Irwin Lazar's "Real-Time" Blog

Hope for Residential VoIP Quality

Back in August I started using Verizon's VoiceWing VoIP service for my home business line. 

So far the quality has been spotty, and the service is utterly useless when I'm using interactive applications such as Microsoft's FolderShare (likely due to the fact that my cable modem's upstream bandwidth is less than 400k on a good day).

However this weekend I purchased a D-Link DIR-635 RangeBoost home wireless router.  The RangeBoost has an internal QoS engine (I'm assuming it's nothing more than simple weighted-fair queuing, but they don't provide any details).  After installing it and calling a few people I'm noticing a huge improvement in VoIP call quality, even with FolderShare running.  I even made a call using Skype across my home wireless network (with a Bluetooth headset), and the call quality was very good.  What really sold me on the D-Link device was the cost, I paid $130, before a $20 mail-in rebate.   The last time I searched for QoS-enabled home routers, the cost was about $250 on average.

Unfortunately the DIR-635 is a pre-802.11n device, since the standards haven't been finalized, so if you want to take advantage of n's speeds, you need to buy D-Link adapters for all devices.  However I think it's a safe bet that once 802.11n is ratified, all it will take for compliance is a firmware update, but that's not a guarantee.

But, 802.11n isn't required for QoS, so even with plain old 802.11b/g adapters, you'll get the benefits of prioritization of outbound traffic, and greater quality for QoS.

Catching Up and Web 2.0

Here are links to my last two posts on Collaboration Loop:

• Microsoft, IBM Lotus: Operating Systems for Collaboration?
• Another Look at Web 2.0 in the Enterprise

Speaking of Web 2.0, there is a must read article on Reg Developer on Web 2.0 written by Bill Thompson.  Thompson blasts Web 2.0 as an over-hyped pretty face on the traditional application infrastructure, rather than a whole new way of computing.  Thompson instead argues that the vision for Web 2.0 should be focused on transcending traditional web applications "to achieve real distributed processing over a managed, trustworthy network then the possibilities truly are remarkable."

As I noted in my post on Collaboration Loop, the Web 2.0 vision of a Utopian hegemony of inter-woven trusted computers doesn't fit in with how corporations view IT, nor does it meet the need to meet regulatory and compliance requirements.  That being said, there are opportunities to embed Web 2.0 elements (such as end-user driven applications based on social networking concepts) into the enterprise application infrastructure, but I don't think we'll see the day anytime soon where enterprises are putting their data on applications that they can't control.

iTWire - Avaya buys Traverse Networks for unified comms products

Avaya announced last week that it  was buying Traverse Networks, a vendor of software that enables mobile phone integration with enterprise telephony systems.

Here's what I wrote in a Nemertes impact analysis earlier this month about Cisco's acquisition of Orative (a competitor to Traverse).

It is likely that the remaining independent mobile telephony integration client vendors such as Traverse Networks, FirstHand Technologies,  and OnRelay will seek out new partnerships or become acquisition candidates.  Look for rapid consolidation in this market.

Consolidation happened a bit quicker than I expected.

What the Democrats' win means for tech | CNET News.com

Here's a must read: What the Democrats' win means for tech

By Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache at Cnet News.

Net Neutrality just got a very big boost this week.

Cisco acquisition of Orative: Impact Analysis

I recently wrote a Nemertes Impact Analysis on the Cisco acquisition of Orative.  It's available at Cisco Acquisition of Orative Signals Growing Importance of the Mobile Device. (site registration is required to read the whole article - it's free).

Collaboration Loop - Why Telepresence is Different

My latest post on Collaboration Loop is now available: Why Telepresence is Different.

Banks dumping MS-Money and Quicken features?

My colleague Andreas Antonopolous has started blogging.  Earlier today had a really interesting post describing how PC-based banking tools such as Quicken and MS-Money may suffer as a result of recent changes in federal rules designed to prevent identity theft.

Check it out:
read more | digg story