Quality of Service (QoS) for VoIP phone systems

Ensuring top-notch call quality is crucial for your business communications. This guide explains how Quality of Service (QoS) settings work in VoIP systems, helping you optimise your network for crystal-clear conversations.

What is QoS?

Quality of Service (QoS) is a feature of broadband routers and switches which are used to manage data traffic via the network so that more important traffic can pass first. Designed to reduce interference such as packet loss, jitter, and latency, the result is a performance improvement for critical network traffic. 

Why do I need to enable QoS for my VoIP system?

QoS can prioritise voice and VoIP traffic to ensure calls are not affected by congestion. It can also protect voice traffic from network utilisation spikes, such as software distributions, video, and other high-bandwidth applications.

Please note: This does not apply to third-party routers, only bOnline purchased routers. Third-party routers may not be checked and you(the owner) may need to contact your Internet Service Provider.

How to set up QoS on the Zyxel – VMG1312-T20B:

• Navigate to 'Network Settings' and click 'QoS'.

• Enable QoS and select 'Upstream Traffic Priority Assigned by'.

  • You will have 3 options: 'Ethernet Priority', 'IP Precedence', and 'Packet Length'.

  • Select 'Ethernet Priority'.

• The last step would be to reboot your router, this will ensure your settings are applied.

How to set up QoS on the Zyxel VMG1312-B10D:

• Navigate to 'Network Settings' and click 'QoS'.

• Enable QoS and select 'Upstream Traffic Priority Assigned by'.

  • You will have 3 options: 'Ethernet Priority', 'IP Precedence', and 'Packet Length'.

  • Select 'Ethernet Priority'.

• The last step would be to reboot your router, this will ensure your settings are applied.

Understanding QoS Upstream Traffic:

• None: Disables auto priority mapping and puts packets into the queues according to your classification rules. Traffic that does not match any of the classification rules is mapped into the default queue with the lowest priority. Not recommended, but the default setting.

• Ethernet Priority: Automatically assign priority based on the IEEE 802.1p priority level.

• IP Precedence: Automatically assign priority based on the first three bits of the TOS field in the IP header.

• Packet Length: Automatically assign priority based on the packet size. Smaller packets get higher priority since control, signalling, VoIP, Internet gaming, or other real-time packets are usually small while larger packets are usually best-effort data packets like file transfers.

If you need any further assistance, our dedicated onboarding team is here to help! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at voipcare@bonline.com. We’re eager to support you and ensure you have the best experience with our services!