Need reliable bidirectional QOS

[lifespeed]

I currently have a DGL-4300 that appears to be failing to live up to my ever-increasing expectations. I now have VOIP, both wired from two PC's with softphones, as well as two smartphones with 802.11G. A also have a linksys ATA wired to the router for a plain old wired telephone.

Sometimes the smartphones and VOIP ATA will fail to connect to the VOIP server. A router reboot always solves the problem. I am losing patience with this.

Also, my understanding is the DGL-4300 only has one-way QOS. Despite this being configured, heavy downloading from the PCs appears to cause some problems with VOIP connectivity, even though that traffic has a low priority.

I am looking for a robust, full-featured router that can run for long periods without a reboot. I am willing to go wired-only with a separate wireless access point if that gets me better performance/reliability. I do require excellent wifi range for the smartphone VOIP. It does appear the DGL-4300 at least has decent range with a proper external antenna. But if an external AP with better amplifier get's me better range, I am interested. I read on this board that 'consumer' wifi amplifiers were run backed off from FCC rated power to provide the necessary linearity for the OFDM modulation scheme. If this is true, I would like to look into a separate AP with proper amp and antenna.

The Draytek 2110(n) occurred to me as a possibility, but I am not a router expert.

Any suggestions?

 

[thiggins]

Pickin's are very slim for consumer routers that provide bi-directional bandwidth control.

Draytek's are a possibility. You might also look at the EnGenius ESRs. You might have to use separate products for optimum wired / wireless performance.

 

[lifespeed]

The Draytek 2130 looks a likely candidate. Your review was positive, and it appears to have the most advanced QOS in the non-enterprise price range.

However, it appears to be missing from their website. Has it already gone extinct?

 

[thiggins]

The Draytek 2130 looks a likely candidate. Your review was positive, and it appears to have the most advanced QOS in the non-enterprise price range.

However, it appears to be missing from their website. Has it already gone extinct?

I have emailed Draytek asking just that question and have not received a response. In fact, my contact stopped responding before the 2130n review was done and I don't even know if he's still with the company.

It could be Draytek realized that the cost/performance of the 2130n was out of whack.

 

[lifespeed]

Too bad, it looked promising. Are Draytek so small that one should be concerned about future support and their continued existence?
Looks like Engenius is my only option. Too bad all their routers include low-power wireless. Would prefer a separate 600mW AP. Is their 9855 the best, or is the 9850 preferable?

 

[thiggins]

Draytek has been around for awhile, but more popular outside the U.S.

You can consider other Draytek models. They implement the same feature set across their line.

If you want Engenius' top-of-line, you want the new ESR9855G.

 

[lifespeed]

You can consider other Draytek models. They implement the same feature set across their line.

I looked at their other models, but they don't appear to have a Gigabit switch inside, just 100mb.

Any idea how the ESR9855 internal/external antenna implementation is handled? I would likely want to try dual 5 dBi dipole antennas. Can the internal antenna be disconnected, or is it then a three-antenna device?

 

[thiggins]

I looked at their other models, but they don't appear to have a Gigabit switch inside, just 100mb.

Just add a Gigabit switch externally.

Any idea how the ESR9855 internal/external antenna implementation is handled? I would likely want to try dual 5 dBi dipole antennas. Can the internal antenna be disconnected, or is it then a three-antenna device?

Without seeing the innards, I can't tell.
But I'd just leave the internal antenna alone. For two-stream (300 Mbps max.) N routers, third antenna is for receive only anyway to slightly improve gain.

 

[lifespeed]

According to Alfredo Di Pasquale at DSL-Warehouse.com, the Draytek Vigor 2130 is expected to be in stock in the USA within the next two weeks. I have enquired about pricing and if he has any information on Draytek's intentions to manufacture and support this product.

This feels a bit like trying to buy a cylinder head for a 1967 Saab Sonnet

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for posting the info. Hope you find the effort worth it.

 

[lifespeed]

Supposedly the Draytek Vigor 2130 (not N) will be available soon for $255. Not exactly a bargain at that price, but if one is interested in wired performance and robust QOS this may be one of the better choices.

Is there much reason to consider some of the more extreme semi-DIY approaches to routing like a routerboard running Microtik software? A tiny PC-on-a-board running PFsense or Monowall? Would one have to become a command line and/or Free BSD wizard to make use of such a device?

These approaches look powerful, but are they overkill for a home network that sometimes gets heavy use and needs to gracefully prioritize traffic to a 20/2Mb connect such that VoIP, gaming, and web don't suffer because of bittorrent and FTP server traffic?