How to reduce drop-outs

offbeatmammal · Post by **offbeatmammal** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:52 pm

When I'm on a call I get fairly frequent drop-outs where it goes silent for a second about once every 30-60 seconds.
it does it both on a headset and the softphone and also when using out DECT6.0 phone plugged into the MagicJack

the dropouts are both ways.... I can't hear people on the other end, and they can't hear me

quality overall is better than with Skype

but the dropouts are killing me!

Gerry_52 · Post by **Gerry_52** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:00 pm

You are probably experiencing packet dropouts for one of several reasons. Usually the problem is related to upload speed. Have you measured your upload and download speeds using a utility such as speedtest.com? A little information on your setup such as OS, processor speed, RAM, type of broadband you are using and whether you are using a hub or is the MJ plugged directly into the computer. More information always helps narrow down problems.

offbeatmammal · Post by **offbeatmammal** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:11 pm

download: 4000kbps
upload: 1100kbps

the host PC is a dual core HP 2Ghz+ running WinXP. 2GB RAM.
MagicJack is plugged directly into a USB2.0 port on the PC.
connected via 802.11g (we have b turned off on the router) to a DLink DI-655 plugged into a Comcast 8Mb cable connection.

phone handset is a Philips DECT6 device

we have a FON hotspot running as well as the DI-655 (share some bandwidth with the neighbourhood) and use the WiFi to power a SlimDevices squeezebox as well (Media Center, Windows Home Server and XBox360 are all hardwired - the MCE and XBox are off at the moment) but it doesn't seem to be impacted by local network traffic... we've had both Squeezeboxes going as well as youtube on the host PC with no real noticable difference in quality... just the weird silences!

Gerry_52 · Post by **Gerry_52** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:25 pm

Well, your setup sounds great, has this been occuring since you have had the MJ? Is it consistant, ie: everytime you use the MJ? Does it occur on both incoming and outgoing calls? I'm looking for some sort of pattern here. Have you run the magic fix program?

offbeatmammal · Post by **offbeatmammal** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:45 pm

I've only had the MJ for a bout a week but it's done it pretty much from the first call.

I've run MagicFix and the update and tried a couple of machines with pretty much the same result.
Wonder if Comcast has some stupid heartbeat that's screwing with it?

Xen1969 · Post by **Xen1969** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:24 pm

Offbeatmammal -

I've had the same issue since day one. It is my biggest frustration with MagicJack. I'd just come to the conclusion that its probably just my CPU speed but your computer is much faster than mine.

My setup:

800 Mhz Pentium III 512mb RAM
plugged directly into USB 2.0 on the computer

upload/download speeds tested and not a problem... I have cable 2mb down/500kbps up

connected via wireless 802.11g (Linksys)

phone handset

MagicJack works great except for these dropouts... which are half second to 1 second in length most of the time but sometimes as long as 3-4 seconds.

I'm with WideOpenWest, not Comcast

I have used the performance monitor (Windows XP) to watch my CPU performance when making calls and when the silences occur I do see spikes in CPU useage -- sometimes up to ~ 35% on my 800 Mhz system.

You have a much faster PC than me. Your blips might be much smaller but I'd be interested in knowing what you see when watching the CPU useage while using the MagicJack. When the silence occurs, what do you see? As you say, it seems to occur about every 30-60 seconds or so.

Xen1969 · Post by **Xen1969** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:47 pm

Further...

from testing at http://myspeed.visualware.com/voip/

"Your download speed of 2.07 Mbps is high enough to support a high quality voice-over-IP conversation"

"Your upload speed of 388 kbps is high enough to support a high quality voice-over-IP conversation"

"Your Quality of Service was measured at 99%, which shows that your connection can produce a constant stream of data. This is key to providing a high quality voice-over-IP connection"

"Your connections jitter was measured as 1.5 ms, which indicates that it can produce a constant flow of data. Voice-over-IP conversations should be of good quality."

"Your connection's packet loss was measured at 0.0%, which indicates that it is accurately transferring data. Voice-over-IP conversations should be of good quality."

Download speed 2078 Kbps (socket test)
Upload speed 388 Kbps (socket test)
Quality of service 99 %
Maximum delay 215 ms
Round trip time 39 ms
Upstream jitter 1.5 ms
Upstream packet loss 0 %
Upstream packet order 100 %
Upstream discards 0 %
Downstream jitter 2.7 ms
Downstream packet loss 0 %
Downstream packet order 100 %
Downstream discards 0 %

sleepintill2 · Post by **sleepintill2** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:21 am

Are you using Windows to manage the wireless connection or an app provided by the wi-fi card maker?

If you are using Windows: Microsoft's Wireless Zero Configuration Tool trys to find a better connection every 60 seconds causing a lag. Ping your router, see if you get a big lag every 60 seconds exactly. You will get something like this:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=944ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

I have seen computers where the lag is as little as 50-60ms, the computer I am on now it is always like 800-1000ms, almost a full second. Google "windows 60 second lag" plenty of info on this, mostly from gamers being messed up by this. XP fix is to use application from wi-fi card vendor to replace WZC, in Vista it much harder to get around MS wireless management.

offbeatmammal · Post by **offbeatmammal** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:55 am

it may be that.... can't test the machine in question right now, but on my laptop I see the problem pretty consistantly
http://www.martin-majowski.de/wlanoptim ... nloads.php makes the 60 second refresh go away

also a possible work around (didn't work for me because work apply a group policy that stops me playing with the machine!) is

*Open a command prompt using run as administrator.
* Make sure the WLAN service must be running first. If it isn't type net start wlansvc.
* Type in netsh wlan set autoconfig enabled=no interface="name of your wireless network here" (with the quotes)
* If you need to see the name of your wireless network first, type in netsh wlan show settings

offbeatmammal · Post by **offbeatmammal** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:30 am

got to the WinXP machine hosting the MagicJack.... because it's WinXP and there's no drivers for the card I stopped the ZeroConf service and hard coded the SSID of the WiFi network I want it connecting to into the device settings (it's a machine that never goes anywhere, the only reason it's not got cat5 going to it is.... it's in an annoying place to run cable to!)

quick test call didn't show the problem, but have an hours conference call in the morning which should highlight the problem (if it still exists) or confirm goodness (if it's fixed).... and either way I learned something useful here today!

sleepintill2 · Post by **sleepintill2** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:52 am

offbeatmammal wrote:

*Open a command prompt using run as administrator.
* Make sure the WLAN service must be running first. If it isn't type net start wlansvc.
* Type in netsh wlan set autoconfig enabled=no interface="name of your wireless network here" (with the quotes)
* If you need to see the name of your wireless network first, type in netsh wlan show settings

That is the only way I have found to fix the lag w/ Vista. I have created two desktop shortcuts to toggle that off/on.

turn off utility

Code: Select all

C:\Windows\System32\netsh.exe wlan set autoconfig enabled=no interface="Wireless Network Connection"

turn on utility

Code: Select all

C:\Windows\System32\netsh.exe wlan set autoconfig enabled=yes interface="Wireless Network Connection"

I just right click shortcut and "Run as administrator". You have to toggle it back on if you lose the connection or reboot.

Xen1969 · Post by **Xen1969** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:56 am

sleepintill2 - THANK YOU

I'm using XP and Wireless Zero Configuration is absolutely the problem. I just turned it off and made a 7 minute call and no dropoffs.

Once the wireless connection is established in XP, it appears you can turn off the WZC with no adverse side effects. So I've made a desktop shortcut and will just turn it off whenever I receive or make a call. No biggie.

THANKS also to offbeatmammal. I feel like I've hijacked your thread. I hope this solves your problem as well.

For others, there is a wealth of information about this problem online by Googling XP wireless lag ... and I imagine Vista wireless lag.

Gerry_52 · Post by **Gerry_52** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:10 pm

I have had the same dropout problem, however it is not a consistant 60 sec dropout, it is more random. My computer is not connected via wifi, however my internet connection is via a Sprint wireless card. I'm wondering if there is a similar fix based upon the comms between the card and cell site/system.My background is RF comms, so I'm going to have to spend some time looking into this.

offbeatmammal · Post by **offbeatmammal** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:59 pm

looks like the problem is down to ZeroConf.... 30 mins into my first conf call of the day and not one dropout

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:43 am

No wonder my MJ keeps shutting off (not to mention the bad audio). My Jitter and packet loss is too high. I assume it is from the connection to the wireless router (DSL modem):

Speed test statistics
---------------------
Download speed: 519920 bps
Upload speed: 109328 bps
Quality of service: 99 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum download pause: 70 ms
Average download pause: 52 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 84 ms
Average round trip time to server: 210 ms

VoIP test statistics
--------------------
Jitter: you --> server: 551.5 ms
Jitter: server --> you: 3.9 ms
Packet loss: you --> server: 17.2 %
Packet loss: server --> you: 0.0 %
Packet discards: 0.0 %
Packets out of order: 0.0 %
Number of supported VoIP lines: 0
Estimated MOS score: 3.0

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:59 am

My Jitter seems to vary wildly. Sometimes is gets down to less than 2 ms.
But other times it is more than 500 ms (see previous post).
Seems to be worse at night, better during the day.
Any ideas?

Speed test statistics
---------------------
Download speed: 479840 bps
Upload speed: 109584 bps
Quality of service: 63 %
Download test type: socket
Upload test type: socket
Maximum download pause: 239 ms
Average download pause: 58 ms
Minimum round trip time to server: 88 ms
Average round trip time to server: 214 ms

VoIP test statistics
--------------------
Jitter: you --> server: 40.5 ms
Jitter: server --> you: 4.9 ms
Packet loss: you --> server: 0.0 %
Packet loss: server --> you: 0.0 %
Packet discards: 0.0 %
Packets out of order: 0.0 %
Number of supported VoIP lines: 0
Estimated MOS score: 3.7