Enabling Quality of Service (QoS)

      Enabling Quality of Service (QoS)


        Article Summary

        QoS

        New to this section? Check out our series on how to debug network related call quality issues.

        What is QoS?

        QoS, or Quality of Service, is used to refer to ways in which your router can re-order (or drop) certain types of traffic on your network in order to meet a certain service level. Similar to a traffic light, QoS tells less important traffic to wait so the important traffic from your phone makes it through the intersection without delay. The most common use of QoS is to prioritize audio/video or gaming applications - or to de-prioritize P2P applications like BitTorrent.

        Why do I need QoS?

        Most homes and offices don't have the luxury of instantly providing more bandwidth when the network traffic is consumed. This creates scenarios where the users on a network are consuming the entire supply of bandwidth offered by the Internet Service Provider. When demand is greater than supply, traffic in/out of your network starts backing up -- this backup is what causes VoIP phone calls to become choppy.

        How do I set up QoS on my router?

        Each router's configuration is slightly different. Consult your router's user manual to determine 1) if QoS is a feature offered by the router and 2) how to set up QoS rules.

        Which services should I prioritize?

        Close VoIP traffic:

        • TCP and UDP, SIP protocol, port 5060-5065 (High priority)
        • UDP, RTP protocol, ports 10000-32768 (Highest priority)

        Close Application traffic:

        • app.close.io, TCP, port 443 (High priority)
        • app.close.com, TCP, port 443 (High priority)

        If you're on a wireless network, please enable WMM.

        If you're unable to prioritize the entire RTP port range on your network you can look for traffic tagged with DSCP 46 High Priority and use that to identify the RTP stream (voice) of any call.

        It's asking for the upstream and downstream bandwidth of my connection, what do I enter?

        Be very aggressive when setting the upload and download speed of the connection. To determine the correct bandwidth settings for your QoS engine, it's recommended to run a test of your connection on http://speedtest.net and then set values to 80% of what's reported. For example, if you have a 20Mbit/1Mbit ADSL connection and speedtest.net reports 18Mbit/768Kbit of "real bandwidth", set your QoS bandwidth to 14.4Mbit/614Kbit.

        What if I have additional questions?

        Yes, it's true, we don't manage your Internet or your router settings, but we can often point you in the right direction. If you have any questions about setting advanced QoS settings please send us at email to support@close.com.