QoS for VoIP - How it works and when does it make a difference

Installers of VoIP (Voice over IP) often stress the importance of having QoS for the network. On a so-called 'experts' forum, I have even seen QoS put forward as the solution to one-way audio problems, even though it is of little or no relevance to such problems. QoS is undoubtedly a powerful and useful tool for VoIP engineers and can make a great difference in the right circumstances, but on the other hand is likely to make no difference at all to the handling of IP packets sent out to the Internet on a standard small-business broadband connection.

Want to know how QoS works in practice and understand where it makes a difference and how? Then read my article on the Smartvox Knowledgebase:
http://kb.smartvox.co.uk/index.php/ip-network-design/voip-qos-network-congestion/

VoIP QoS Settings

If you're confused by the QoS settings on VoIP equipment or just want to know what value you should assign to the DiffServ/TOS field on a Linksys IP phone, then you need to read the 2-part article on the Smartvox Knowledgebase:

VoIP QoS Settings - Part 1: Overview and Layer 2 settings

VoIP QoS Settings - part 2: Layer 3 settings, DSCP/TOS