BCM400 / Choppiness on communication end

[Ibiza911]

All,

I have Been struggling with this problem for awhile, we are using the BCM400 w/ 2211 phones, with the nortel 2245 Call server and the 2270 Security switch and the 5520 switches and the AP's are the Nortel 2231. I work in an automotive environment so I can understand why sometimes it might be a bit choppy on the voice side but it is not tolerable in some areas its sooo bad we have to call them back on a land line. We have 19 AP's within the whole plant, we've applied firmware updates on phones/AP's right now its on 802.11b which is configured on the 2270. Would changing this to .11g be helpful at all? Anyone experiencing bad choppiness on VOIP? Any help would be great! Thanks in advance.



JK

 

[biv343]

11G won't make any difference, as the phones are B only.

Couple things to check -

Make sure you are set for "Short Preamble" on the B radio.

Change your minimum data rate to 5.5MBPS - otherwise the battery life in the handset drops considerably (doesn't affect call quality, but a handy hint anyway).

Ensure that you have QOS configured for the WLAN that the phones live on. I'd recommend putting the phones and 2245 on a subnet that is separate from the regular LAN traffic, then apply a "Gold" QOS profile to that WLAN. Also, ensure that you have QOS on the wired LAN that the AP's and BCM connect to. You may want to go as far as to put the AP's on their own VLAN as well. Anything you can do to keep the voice separate from the LAN data will help.

 

[Ibiza911]

As of right now we are all on the same subnet, the .2 that is. AP's on there own VLAN and phones on a different subnet would this improve the problem that we're having, have you tried this before to troubleshoot also, thank you for your response, and what do you mean by "GOLD" QOS profile, thanks again.




JK

 

[biv343]

The QOS profile is applied to each WLAN in the 2270. If you dig around in the WLAN settings, you'll see where the QOS profile can be applied. If you use PC's and phones on the wireless, you'll want to have those WLAN's separated. Set the data WLAN to best effort (or Bronze), and the voice WLAN to "Gold".

Also, make sure that the 2270 is updated to the latest code (2.171 or 172 I think).

 

[Ibiza911]

THanks for the help! I have found where the settings are in the 2270, what if I set it for "Platinum" would that be okay and data on Bronze?? Thanks again for your help!

 

[biv343]

Can't remember if platinum was for network control or not - I thought the profiles were gold, silver and bronze, and platinum was reserved for network control traffic.

I think you want Gold though - as long as the voice and data have different QOS profiles you should be all set.

Unfortunately, I can't check mine anymore since we ripped out our 2270 and replaced it with the new 2300 series stuff.

 

[Ibiza911]

I see, no worries, I just presumed Platinum would be better since it had voice in brackets beside it, I will try them both out. I am just trying to get everything running smoothly so far so good except for the quality issue, being in an automotive environment what is the best way to mount these access points they are mounted to a beam could that cause interference?? The manufacturer is no help they say to hang them by chains and plywood??!!? Sounds kind of odd to me? I appreciate your expertise help .

 

[biv343]

I personally wouldn't hang a $200 AP by chains and plywood.

The only factories I ever put these in required an environmental enclosure, so that was mounted to the beam/post, and the AP sat inside there. Maybe get creative with a tie wrap and a beam clamp....