tMobile@Home simultaneous internet usage and voice quality impact

[kavm]

I am looking into tMobile@Home. Have a question relating to simultaneous internet usage and the use of the phone. We have TW cable modem. Either my wife or I or both are often using internet when one of us might make a call. Also, I sometimes have conference calls when which involve some internet usage at the same time. What kind of impact this might have on the call quality?

Second non-tech question: I have a wired touch tone phone as well as a bunch of Panasonic 5.8GHz phones. I am guessing the master unit in Panasonic and the wired phone will need to be physically connected to the @Home router. How many slots does it have to connect phones? Can one connect another router to it as well for computers?

Thanks a lot.

[AbsoluteEvel]

Originally Posted by kavm

I am looking into tMobile@Home. Have a question relating to simultaneous internet usage and the use of the phone. We have TW cable modem. Either my wife or I or both are often using internet when one of us might make a call. Also, I sometimes have conference calls when which involve some internet usage at the same time. What kind of impact this might have on the call quality?

The router will have QOS setup, so it will limit non voice data traffic going through it while you are on the phone.

Second non-tech question: I have a wired touch tone phone as well as a bunch of Panasonic 5.8GHz phones. I am guessing the master unit in Panasonic and the wired phone will need to be physically connected to the @Home router. How many slots does it have to connect phones? Can one connect another router to it as well for computers?

There are 2 RJ-11 ports (phone) and 4 RJ-45 ports (ethernet.) While you could connect another router to it to connect more than 4 computers, I would suggest using a switch plugged into the T-Mobile/Linksys router instead of a secondary router.

[kavm]

Thanks a lot. Sounds like I might not need a secondary router.

[girlygirl333]

So, to clarify..you are saying that it will slow down your internet usage if you are on the phone at the same time??

[kavm]

I am in trial period to see whether this is what I go with. Haven't had time to check out the internet speed impact with calls. It is something I worry about - as sometimes (not often) I do participate in webconferencing, etc. - so having a poor telephone line would not be good.

However, I did check out with Time Warner. My cable modem speed is around 7.5 MBPS. There is an option of getting what they call RoadRunner Turbo for an additional 10 dollars a month. Total of 20 (10 for TMobile and 10 for TW) would still be cheaper than what I pay for my phone. Would you recommend that?

[oakie]

Originally Posted by girlygirl333

So, to clarify..you are saying that it will slow down your internet usage if you are on the phone at the same time??

yes. it prioritizes traffic to ensure you get the highest quality calls at the sacrifice of speed for internet surfing.

[oakie]

Originally Posted by kavm

I am in trial period to see whether this is what I go with. Haven't had time to check out the internet speed impact with calls. It is something I worry about - as sometimes (not often) I do participate in webconferencing, etc. - so having a poor telephone line would not be good.

However, I did check out with Time Warner. My cable modem speed is around 7.5 MBPS. There is an option of getting what they call RoadRunner Turbo for an additional 10 dollars a month. Total of 20 (10 for TMobile and 10 for TW) would still be cheaper than what I pay for my phone. Would you recommend that?

1. the t-mobile router has a setting called "Quality of Service" that will sacrifice internet data speeds to ensure the voice call gets priority. this was stated in the second post. surfing the net will not affect your voice calls, but your voice calls may affect surfing the net slightly.

2. no. roadrunner turbo is a data caching and download service. it speeds up your experience by using data caching, and gives you a temporary speed boost for downloading files under 10mb in size... but the speed goes back down to normal levels after the first 10 mb. it's the same gimmick people were sold on with all the "speedboost" crap back in the days of 56k.