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I am playing around with Asterisk PBX running on Red Hat Linux and X-ten
clients running on Windows 2K. There is no other traffic on my network and
the three machines (2 x-ten, 1 Asterisk) are connected via 10Base-T hub. The
sound quality is terrible. Even at 10Mbps, I would have thought the sound
quality would be fine with so little on the network. Am I missing a concept
here? What can I do (short of upgrading to 100BaseT and/or switching) to get
good quality on this?

Has anyone else had good experience with sound quality using Asterisk? What
clients do you find work best?

Thanks!
Chip

Are you using a good USB headset? That will make a huge difference.
I picked up a Plantronics DSP500 for about US$55 that has been pretty good.

- jds

Chip G wrote:

> I am playing around with Asterisk PBX running on Red Hat Linux and X-ten
> clients running on Windows 2K. There is no other traffic on my network and
> the three machines (2 x-ten, 1 Asterisk) are connected via 10Base-T hub. The
> sound quality is terrible. Even at 10Mbps, I would have thought the sound
> quality would be fine with so little on the network. Am I missing a concept
> here? What can I do (short of upgrading to 100BaseT and/or switching) to get
> good quality on this?
>
> Has anyone else had good experience with sound quality using Asterisk? What
> clients do you find work best?
>
> Thanks!
> Chip
>
>

I am using a Plantronics DSP headset and it has been great for all other
purposes! Thanks for the comment though.

"John Sutter" <> wrote in message
news:sIbYa.625$. com...
> Are you using a good USB headset? That will make a huge difference.
> I picked up a Plantronics DSP500 for about US$55 that has been pretty
good.
>
> - jds
>
> Chip G wrote:
>
> > I am playing around with Asterisk PBX running on Red Hat Linux and X-ten
> > clients running on Windows 2K. There is no other traffic on my network
and
> > the three machines (2 x-ten, 1 Asterisk) are connected via 10Base-T hub.
The
> > sound quality is terrible. Even at 10Mbps, I would have thought the
sound
> > quality would be fine with so little on the network. Am I missing a
concept
> > here? What can I do (short of upgrading to 100BaseT and/or switching) to
get
> > good quality on this?
> >
> > Has anyone else had good experience with sound quality using Asterisk?
What
> > clients do you find work best?
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Chip
> >
> >
>

What version of X-Ten are you guys running? I noticed the newest
version isn't that great... or maybe it's something with my setup. I'm
sure the older version ran much better.

Brian.


Chip G wrote:
> I am using a Plantronics DSP headset and it has been great for all other
> purposes! Thanks for the comment though.
>
> "John Sutter" <> wrote in message
> news:sIbYa.625$. com...
>
>>Are you using a good USB headset? That will make a huge difference.
>>I picked up a Plantronics DSP500 for about US$55 that has been pretty
>
> good.
>
>>- jds
>>
>>Chip G wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I am playing around with Asterisk PBX running on Red Hat Linux and X-ten
>>>clients running on Windows 2K. There is no other traffic on my network
>
> and
>
>>>the three machines (2 x-ten, 1 Asterisk) are connected via 10Base-T hub.
>
> The
>
>>>sound quality is terrible. Even at 10Mbps, I would have thought the
>
> sound
>
>>>quality would be fine with so little on the network. Am I missing a
>
> concept
>
>>>here? What can I do (short of upgrading to 100BaseT and/or switching) to
>
> get
>
>>>good quality on this?
>>>
>>>Has anyone else had good experience with sound quality using Asterisk?
>
> What
>
>>>clients do you find work best?
>>>
>>>Thanks!
>>>Chip
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

Whenever you use any kind of softphone you are at the mercy of your sound
card, microphone, and processing power.

1.) Get a decent soundcard
2.) Get a noise cancelling microphone
3.) Or buy an IP Phone so when your windows box dies you dont have to loose
your conversation.

-Greg




"Chip G" <> wrote in message
news:8WBXa.45814$cF.17257@rwcrnsc53...
> I am playing around with Asterisk PBX running on Red Hat Linux and X-ten
> clients running on Windows 2K. There is no other traffic on my network and
> the three machines (2 x-ten, 1 Asterisk) are connected via 10Base-T hub.
The
> sound quality is terrible. Even at 10Mbps, I would have thought the sound
> quality would be fine with so little on the network. Am I missing a
concept
> here? What can I do (short of upgrading to 100BaseT and/or switching) to
get
> good quality on this?
>
> Has anyone else had good experience with sound quality using Asterisk?
What
> clients do you find work best?
>
> Thanks!
> Chip
>
>

Thank you for the comments Shido. In this case, I believe my equipment is up
to the task. I actually use Avaya IP Softphone for my business use with the
DSP headset they OEM. The quality has been great. I am playing around with
Asterisk because I think it has great potential but cannot seem to get the
quality up to standard.

There are so many people talking about it that I figure it has to be at
least reasonably decent (and I definitely can't beat the price!) but I have
not had success in getting this combination of client and server to work
well together. For this trial, I am using the same PC and headset with the
free X-ten client. It seems to be pretty nice as far as the interface goes
but the sound quality with my configuration of network, server, and client
is just not working. I know it has to be something I am doing wrong but I
just can't seem to locate the trouble.

One person suggested using only G.711 (which I prefer not to do). I tried it
though to see if it made a difference... no noticable consistent
improvement. Any other ideas?

"shido" <> wrote in message
news:IewYa.123282$ ble.rogers.com...
> Whenever you use any kind of softphone you are at the mercy of your sound
> card, microphone, and processing power.
>
> 1.) Get a decent soundcard
> 2.) Get a noise cancelling microphone
> 3.) Or buy an IP Phone so when your windows box dies you dont have to
loose
> your conversation.
>
> -Greg
>
>
>
>
> "Chip G" <> wrote in message
> news:8WBXa.45814$cF.17257@rwcrnsc53...
> > I am playing around with Asterisk PBX running on Red Hat Linux and X-ten
> > clients running on Windows 2K. There is no other traffic on my network
and
> > the three machines (2 x-ten, 1 Asterisk) are connected via 10Base-T hub.
> The
> > sound quality is terrible. Even at 10Mbps, I would have thought the
sound
> > quality would be fine with so little on the network. Am I missing a
> concept
> > here? What can I do (short of upgrading to 100BaseT and/or switching) to
> get
> > good quality on this?
> >
> > Has anyone else had good experience with sound quality using Asterisk?
> What
> > clients do you find work best?
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Chip
> >
> >
>
>

It seems you are in search for someone using Asterisk in a production
environment to assist. Feel free to send me a message via instant messenger
/ IM :

-Greg


"Chip G" <> wrote in message
news:ayyYa.90195$Ho3.12237@sccrnsc03...
> Thank you for the comments Shido. In this case, I believe my equipment is
up
> to the task. I actually use Avaya IP Softphone for my business use with
the
> DSP headset they OEM. The quality has been great. I am playing around with
> Asterisk because I think it has great potential but cannot seem to get the
> quality up to standard.
>
> There are so many people talking about it that I figure it has to be at
> least reasonably decent (and I definitely can't beat the price!) but I
have
> not had success in getting this combination of client and server to work
> well together. For this trial, I am using the same PC and headset with the
> free X-ten client. It seems to be pretty nice as far as the interface goes
> but the sound quality with my configuration of network, server, and client
> is just not working. I know it has to be something I am doing wrong but I
> just can't seem to locate the trouble.
>
> One person suggested using only G.711 (which I prefer not to do). I tried
it
> though to see if it made a difference... no noticable consistent
> improvement. Any other ideas?
>
> "shido" <> wrote in message
> news:IewYa.123282$ ble.rogers.com...
> > Whenever you use any kind of softphone you are at the mercy of your
sound
> > card, microphone, and processing power.
> >
> > 1.) Get a decent soundcard
> > 2.) Get a noise cancelling microphone
> > 3.) Or buy an IP Phone so when your windows box dies you dont have to
> loose
> > your conversation.
> >
> > -Greg
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Chip G" <> wrote in message
> > news:8WBXa.45814$cF.17257@rwcrnsc53...
> > > I am playing around with Asterisk PBX running on Red Hat Linux and
X-ten
> > > clients running on Windows 2K. There is no other traffic on my network
> and
> > > the three machines (2 x-ten, 1 Asterisk) are connected via 10Base-T
hub.
> > The
> > > sound quality is terrible. Even at 10Mbps, I would have thought the
> sound
> > > quality would be fine with so little on the network. Am I missing a
> > concept
> > > here? What can I do (short of upgrading to 100BaseT and/or switching)
to
> > get
> > > good quality on this?
> > >
> > > Has anyone else had good experience with sound quality using Asterisk?
> > What
> > > clients do you find work best?
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> > > Chip
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Although there's no other traffic, your problem could be the fact that
you're network is a collision domain. In RTP/UDP (the embodiment of voice
in VOIP), collisions=lost frames=lost packets=lost voice information. Half
duplex links frequently cause voice quality issues which manifest as clicks
and clipping. Collisions10Mb transfer rates should be fine as long as it's
switched and full-duplex.

"Chip G" <> wrote in message
news:8WBXa.45814$cF.17257@rwcrnsc53...
> I am playing around with Asterisk PBX running on Red Hat Linux and X-ten
> clients running on Windows 2K. There is no other traffic on my network and
> the three machines (2 x-ten, 1 Asterisk) are connected via 10Base-T hub.
TheYour
> sound quality is terrible. Even at 10Mbps, I would have thought the sound
> quality would be fine with so little on the network. Am I missing a
concept
> here? What can I do (short of upgrading to 100BaseT and/or switching) to
get
> good quality on this?
>
> Has anyone else had good experience with sound quality using Asterisk?
What
> clients do you find work best?
>
> Thanks!
> Chip
>
>
>

Unfortunately, you didn't say enough about your "terrible sound
quality." Yes, you need to have good audio domain stuff, like USB
handset/headsets, or at least a full duplex sound card with a
handset/headset (not speakers).

But if your problem is choppy audio, then "SG" might have the answer.
In my experience half duplex Ethernet can lead to problems. 10mb vs
100mb is not really as big an issue. But 4 port Ethernet switches are
really cheap, so just try one if your problem is choppy audio. Also,
you might need to upgrade any of your Ethernet cards which are half
duplex. These are also very cheap.

Of course, there are other sorts of audio problems, like raspiness
from too much compression, so maybe you should just ask your question
again with more details.

- Pete

"SG" <> wrote in message news:<kVT5b.9444$3% om>...
> Although there's no other traffic, your problem could be the fact that
> you're network is a collision domain. In RTP/UDP (the embodiment of voice
> in VOIP), collisions=lost frames=lost packets=lost voice information. Half
> duplex links frequently cause voice quality issues which manifest as clicks
> and clipping. Collisions10Mb transfer rates should be fine as long as it's
> switched and full-duplex.
>
> "Chip G" <> wrote in message
> news:8WBXa.45814$cF.17257@rwcrnsc53...
> > I am playing around with Asterisk PBX running on Red Hat Linux and X-ten
> > clients running on Windows 2K. There is no other traffic on my network and
> > the three machines (2 x-ten, 1 Asterisk) are connected via 10Base-T hub.
> TheYour
> > sound quality is terrible. Even at 10Mbps, I would have thought the sound
> > quality would be fine with so little on the network. Am I missing a
> concept
> > here? What can I do (short of upgrading to 100BaseT and/or switching) to
> get
> > good quality on this?
> >
> > Has anyone else had good experience with sound quality using Asterisk?
> What
> > clients do you find work best?
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Chip
> >
> >
> >