A major challenge inherent in designing and maintaining an enterprise network is the administration costs. Software-defined networking (SDN) can dramatically reduce both the hard costs (money) and soft costs (time) of managing a network. Although this tends to be the most compelling argument in favor of using SDN, it in fact offers may more advantages than this. In this article, we introduce SDN and examine some of its key benefits.

IP Telephony features are not always “plug-and-play.” Rather, they must be configured to function properly. This is equally true when dealing with quality of service (QoS) on a network that transmits both data and voice (i.e., a converged network).

Companies commonly find that when they install their VoIP system on a preexisting data network, it works great at first. Days or weeks later, however, users complain of poor voice quality and intermittent disconnections. The network has not changed, so what’s going on?

In this article, we’ll see why QoS is a fundamental part of your network design for voice, and examine five configurations that should always be employed to achieve high-quality voice on a converged network.

Product Review

Since launching its GWN7610 Wi-Fi access point in 2016, Grandstream has grown its GWN Series to include a range of access points plus a Gigabit VPN router to offer a complete wired and Wi-Fi solution. In addition to the GWN7610 enterprise access point (“AP”) we reviewed in 2016, Grandstream has since launched the GWN7600 mid-range AP, the GWN7600LR outdoor long-range Wi-Fi AP, and the FWN7000 enterprise multi-WAN Gigabit VPN router. We take a look at the full series in this article.

Your customer using a legacy phone system decides to switch to voice over internet protocol (VoIP). They install an IP PBX and buy some IP phones. Great, they’re all set, right? Wrong. Without configuring their data network for quality of service (QoS), they will experience a severe deterioration in voice quality and may regret making the decision to switch. Yes, the IP PBX and the IP endpoints will already be configured for QoS. But what about other parts of the network like the pre-existing routers, switches and firewall? All it takes is one missing link for the whole system to be compromised.

QoS is a big topic. In this article, we’ll look at two main approaches to QoS: IntServ and DiffServ, their strengths and limitations, and when to use which one.

Unlike conventional telephony infrastructure, which was developed and tailored to be used exclusively for voice, today’s telecom networks accommodate a multitude of different data traffic types, of which VoIP is just one of many. Because of this, it can be challenging to adapt a network to accommodate voice.

One of the most common challenges involves a technology called Network Address Translation (NAT), which for data networks has been a godsend, but if not configured carefully, could cause problems for voice applications. In particular, NAT is a common cause of one-way and no-way audio on VoIP calls.

In this article, we dive into how NAT can impair voice sessions, cite some common symptoms that indicate NAT may be at the root of your call audio problems, and address how to resolve the issues. 

This week we focus on ADTRAN, a global provider of telecommunications networking equipment and internetworking products that has stood the test of time in a volatile and dynamic market by maintaining a solid level of market innovation and reliability. In this article we review ADTRAN’s network switches, routers and media gateways.

One of the most common matters we discuss with customers on our support calls is network security – specifically, how to lock down SIP Trunks, IP PBXs, SIP phones, and routers from hacking. Here we review different ways hackers can break into your voice network and the steps you can take to secure your system.

Product review

There are several ISPs (internet service providers) that can provide your business with high- and super-high speed internet access. These technologies include Metro Ethernet and Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) and offer speeds from several Mbps to 1 Gbps and beyond – but with a hefty price tag.  

An alternative is the bonding of multiple ADSL/VDSL or cable lines to take advantage of the aggregate bandwidth of these connections while paying a comparably miniscule monthly cost. All that’s needed is a load balancing WAN router like Peplink’s Pepwave Balance 20 Dual-WAN Router.

Designed for small office and branch office use, not only does the Balance 20 router perform link bonding and load balancing, but it also offers an impressive array of additional features.