Cell service in my area is bad, so I use voice over WiFi on my iPhone. My internet service max speed is only 12 MBS, very slow. Once I switched to using the RBK50 mesh router, about 50% of the times the person on the other end of the phone says my voice is choppy. This did not happen with myprevious router. Is there a setting that will give myiPhone connection more bandwidth to stop the choppy voice?

A couple of questions for you: What is the speed test reporting for you? Under advanced setup | wireless settings Can you tell us what those are set to right now? (What boxes are checked and not checked?) Finally, what version of firmware are you using>?

I have made all the recommendated changes you suggested and so far so good after 1 day of testing. Both my iphone voice over wifi and VOIP Ooma appear to no longer have choppy and poor voice quality. I'll will be away from the office for 2 weeks, but will resume testing when I return. Thanks for all the help!

If this question is for me, the setting in the AT&T ISP router is located under the Firewall tab and the under IP Passthrough. That’s is where I was able to plug in the IP address of the Orbi.

FURRYe38 wrote: DMZ is a generic term and reference made here in the forums. It can refer to many variations of DMZ and it's operations since there seems to be some variations of it used thru out the industry. DMZ is a well defined computer security term that's interchangeable with screened subnet. There are no correct "variations" of the term. Some routers incorrectly use the term "DMZ host" or "DMZ server" to refer to an exposed host. An exposed host in this context is not a "variation" of a DMZ/screened subnet, it's almost the polar opposite. Many manufacturers, including AVM, have either rectified this or never used this misnomer in the first place, but Netgear appears to still use it according to this KB article: https://kb.netgear.com/1118/How-do-I-configure-a-device-to-be-in-the-DMZ-on-my-NETGEAR-router Using "DMZ" as a reference to exposed hosts in a home routing environment has some merit due to the historic nature of this misnomer. But you should be aware of the fact that it is not the correct use of the term and that exposed host isn't just another term for it, it's the corrcet term for it.

What FW is currently loaded?What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too? Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode? What phone are you using when making these calls? What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials. What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many? What WPA security modes are you using? Try WPA2 and AES only. Try enableding Beamforming and MIMO. Try disabling the following and see:Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).Disney Circle: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/WARNING-Firmware-2-2-1-210-is-junk/m-p/1667485/highlight/true#M45926 PWBerry wrote:Cell service in my area is bad, so I use voice over WiFi on my iPhone. My internet service max speed is only 12 MBS, very slow. Once I switched to using the RBK50 mesh router, about 50% of the times the person on the other end of the phone says my voice is choppy. This did not happen with myprevious router. Is there a setting that will give myiPhone connection more bandwidth to stop the choppy voice?

Voice over Wifi | NETGEAR Communities

42 Replies

Chuck_M
Mentor
Feb 09, 2019
A couple of questions for you:

What is the speed test reporting for you?

Under advanced setup | wireless settings

Can you tell us what those are set to right now? (What boxes are checked and not checked?)

Finally, what version of firmware are you using>?
- PWBerry
  Guide
  Feb 10, 2019
  Answer to your questions:
  
  What is the speed test reporting for you? very slow.. Download = 6.78 mbps Upload = 1.46 mbps
  
  Under advanced setup | wireless settings
  
  Can you tell us what those are set to right now? (What boxes are checked and not checked?)
  
  Bold items are checked under these sections:
  
  Advanced Wireless Settings (2.4GHz b/g/n)
  Enable SSID Broadcast
  Enable 20/40 MHz Coexistence
  Enable WMM (Wi-Fi multimedia) settings
  
  Advanced Wireless Settings (5GHz 802.11a/n/ac)
  Enable SSID Broadcast
  
  Enable WMM (Wi-Fi multimedia) settingsBackhaul Topology
  Enable Daisy-Chain Topology
  
  Finally, what version of firmware are you using>? V2.2.1.210
  - Chuck_M
    Mentor
    Feb 10, 2019
    Regarding daisy chain, are your satellites in serial or parallel (e.g. are they in a line or in a hub and spoke from router)
FURRYe38
Guru - Experienced User
Feb 09, 2019
What FW is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?
Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?

What phone are you using when making these calls?

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
What WPA security modes are you using? Try WPA2 and AES only.

Try enableding Beamforming and MIMO.

Try disabling the following and see:
Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).
Disney Circle: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/WARNING-Firmware-2-2-1-210-is-junk/m-p/1667485/highlight/true#M45926

PWBerry wrote:
Cell service in my area is bad, so I use voice over WiFi on my iPhone. My internet service max speed is only 12 MBS, very slow. Once I switched to using the RBK50 mesh router, about 50% of the times the person on the other end of the phone says my voice is choppy. This did not happen with my
previous router. Is there a setting that will give my
iPhone connection more bandwidth to stop the choppy voice?
- PWBerry
  Guide
  Feb 10, 2019
  Answers to your question:
  
  What FW is currently loaded? V2.2.1.210
  What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too? AT&T Arris NVG589
  Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode? Router
  
  What phone are you using when making these calls? iPhone 6 and iPhone 7+
  
  What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? 4000
  What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials. around 50 feet
  
  What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz. 2.4HGz = Auto and 5GHz = 48
  Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many? No
  What WPA security modes are you using? Try WPA2 and AES only. Using WPA2-PSK [AES]
  - FURRYe38
    Guru - Experienced User
    Feb 10, 2019
    Your ISP modem already has a built in router and wifi. This will cause problems with the Orbi and devices connected to the orbi and cause a double NAT condition which can also cause other problems.
    
    Couple of options,
    1. Configure the modem for transparent bridge mode. Then use the Orbi router in router mode. You'll need to contact the ISP for help and information in regards to the modem being bridged correctly.
    2. If you can't bridge the modem, disable ALL wifi radios on the modem, configure the modems DMZ for the IP address the Orbi router gets from the modem. Then you can use the Orbi router in Router mode.
    3. Or disable all wifi radios on the modem and connect the Orbi router to the modem, configure AP mode on the Orbi router. https://kb.netgear.com/31218/How-do-I-configure-my-Orbi-router-to-act-as-an-access-point and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7LOcJ8GdDo&app=desktop
    
    PWBerry wrote:
    
    Answers to your question:
    
    What FW is currently loaded? V2.2.1.210
    What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too? AT&T Arris NVG589
    Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode? Router
    
    What phone are you using when making these calls? iPhone 6 and iPhone 7+
    
    What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? 4000
    What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials. around 50 feet
    
    What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz. 2.4HGz = Auto and 5GHz = 48
    Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many? No
    What WPA security modes are you using? Try WPA2 and AES only. Using WPA2-PSK [AES]
freibooter
Star
Feb 19, 2019
Just to add to this:

I'm experiencing the exact same issue as described by OP, but on a reasonably fast Internet connection (80-90 Mbit down, 30-40 Mbit up).

Voice over WiFi works well in one direction, I can hear the other party perfectly, crytal clear and without any kind of issue. But absolutely everyone complains about the fact that my voice sounds distorted and garbled. Not immediately, but after 30-90 seconds of phone call.

And, yes, just like op, the issue only started with Orbi - there were no such issues on the previous, non-mesh router.

So I don't think Internet connection speed is the issue here.

I toggled all settings mentioned here already with no avail. It's also a rather annoying issue to troubleshoot since it requires a partner to call and annoy with a garbled voice.
- ekhalil
  Master
  Feb 19, 2019
  freibooter wrote:
  
  ...............
  
  So I don't think Internet connection speed is the issue here.
  
  I toggled all settings mentioned here already with no avail. It's also a rather annoying issue to troubleshoot since it requires a partner to call and annoy with a garbled voice.
  
  What ISP mode/router are you using? Does it have any routing capability?
  
  In order for Orbi to provide you with optimal routing fuctionality, there should not be any other box in front that manipulates the routing.
  - PWBerry
    Guide
    Feb 19, 2019
    The ISP router/modem is an AT&T Arris NVG589. It was my main wireless router until I purchased the Orbi. Then I turned off the wifi setting in the ISP router since I was now using the Orbi wifi. I still need the ISP router to connect to AT&T.

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Voice over Wifi