How to Configure QoS VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) utilizes your home Internet connection as a means to route your telephone service. Instead of a dedicated telephone line, you must share your telephone connection with all the other Internet traffic being sent in and out. Quality of Service (QoS) determines the relative priority of all the traffic being sent to and from a network. The goal is to guarantee that network packets for voice connections are not delayed or dropped due to interference from other lower-priority traffic, such as file downloads or web browsing.
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Instructions
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Determine who provides your Internet and VoIP connectivity. If both are provided by the same carrier, your carrier may be able to reprogram your VoIP QoS. AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner all offer packages that bundle Internet broadband and telephone service using VoIP. If you experience problems with your home telephone service, such as bad connections or dropped calls, one of these carriers may be able to remotely reprogram your QoS to prioritize telephony packets.
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Call your VoIP provider and ask whether they can improve the QoS on their end or guide you through the process of reconfiguring it on your end. Some VoIP providers may be able to reconfigure your QoS remotely. Others may be able to walk you through the configuration options on your computer that will raise the QoS of your phone calls to a higher priority over other network traffic. The steps to configure QoS vary widely from one provider to another. Some VoIP carriers--for example, Vonage--rely on an Analog Terminal Adapter (ATA) for phone service. Other carriers, such as magicJack, provide VoIP through a device connected directly to your personal computer. The procedure to configure QoS varies from one style of device to the next.
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Ensure that you have access to the configuration options within your Internet router. VoIP QoS is most typically implemented at the router. If you do not have the address and administrative access to your router, you will be unable to configure QoS on your own.
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Set the priority of telephone network packets to be higher than all other traffic handled by your router. The exact configuration depends on your make and model of router as well as the method and devices you use for VoIP. For example, if you use an ATA to connect your analog telephone to your VoIP service, you will want to set the priority of the port on your router where the ATA is connected to the highest allowable setting. You will also need to set the priority of all other traffic to a lower priority.
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