Where do I get a Net Limiter?
 

I recently subscribed to a so-called IP-telephone service here in Norway, which works via the broadband. Now all of our domestic telephone calls are virtually free, as are our calls to Sweden and Denmark. (We’ll probably save $ 200-250 per month.)

But there is a problem: We have several Macs and one PC connected to a hub, and if someone is, say, streaming a music video from the Internet, the voice quality is terrible.

I am told that a "Net Limiter" will solve this. Supposedly it effectively shields enough broadband capacity to ensure the IP-telephone’s voice quality. Either directly or by limiting how much capacity any individual computer may seize.

Does anyone know where I can get ahold of a "Net Limiter"? And what I do with it? I have very little technical knowledge about networks or broadband.

Best regards,
ArcticStones

Goggle to the rescue.

http://forum.theispguide.com/sutra7787.html

Yellow, Thanx! I didn’t immediately see any solutions for Mac or OSX there, but I’ll try to dig more deeply later.

What I would REALLY like, is software that somehow RESERVES a minimum broadband capacity for the IP-telephone. In a sense only indirectly limiting everything else. But I don’t know if that can be done...

Sorry, I only looked for Windows apps. This has been asked about (well, limiting bandwidth use) a couple of times on here, but I don't remember any adequate solutions being offered. Nor could I find anything with a quick perusal of VersionTracker.

Yes, I searched this forum, but couldn’t immediately see a solution. Searching the Web for "bandwith controller" "for Mac OSX", I got no sensible hits.

Contacted my Mac supplier her in Bergen, Norway. In an e-mail they mention "a 3Com swithcer which prioritizes IP-telephoni". He was going to search for more info.
Ever heard of it?

I was hoping that there was a nice software solution - even built into OSX.

I haven't. VoIP is just being offered where I live and IMO it's not quite ready for "prime time", as they say, so I really don't know a whole lot about it. Sorry.

We use dedicated hardware to prioritize network traffic following our interests. Try with http://www.packeteer.com

Regards,
Joan

You said your computers are connected to a hub... is it actually a hub, or is it a router? I ask because in the US, broadband customer generaly use a router to split their connection instead of a hub.

I use a Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Router and in it's advanced setup options there is a QoS (Quality of Service) tab. My understanding of it is that you can set priorities to different ports and it will allocate bandwidth accordingly.

So you would set the port for your IP Telephone to high, and the ports for FTP, HTTP, streaming media, ect. to low.

The computers (3 Macs and 2 PCs) are connected to a WLinx SS-E0CM Mini-Hub (8 ports). The hub, in turn, is connected to a Cisco 677i-DIR router.

My fax and IP-telephone are connected to a Sipura adapter with two entrances, which is connected to the hub. I plan to connect a second IP adapter to the hub, giving us a total of three phone lines.

I am told that a Netopia router is better, but supposedly the telecom central (is that the word) that services my area cannot accommodate it. Cisco does not have built i QOS.

The broadband supplier (NextGenTel/Broadpark) "owns" the router; we have limited choice.

Well, that’s what I can tell you about the set-up.
ArcticStones


PS I am not technically inclined and know little about networking and telecommunications.

The "right" way to do this is for the VoIP gateway to be outside your network (directly connected to the broadband line) and have it control QoS. Many providers are still using old hardware that has no QoS. Ask yours if that is implemented in their hardware.

A secondary way is to use a router which has 802.1p QoS capabililty. It will recognize the VoIP packets and give them top priority. I'm not sure which consumer-grade routers support it, but you might check out a high end Linksys like the WRV54g and see if it does.

My Vonage VoIP box has both WAN and LAN ports. Like CAlvarez points out, if this is connected between the Modem and Router, it will automatically prioritize the VoIP connection. If, instead I connect the box after the router, it shares the network equally. The later case requires that ports 69, 5060-5061 and 10000-20000 need to be forwarded to the VoIP.

Calvarez & LasVegas,
Does what you’re describing hold true internationally? Is 802.1p w/ QOS capability, for instance, a universal standard, just as usable where I am?

I wonder if there are any relevant technical differences between the USA and Europe - specifically Norway... (Are you familiar with the equipment I refer to?)

What I called my IP-adapter, between the phone and hub, seems a simple box filled mostly with air. Is this the same as the "VoIP gateway" that you refer to?

So which "box" do I replace? And is there any functionality og compatibility that I need to triple-check here, before I cough up money?

By the way, how common are IP-telephone services in the US? Have any of you totally replaced your "regular" phone with VoIP services?

I use Vonage for my home phone. It's as good, if not better that my old land line. Yes. The VoIP box, made by Motorola, is small and lighter than an iPod! :) Check the back of it. If you have two Ethernet ports, they should be marked WAN and PC. Connect the WAN to your Internet source and the PC port to your router.

If your Internet source requires PPPoE, you'll need to set it up in the VoIP box and turn it off in the Router. You may also need to set any Port Forwarding you currently have setup in the Router in the VoIP box as well.

Absolutely! These are world standards for data connection quality control. 802.1p has a lot of dependencies, and it would be hard to fully cover them here, but... Basically any QoS-aware device will prioritize traffic. Your ISP is not going to respect that and they may slow you down if they are overloaded. But at least if you support it in your home, then you will not bog down your own connection.

I don't know how many people use VoIP here yet, but it is growing fast. I dropped my landline about four years ago and only use a cell phone, but recently also got a VoIP account to use when I'm in Mexico or around the house to save cell minutes. It's very convenient because I can have it ring my home/cell/office all at the same time, and I can pick it up anywhere. One number for my callers.

For those considering VoIP in the US, I very strongly recommend Fonality over Vonage. Very, very strongly. Much higher call quality, and much better support. Vonage didn't even want to talk to me on the phone to sell me 48 lines for our business, but Fonality spent a half hour with me when they only though I was going to buy a single line. I've toured the Fonality data center, and let me tell you, it is a world-class facility.

Hello ArcticStones,

what is the velocity of your broadband ?
We just subscribe the broadband+VoIP here in France : 30 Eur/month for broadband 1024 Kbps down (128 Ko/sec up). The voice is not often in good quality.

I think I should activate a firewall on our Mac, how does it work (technically), what does it stop, why would it let the internet connections work and not others ?
How to know when the Mac transfers data to the net (troyans, etc ...) ?

Many thanks,
Matthieu

Matbender,

My broadband velocity is 1700/512 Kbps, which costs me about € 55. The voice quality is excellent (unless someone is hogging bandwidth, for instance by streaming music videos).

On occassion the VoIP connection has been one way; they can hear me, but I get can’t hear them. And there are times when it won’t make the connection if I make a new call immediately after finishing a conversation. (I’m told the culprit is the Cisco router with its old technology.)

Someone more knowledgeable than I will have to answer your questions about firewalls and transfer data...

Best regards,
ArcticStones

You can turn on the software firewall in the Sharing Prefs Pane.

It blocks ports that aren't opened in the Prefs Pane, blocking hackers for exploiting those ports. You could also use a hardware firewall or router between the Mac and Net connection.

Macs don't transfer Trojans or viruses to the net unless an infected email is forwared. Macs currently don't get such infections. Most routers have reporting features if you need to log data exchanges.

right, I activated the firewall.
I didn't check any of items in the list below (cause I don't know what they mean) ...

Any rapid help on how the firewall is functioning ?

Thanks a lot ...

There are hundreds of free Security Test sites on the net. Just do a Google search. Keep in mind though that many of them have an agenda. There goal is to convince you that you need their security software, so they'll claim being able to see your computers IP address and read their own cookies as security leaks. These are not security leaks!

By the way - is there a way to surf the Web and not have your IP address shown/visible? If so, would this needlessly attract the attention of the powers that be?
(Just curious; I’m not planning to take evasive action. If someone wants to invest the time and resources to watch my Web activities, so be it.)

Are permanent IP addresses essential to the function of the Internet, etc?

My linksys WRT54G has bandwidth limiting if you use the sevasoft firmware

Since 3 days when I'm on the Mac I have "Activity Monitor" launched.

There are data in and out all the time, not enough though to be a mater (I think), but the transfer is never zero for a while (30 sec max without data transfer).
Is this normal ? :confused:

Some cro$oft apps seems to surf the web more than I do, what do they look for ???
A free update for the Text Editing tool ??? ;)

If you are technically minded, you could route all traffic through one of you Macs and then use 'throttled' along with ipfw to limit bandwidth.

Here are some notes I have in a text file from when I played with it:
Probably got the notes off someone's web site, but I cannot remember where.....

The notes about "throttled" probably came from this old thread:
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=9417
which tells you where to get "throttled" and which has a relatively recent post by the author of that program saying that he plans to create a GUI for configuring it.

Actually from here, but your link is probably better as it has been updated more recently :)