5 ms·

This is good. What would also be cool is some info on how they tackle the quality problem! Between 1999 and now they’ve made some huge strides

by whall6 5y ago

supertrope 5y ago
VoIP is as good as the underlying network. Consistently high quality calls requires packet prioritization which is only possible on a private network not the Internet. Many landline services are VoIP on the backend (phone jack on broadband modem) and there's few quality complaints as voice packets are prioritized across the broadband link and arrive at a phone switch never touching the Internet. On cellphones normal calls are prioritized LTE data. Using your laptop's lid microphone over Wi-Fi over best effort broadband is a house of cards. Internet age codecs like Opus are better able to cope with adverse network conditions compared with G.711 but can't smooth over them entirely. Your ISP is only going to prioritize their integrated VoIP service unless you buy a $$$$ enterprise connection that will honor your packet priority tags.
- raarts 5y ago
  I would imagine Covid-19 greatly increased customer demand for good quality udp transport. Anyone has more insight to offer here?
  - supertrope 5y ago
    MPLS and DIA connections provide that but cost hundreds of dollars per month. Consumer broadband is affordable because it’s oversubscribed/shared and not dedicated. Average people won’t pay $800/mo and should use their phone as their Zoom audio if they need guaranteed quality.
    - raarts 5y ago
      Yes but I imagine the increased pressure for quality from people working from home would force ISP's to either switch Zoom and others to QoS, or just increase the quality of their network wrt udp in general.
- bewo001 5y ago
  The network is one aspect of a good voice call. The end devices play a surprisingly big role. A couple of years ago we were hunting down a VoIP packet delay variation problem. We placed fiber taps between all elements and did tons of traces only to find that a popular type of CPE was at fault. The delay variation was there before it hit the network. When HQ voice was introduced, we often measured higher acoustical noise as many phones' microphones and speakers bad quality was now exposed by the improved bandwidth. The funny thing is, now that we have VoIP with expensive, carefully managed priority classes for telephony every business is using plain Best Effort Internet for Zoom and Webex calls.

This is good. What would also be cool is some info on how they tackle the quality problem! Between 1999 and now they’ve made some huge strides

by whall6 5y ago

This is good. What would also be cool is some info on how they tackle the quality problem! Between 1999 and now they’ve made some huge strides

supertrope 5y ago

VoIP is as good as the underlying network. Consistently high quality calls requires packet prioritization which is only possible on a private network not the Internet. Many landline services are VoIP on the backend (phone jack on broadband modem) and there's few quality complaints as voice packets are prioritized across the broadband link and arrive at a phone switch never touching the Internet. On cellphones normal calls are prioritized LTE data. Using your laptop's lid microphone over Wi-Fi over best effort broadband is a house of cards. Internet age codecs like Opus are better able to cope with adverse network conditions compared with G.711 but can't smooth over them entirely. Your ISP is only going to prioritize their integrated VoIP service unless you buy a $$$$ enterprise connection that will honor your packet priority tags.

raarts 5y ago
I would imagine Covid-19 greatly increased customer demand for good quality udp transport. Anyone has more insight to offer here?
- supertrope 5y ago
  MPLS and DIA connections provide that but cost hundreds of dollars per month. Consumer broadband is affordable because it’s oversubscribed/shared and not dedicated. Average people won’t pay $800/mo and should use their phone as their Zoom audio if they need guaranteed quality.
  - raarts 5y ago
    Yes but I imagine the increased pressure for quality from people working from home would force ISP's to either switch Zoom and others to QoS, or just increase the quality of their network wrt udp in general.
bewo001 5y ago
The network is one aspect of a good voice call. The end devices play a surprisingly big role. A couple of years ago we were hunting down a VoIP packet delay variation problem. We placed fiber taps between all elements and did tons of traces only to find that a popular type of CPE was at fault. The delay variation was there before it hit the network. When HQ voice was introduced, we often measured higher acoustical noise as many phones' microphones and speakers bad quality was now exposed by the improved bandwidth. The funny thing is, now that we have VoIP with expensive, carefully managed priority classes for telephony every business is using plain Best Effort Internet for Zoom and Webex calls.