Can I maintain constant internet speed with VoIP?

[guest]

With my cable company I get 256/256kbps but when I use the voip service while on line it goes down past 200kbps to 190kbps download and 48kbps upload. Is there a way to keep this constant at 120kbps without having to get a higher cable speed and pay more? Also this is with just one voip box,I will be hooking up another one shortly.

L

[Calum]

A 200kbps upstream loss seems a little excessive for VoIP. Your 66kbps loss in downstream bandwidth is roughly what you would expect, worse case you see about a 100kbps drop. The upstream and downstream loss will be the same so something else is going on with your upstream connection.

You only use bandwidth while you are on the phone so adding another ATA or line won't decrease your bandwidth, it will only go down if you are using both lines at the same time.

The only way to try and preserve the 120kbps for your internet is to buy a router that has a quality of service option. You can give your data connection a higher priority than one of your phone lines but this will have the effect of decreasing your call quality on that line.

Regards,
Calum