Vonage Diagnostics

Jason — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 20:32:52 +0000

Thought I would put these up in case anyone with Vonage VOIP service was looking for Vonage diagnostic tests and tools. They have some beta diagnostic software available as well as a very cool broadband speed test and network status tool available online. I have always used Speakeasy’s broadband speed test in the past, but this Vonage one is more detailed.

[tags]Speed Test, Vonage, Diagnostic Tools, VOIP, Speakeasy[/tags]

Xincom DPG502 Twin WAN Router

Jason — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 19:21:28 +0000

Ok, how about a little geekery on this gorgeous Friday. First, let me say that I am very thankful for this summer’s weather here in SF, last year was poop. Anyway, I have been noticing some issues with our 6Mb/768Kb DSL line in the past couple of days. The biggest reason I have not called them yet is that I don’t want to have to tear into all of the network cabling, switches and router to plug a box directly into the DSL modem…because I know that is what the techs are going to want. But, this brought me to investigate my Xincom Twin WAN DPG502 router. Pretty fancy name huh? Well, the reason I bought it was because it allows you to do some pretty slick load balancing and aggregation of two internet connections for not a lot of money. At first I was a bit skeptical about the deal working very well because the router was less than $200 when I bought it. I have the 6Mb down Speakeasy DSL line (which I have seen a little over 5Mb on the whole time I have had it) and a Comcast cable modem. Comcast’s crap DNS problems from last year is what really prompted me to look into a solution like this in the first place.

Anyway, I started poking around inside the very nice and robust Xincom web based GUI to see where my current load balancing settings were at. I then decided I would actually do a little reading and see if there was a firmware update for the 502. No, firmware update, but I did come across a little PDF on setting up load balancing on the DPG502. I changed my settings from IP basded load balancing to Packet Based, hit update and decided to take a look at what kind of download speeds I would see with the change. Well, I was blown away. I clicked on the San Francisco link on the Speakeasy broadband speed test and got the following numbers:

10534kbs / 508kbs

Jesus. Today must be my lucky day I thought. Well, it turns out that there is some kind of issue around here (with all of the construction I am sure) with the DSL line. If I run the test out on the Speakeasy line only, I am seeing about 2500kbps down and 250kbps up. But, if I run it on the Comcast cable line, I see anywhere from 8500kbps down to 10000+kbps down and 250+ up. Jesus. I guess Comcast got their act together around here. Anyway, Speakeasy is on the case and I will hear something back from Steve in the next 5 hours. Speakeasy is an awesome company and this is the first time I have had to call their support line for anything. Their DSL has been rock solid and fast since the day I set it up. But, this Xincom 502 router is pretty darn cool. It works like a champ day in and day out. If there is a problem with one of the lines, it emails me. I can see real time stats on each line, send traffic based on specific ports and/or local IP addresses over a specific interface…it is really sweet. My Vonage line has never sounded as good as it has since I specified all traffic to and from that thing goes out over the DSL line.

So, if you are a geek, you have two internet connections (or you want two) and you are looking for a new gadget, the Xincom DPG502 should get some serious consideration.

Jason Golod Blogs » Speakeasy

Vonage Diagnostics

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Xincom DPG502 Twin WAN Router

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