PAP2 Issues

[FreePhoneUser]

Hello. I recently purchased my config file and followed the PAP2T instructions found on this forum to set up my PAP2-NA ATA (N.B. I am using a PAP2 firmware 3.1.23, not a PAP2T).

The problem:
The adapter and VOIP service seems to be working fine except for one major problem that I have not been able to figure out. On any call I make, every 8 seconds, the audio will stop transmitting for 1 second and then resume. The other party will not be able to hear me during this 1 second blackout period, however I can still here the other side with no interruptions. Another 8 seconds later the same cycle will start again.

My setup:
I have a Rogers Cable 10/1 connection.
Connected to the modem I have a WRT54G running Tomato 1.27.
Connected to the Router is a 100ft cat5e which connects to a Dlink gigabit switch, which is connected to a 6ft cat5e cable connected to the PAP2.

Thing I have tried:
There is no other network activity going on beside my test calls.I have the PAP2 in the DMZ on my router. The second line on the PAP2 is not enabled. I have tried enabling/disabling QOS on the router. I have tried switching the codec from 729a to G711u. I have also tested this issue using 2 separate networks on the other end of the call, Rogers cable-telephony, and Bell CDMA. None of these changes has had any effect on the 8 second blackout cycle.

Can anyone please let me know what I can try to fix this? I consider my freephoneline almost useless in it's current state.

Thank you!

[FreePhoneUser]

As a result of further testing, I have narrowed the problem down to my internet connection.

I connected the PAP2 directly to my cable modem and I am still suffering from the 8 second blackout cycle. This eliminates the router, the switch, and the cabling (well except for the 6ft cat5e). It also eliminates the analog phone as used a different phone.

In further support of my internet connection being at fault, I used my SIP on my Windows Mobile phone. When connected to my wifi connection, I get the same 8 second blackout cycle. However, when connected via the phone's EVDO connection I do not get the 8 second blackout cycle. I do however get intermittent breakup which I attribute to poor connection quality of the EVDO network.

This eliminates the PAP2.


So I'm still back to square one, what do I do now that I have isolated my internet connection as the culprit behind the 8 second black out cycle?

I'm using Rogers internet in Toronto and have a 10/1 connection.

[FreePhoneUser]

Another facet revealed!


I ran ping tests to voip.freephoneline.ca and surprise surprise, every 8 seconds the pings spike up to 630-750ms range!! This coincides with the 8 second blackout cycle.

Code: Select all

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

Pinging voip.freephoneline.ca [208.65.240.142] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=635ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=670ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=691ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=708ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=741ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=10ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=7ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=756ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=8ms TTL=55
Reply from 208.65.240.142: bytes=32 time=9ms TTL=55

Ping statistics for 208.65.240.142:
    Packets: Sent = 50, Received = 50, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 7ms, Maximum = 756ms, Average = 91ms

I ran the test a few time, and the above ping spikes are actually pretty good, as I'm often getting around 900-1000ms ping spikes.

***So the question is, is this only a problem with my connection? Only other Rogers users? Only Rogers users on my node? Or is this affecting everyone using FPL right now?***

Could another Rogers user from Toronto please run a ping test and paste the results here?

How to run ping test:
start menu, in search box type "cmd" press enter.
in command window type "ping voip.freephoneline.ca -n 50" without the quotes.
After the test completes (will take about 1 min), right click, press select all, then press ctrl+c to copy to clipboard.

[FreePhoneUser]

Was this all much ado about nothing? The problem has disappeared. The horrible 8-second blackout cycle that plagued me with clockwork like precision has ceased.

I just ran some more ping tests and I'm getting pings between 7-19ms. So maybe it was just transient network conditions which have rectified themselves?


Anyone experience anything like this with FPL before? FPL staff, did you change anything on your end in the last few hours?

Anyways, I'm glad that the matter is resolved for the time being.

[FONGO_kris]

Nope, we've not changed anything in a while... Rogers in notorious for traffic shaping and throttling their connections between 4 houses at a time, so it may be wise to keep Rogers in the back of your mind - Though again; I'm not going to say "Don't use Rogers!!", but we do optimize our DSL for use with our VoIP service

[FreePhoneUser]

Nope, we've not changed anything in a while... Rogers in notorious for traffic shaping and throttling their connections between 4 houses at a time, so it may be wise to keep Rogers in the back of your mind - Though again; I'm not going to say "Don't use Rogers!!", but we do optimize our DSL for use with our VoIP service

Thanks for the response.

Unfortunately, the problem is back again. Is this a common thing Rogers users have been experiencing? This is incredibly frustrating.

[FreePhoneUser]

I noticed this is happening when I ping other sites too, google, yahoo, all suffering from lag spikes at 8 second intervals. I'm going to give rogers a call and politely rip them a new one.

[FONGO_kris]

You may need to teach me how to do that, it may come in handy when I need to call a carrier for you guys .

... Be sure to ask if they are in the process of or completed moving you over to DOCSIS3, that caused some unfortunate outages around here...

[beverly]

using ping -t google.ca might spike if your using another internet program.

Code: Select all

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\You>ping -t freephoneline.ca

Pinging freephoneline.ca [74.205.217.146] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=24ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=17ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=15ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=16ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.205.217.146: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=56

Ping statistics for 74.205.217.146:
    Packets: Sent = 39, Received = 39, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 12ms, Maximum = 24ms, Average = 14ms
Control-C
^C
C:\Users\You>

I wonder if this has to do with the dropouts.

[bridonca]

You can test your VOIP quality from one of many sources. This one was handy.
http://www.whichvoip.com/voip/speed_test/ppspeed.html

Change your port to something like 6060. I doubt it will do anything, but it might give better results.

It does not hurt to rip a Rogers CSR, especially if you do it often. Magically, even though one side of their mouth says they never throttle traffic, your problems go away as they disable the throttling on your internet connection.