We are in the process of an Asterisk call center deployment using IAX2 G711 ulaw softphones. Outbound sound quality is terrible. This week we rebuilt the entire LAN with Cisco 2950-EI switches and have employed QoS on the switches and router. Still sounds terrible. What we are now finding is that the network card in the PC may be the key to the problem. A Dell Optiplex P4 2.4GHz 512MB machine with an onboard Intel NIC is bad, while an older Dell Dimension P3 864MHz 128MB machine with onboard 3COM sounds good. Has anyone out there had a similar experience? Thanks, Adam The contents of this email message and any attachments are confidential and are intended solely for addressee. The information may also be legally privileged. This transmission is sent in trust, for the sole purpose of delivery to the intended recipient. If you have received this transmission in error, any use, reproduction or dissemination of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately notify the sender by reply email and delete this message and its attachments, if any.
Douglas Logan
2005-Aug-26 07:41 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards
I haven't had similiar experience, but in several threads about sound quality people have talked about Network cards being the culprit. In particular, a few people have commented all sorts of problems on onboard NIC's, since they tend to be of lesser quality than stand-alone NICS. On 8/26/05, Adam Robins <arobins@pharmacentra.com> wrote:> We are in the process of an Asterisk call center deployment using IAX2 > G711 ulaw softphones. Outbound sound quality is terrible. > > This week we rebuilt the entire LAN with Cisco 2950-EI switches and have > employed QoS on the switches and router. Still sounds terrible. > > What we are now finding is that the network card in the PC may be the > key to the problem. A Dell Optiplex P4 2.4GHz 512MB machine with an > onboard Intel NIC is bad, while an older Dell Dimension P3 864MHz 128MB > machine with onboard 3COM sounds good. > > Has anyone out there had a similar experience? > > Thanks, > Adam > > The contents of this email message and any attachments are confidential and are intended solely for addressee. The information may also be legally privileged. This transmission is sent in trust, for the sole purpose of delivery to the intended recipient. If you have received this transmission in error, any use, reproduction or dissemination of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately notify the sender by reply email and delete this message and its attachments, if any. > > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- > > Asterisk-Users mailing list > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
Jonathan k. Creasy
2005-Aug-26 07:57 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards
I have had similar experience with an Intel NIC that had DELL's name on it vs a 3COM 3C905b. -Jonathan -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Douglas Logan Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 10:42 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards I haven't had similiar experience, but in several threads about sound quality people have talked about Network cards being the culprit. In particular, a few people have commented all sorts of problems on onboard NIC's, since they tend to be of lesser quality than stand-alone NICS. On 8/26/05, Adam Robins <arobins@pharmacentra.com> wrote:> We are in the process of an Asterisk call center deployment using IAX2 > G711 ulaw softphones. Outbound sound quality is terrible. > > This week we rebuilt the entire LAN with Cisco 2950-EI switches andhave> employed QoS on the switches and router. Still sounds terrible. > > What we are now finding is that the network card in the PC may be the > key to the problem. A Dell Optiplex P4 2.4GHz 512MB machine with an > onboard Intel NIC is bad, while an older Dell Dimension P3 864MHz128MB> machine with onboard 3COM sounds good. > > Has anyone out there had a similar experience? > > Thanks, > Adam > > The contents of this email message and any attachments areconfidential and are intended solely for addressee. The information may also be legally privileged. This transmission is sent in trust, for the sole purpose of delivery to the intended recipient. If you have received this transmission in error, any use, reproduction or dissemination of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately notify the sender by reply email and delete this message and its attachments, if any.> > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- > > Asterisk-Users mailing list > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >_______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Philipp von Klitzing
2005-Aug-26 08:23 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards
Hi!> We are in the process of an Asterisk call center deployment using IAX2 > G711 ulaw softphones. Outbound sound quality is terrible.Have you tried a different sound card and/or a USB handset (which includes an external sound card)? And what exactly do you mean with "terrible sound"? Philipp
We are using Plantronics H51N headset top with DA55 USB adapter which has DSP built-in. Terrible means garbled, unintelligible, underwater-sounding. -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Philipp von Klitzing Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 11:23 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards Hi!> We are in the process of an Asterisk call center deployment using IAX2 > G711 ulaw softphones. Outbound sound quality is terrible.Have you tried a different sound card and/or a USB handset (which includes an external sound card)? And what exactly do you mean with "terrible sound"? Philipp _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users The contents of this email message and any attachments are confidential and are intended solely for addressee. The information may also be legally privileged. This transmission is sent in trust, for the sole purpose of delivery to the intended recipient. If you have received this transmission in error, any use, reproduction or dissemination of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately notify the sender by reply email and delete this message and its attachments, if any.
Andrea Cristofanini - Gedam Europe Srl
2005-Aug-26 11:02 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards
tourn of AGC , and mybe use GSM. for usb device that use iax2 prtocol there are this one that have nice http://www.gedameurope.com/us/002servizi_e_prodotti%5Bus%5D.htm this usb device doe not need external sound card. Philipp von Klitzing wrote:>Hi! > > > >>We are in the process of an Asterisk call center deployment using IAX2 >>G711 ulaw softphones. Outbound sound quality is terrible. >> >> > >Have you tried a different sound card and/or a USB handset (which >includes an external sound card)? And what exactly do you mean with >"terrible sound"? > >Philipp > > >_______________________________________________ >--Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- > >Asterisk-Users mailing list >Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com >http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > >__________ Informazione NOD32 1.1202 (20050825) __________ > >Questo messaggio ? stato controllato dal Sistema Antivirus NOD32 >http://www.nod32.it > > > > >-- Cheers Andrea Andrea Cristofanini Gedam Europe S.r.l. Gedam Advanced Communication LTD mobile : +39 3291871756 office : +39 011 5694900 MSN : kokkadrink@hotmail.com www.gedameurope.com www.asterisknews.it
I have had uniformly bad experiences with soft phones when there are network issues. Hardware phones seem to work much better if there are network problems. For example, I have been able to make fine calls over a wireless link I use with a cisco 7960, but NO softphone works over the same link. You should also look at the settings for the NIC on the computer. Are your network equipment and NIC both set for full or half duplex? They should be set to the same duplex setting. GIG equipment is easier, it defaults to full duplex. Hope this helps! Paul On 8/26/05, Adam Robins <arobins@pharmacentra.com> wrote:> We are in the process of an Asterisk call center deployment using IAX2 > G711 ulaw softphones. Outbound sound quality is terrible. > > This week we rebuilt the entire LAN with Cisco 2950-EI switches and > have employed QoS on the switches and router. Still sounds terrible. > > What we are now finding is that the network card in the PC may be the > key to the problem. A Dell Optiplex P4 2.4GHz 512MB machine with an > onboard Intel NIC is bad, while an older Dell Dimension P3 864MHz > 128MB machine with onboard 3COM sounds good. > > Has anyone out there had a similar experience? > > Thanks, > AdamPaul Mahler www.signate.com
Matt Riddell
2005-Aug-28 20:27 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards
Adam Robins wrote:> We are in the process of an Asterisk call center deployment using IAX2 > G711 ulaw softphones. Outbound sound quality is terrible.Check if the network card is in half duplex mode. -- Cheers, Matt Riddell _______________________________________________ http://www.sineapps.com/news.php (Daily Asterisk News - html) http://www.sineapps.com/rssfeed.php (Daily Asterisk News - rss)
Should it be in half duplex or full duplex? -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Matt Riddell Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2005 11:28 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards Adam Robins wrote:> We are in the process of an Asterisk call center deployment using IAX2 > G711 ulaw softphones. Outbound sound quality is terrible.Check if the network card is in half duplex mode. -- Cheers, Matt Riddell _______________________________________________ http://www.sineapps.com/news.php (Daily Asterisk News - html) http://www.sineapps.com/rssfeed.php (Daily Asterisk News - rss) _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users The contents of this email message and any attachments are confidential and are intended solely for addressee. The information may also be legally privileged. This transmission is sent in trust, for the sole purpose of delivery to the intended recipient. If you have received this transmission in error, any use, reproduction or dissemination of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately notify the sender by reply email and delete this message and its attachments, if any.
Matt Riddell
2005-Aug-29 05:28 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards
Adam Robins wrote:> Should it be in half duplex or full duplex?Full. -- Cheers, Matt Riddell _______________________________________________ http://www.sineapps.com/news.php (Daily Asterisk News - html) http://www.sineapps.com/rssfeed.php (Daily Asterisk News - rss)
Everything is set to autoneg, NICs, switches and router -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Julio Arruda Sent: Monday, August 29, 2005 8:43 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards Matt Riddell wrote:>Adam Robins wrote: > > >>Should it be in half duplex or full duplex? >> >> >Full. >AFAIK, depends... If you have your switches doing autonegotiation, you can't disable autoneg in the NIC and hardcode it to do 100/Full-duplex, or you WILL have a duplex mismatch. This is as per the standard. A duplex mismatch is really bad, is in fact worse than having segments doing halfduplex (properly). _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users The contents of this email message and any attachments are confidential and are intended solely for addressee. The information may also be legally privileged. This transmission is sent in trust, for the sole purpose of delivery to the intended recipient. If you have received this transmission in error, any use, reproduction or dissemination of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately notify the sender by reply email and delete this message and its attachments, if any.
Huddleston, Robert
2005-Aug-29 07:19 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards
If nic is loaded using modprobe - you can set options for duplex - depending on the nic... See /etc/modules.conf> -----Original Message----- > From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com > [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of > Rich Adamson > Sent: Monday, August 29, 2005 11:13 AM > To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion > Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards > > > > > For an asterisk server _always_ statically define the > duplex setting > > > on both the switch and the nic card. On sip phones and > workstations, > > > > Can you give an example of how to check the duplex setting and > > statically define it for, say, RedHat9 > > Multiple ways... try 'dmesg | grep duplex' or use 'mii-tool'. > > Be careful with assumptions relative to what happens after a > reboot on any system. Static use of the mii-tool within your > system startup scripts may be necessary to ensure full duplex > operation. > > > > On Mon, 29 Aug 2005, Rich Adamson wrote: > > > > > > > >> Everything is set to autoneg, NICs, switches and router > > >> > > > > > > To ensure reasonable performance, key devices (eg, > routers, servers) > > > should _always_ have duplex settings statically defined. Speed is > > > less of an issue as the 10/100 negotiation is hard to get wrong. > > > > > > Part of the duplex negotiation problem is that consistent > standards > > > have not been implemented by all manufacturers (and nic > card drivers). > > > The two ends of a cat5 cable will often times try to auto > negotiate > > > the duplex settings at roughly the same time, and 50% of > the time it > > > will be wrong (eg, mismatched). As someone mentioned previously, > > > mismiatched duplex settings will seriously impact performance and > > > throughput. > > > > > > Keep in mind that opening the cat5 cable at either end > (eg, unplug > > > and replug the rj45) will cause a re-nogitation, as will > a reboot, > > > etc. > > > > > > There are a lot of systems and drivers that don't include > the code > > > to tell you what the actual duplex setting is after a > re-negotiation. > > > MS-based products are poor, and finding the actual > setting in many > > > of the linux distro's is not necessarily easy. > > > > > > For an asterisk server _always_ statically define the > duplex setting > > > on both the switch and the nic card. On sip phones and > workstations, > > > the duplex setting is less important, but should still > match at both > > > ends of the cable. > > > > > > (FWIW, my company does professional network performance > assessments > > > and you couldn't even guess how many large & small > corporate admins > > > don't have a clue. That's based on 12 years of experience > at sites > > > in over 40 US states.) > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- > > > > > > Asterisk-Users mailing list > > > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > > > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > > > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > > > > > > Thanks in advance, > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------- > > Steve Edwards sedwards@sedwards.com Voice: > +1-760-468-3867 PST > > Newline pagesteve@sedwards.com Fax: > +1-760-731-3000 > > _______________________________________________ > > --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- > > > > Asterisk-Users mailing list > > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > > > > ---------------End of Original Message----------------- > > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- > > Asterisk-Users mailing list > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
Rich Adamson
2005-Aug-29 14:51 UTC
[Asterisk-Users] IAX2 Softphone Quality & Network Cards
> >> If nic is loaded using modprobe - you can set options for duplex - > >> depending on the nic... > >> See /etc/modules.conf > > > > I assume you really meant /etc/modprobe.conf ;) > > Rich, he really means /etc/modules.conf. He is using 2.4 kernel. > I know, because the reverse happened to me :), see this: > http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/2005-March/092435.htmlOps, sorry I missed that. Running v2.6 here.