater and main access point is 20db and the signal between my smartphone and the the repeater is 5/5. – steelmans1980 – 2013-12-04T13:06:10.987

@steelmans1980 - I aplogize your network configuration is not clear. Do you have a traditional land based ISP? Please update the question with your provider. Alright so my statement about deep packet inspection is likely true, its just that your DSL provider is doing it, not the 3G/4G provider. The information you have shared is important, update the question, so this information can easily be found. – Ramhound – 2013-12-04T13:07:28.403

@Ramhound regarding deep packet inspection, can I confirm this is the issue doing network tests like ping or the sort? my current latency to freelycall.com is 100ms – steelmans1980 – 2013-12-04T13:18:51.660

Your latency to a server wouldn't be effected if your ISP was throttling your bandwidth when it detected certain types of packets. The packets that communicate (Send,Recieve) commands would look different then the actual packets that contained your conversation. Lets rule out other causes, what 802.11 mode are you using and has what frequency ( 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz )? Please update your question to reflect this new information. Another simple way to verify DPI is the problem, connect to a VPN, this way all packets go to the VPN instead of the VoIP service provider. – Ramhound – 2013-12-04T13:33:49.907

@Ramhound I updated question with more details. As for VPN, I will try to use OpenVPN tonight to connect to my provider, and will revert back to you. – steelmans1980 – 2013-12-04T13:44:54.950

Every time an access point is extended the possible bandwidth is reduced by half. Are you able to connect directly to the DSL Gateway's access point? If you are and you still have call quality problems you have basically confirmed its a bandwidth throttling issue. 802.11g should have no problem with VoIP, if you are on 802.11b that might be the reason, I would verify/force the access point to only allow 802.11g devices to connect. – Ramhound – 2013-12-04T13:50:45.453

@steelmans1980 Did you check your latency with a ping app? Could you check the latency on 3G/4G (just to see if it's better)? If it's the same (around 100ms) you could check on WiFi with another provider (at a fiends or free WiFi-spot somewhere) because then it could be DPI. If it's better at 3G/4G we need to dig deeper as to the reason. (Could you check the ping freelycall.com on a PC-wired. For me it's around 27ms on wired and around 37ms on my Android, in the netherlands, europe). You could also try a softphone for the PC (if wired) to check for quality. – Rik – 2013-12-04T15:24:00.043

Answers

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g.729 needs some 3.12kbps, so bandwidth may not be an issue, unless, some application such as torrent is hogging all your bandwidth. Also, as Ramhound suggested, your ISP may be throttling your connection to ensure you don't use VoIP.

One way out is to use an automatic tester (such as (http://telecom.toshiba.com/VIPedge-Assessor/) to test your connection. I am sure there are a number of testers available.

Cheers

user315409

Posted 2013-12-04T12:32:10.043

Reputation: 41

Asked: 2013-12-04T12:32:10.043

Viewed: 430 times

Active: 2014-10-09T09:22:24.013