If you use cable or DSL Internet access for VoIP in your small or home office, bandwidth problems likely are all too familiar. But what’s a small company or branch office with a limited budget to do?

 

Actually, there is a solution that addresses bandwidth pinch inherent in the type of setup described above. It’s called VoIP Quality of Service, and it’s available in several affordable products from Kentrox.

 

In an application note (“Using Kentrox QoS Solutions for the Home and Small Office”) available for download at www.kentrox.com, the company explains what VoIP Quality of Service is, and how you can obtain it for your network by installing a Kentrox router.

 

 

To start off, Kentrox explains that VoIP Quality of Service “provides prioritization to voice packets and is imperative when implementing Voice over IP services on a home or remote network.”

 

The company adds: “Cable, and especially DSL, access can not guarantee high levels of user bandwidth. Limited bandwidth will adversely affect your ability to place, maintain, and receive calls via VoIP when your network is busy.”

 

 

Kentrox offers several models of access routers with QoS built in.

 

 

Models Q2300 and Q2301 incorporate a 10/100MB Ethernet WAN access point, support for static or dynamics IP addressing, Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet for direct connection to a DSL or cable modem, and integrated four-port Ethernet switch for connecting a PC or IP phone set and other peripherals.

 

The Q2301 also has a built-in POTS modem for dial-in access (a useful feature that allows network administrators to access the router for setup and troubleshooting).

 

 

Models Q2200 and Q2201 incorporate all the features described for Q2300/Q2301, but are designed to work with T1.

 

“In some cases, companies have decided to retain a few analog channels on a T1 for a voice PBX connection, so the Q2200/Q2201 is appropriate,” Kentrox explains in the application note.

 

If two T1 ports are needed, Kentrox’s Q2400/2401 is the ticket. This router “can have the data traffic dropped directly to the router internally and cross connect the analog traffic out to the PBX via the second T1 port, performing a CSU function without the cost of an additional CSU,” Kentrox says.

 

The company adds: “The Q2400/2401 can also implement redundant operation should the T1 WAN fail by switching to the 10/100Mb Ethernet WAN interface, enabling a DSL/cable modem access point.”

 

 

If your network already has an access router, never fear. You can purchase the QoS appliance as a stand-alone unit—the Q1300.

 

“With the Q1300, there is no need to replace any existing equipment,” Kentrox explains. “Just simply place the Q1300 between your LAN port(s) and the WAN access router and the voice traffic is now marked as high priority.”

 

The company adds: “QoS is not a feature that is found in most home office routers purchased from a local computer store, so it is likely that your home/small office network is not implementing VoIP packet prioritization.”

 

 

All of Kentrox’s VoIP QoS access routers come with the following features.

 

 

 

In the application note, Kentrox details two common network configurations integrating a QoS access router: home office (remote user with IP phone accesses corporate IP PBX) and small office (small office uses T1 to communicate with corporate office).

 

To learn more about these applications, download and read the full application note here.

 

 

Because they are easy to set up, and affordable, Kentrox’s QoS access routers are an ideal solution for small or home offices struggling with voice quality issues resulting from bandwidth pinch.

 

The company’s QoS products “provide packet prioritization to be sure your voice traffic gets through the network and to its destination without compromising your data network and without bandwidth reservation.”

 

For more information, visit Kentrox’s website at www.kentrox.com.

 

 

VoIP Quality of Service