[arm-allstar] Best Codecs for Portable Nodes

Mon Apr 9 12:05:49 EST 2018

Travis,

 First of all lets look at the two node not connect problem.

I see the two nodes are online and one is at 4569 and the other at 4570 IAX
ports so that tells me they are on different servers (Pi's).  In order to
connect them together on the same LAN they need to have specific routing in
their rpt.conf files. The howto on this is at the hamvoip.org web site
titled -   How-to setup Allstar when using multiple BBB's or RPi2/3's
(servers) on a LAN <https://www.hamvoip.org/multi-server howto.pdf>

Some routers do not have what is called "hairpin loopback" which means you
cannot use the returned public IP address to get to another node on your
LAN. So you have to define the route with local IP addresses and ports
explicitly in rpt.conf.

As far a a portable node and codecs, if you are concerned about data usage
the ILBC codec is a good choice. It has very good quality and uses about
one third of the bandwidth of the G726 codec. I would not worry about
running it differently in either direction though. Just run it as ILBC both
ways. Since some servers limit certain codecs like ILBC or perhaps do not
support it the best thing to do is connect your portable node to your home
node using ILBC and then connect your home node using whatever codec is
required to the destination location(s). This is also a good idea as most
portable hotspot nodes cannot accept inbound connections so anyone that
wanted to connect to you could connect to your home node and thus also be
connect to you portable wherever you are.

*73 Doug*

*WA3DSP*

*http://www.crompton.com/hamradio <http://www.crompton.com/hamradio>*

On Mon, Apr 9, 2018 at 12:02 PM, "Travis French via arm-allstar" <
arm-allstar at hamvoip.org> wrote:

> Hello to all in the group,
>
> I am also thinking about portable operations and I too am concerned about
> mobile data usage. I would like to do this with a portable/mobile node and
> IAXRPT when the portable/mobile node it not practical.
>
> That being said, I have started to play with IAX.conf and commenting out
> high data codecs. From what I gather here is that ilbc is the best way to
> go. Is it possible to say, have the home node to portable be ilbc or lower
> and for the portable to home node be ilbc or better. The ratio of talk time
> vs. monitor time would be greatly in favor of monitor. My thinking is that
> my outbound audio would remain at an acceptable quality level and I can
> live with the lesser quality audio coming back to me in an effort to ration
> data. Is this possible and practical?
>
> As I said, I started to comment out the codecs in IAX.conf but when I
> refresh, the status remains at ULAW. I was expecting that to change. Are my
> expectations incorrect?
> Lastly and a bit off topic, I have 2 nodes up and running now (47338 and
> 47339). 47339 is radio-less. I was thinking of experimenting with taking
> this one portable first but I am unable to connect to 47338 and vice versa.
> This might be my first hurdle before I need to contend with codecs. They
> both work fine independently so I am not sure where to look first. Is there
> something I need to change to allow them to connect?
>
> Going back to the codec topic, might there be a "How-To" on doing what I
> am suggesting above. I did read some but it was not clear to me.
> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Travis - K2PCB
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: arm-allstar <arm-allstar-bounces at hamvoip.org> On Behalf Of "Doug
> Crompton via arm-allstar"
> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 4:49 PM
> To: ARM Allstar <arm-allstar at hamvoip.org>
> Cc: Doug Crompton <wa3dsp at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [arm-allstar] Best Codecs for Portable Nodes
>
> The other thing you need to be aware of is that as far as I know only
> hamvoip code has the ilbc codec and even some hamvoip hubs and nodes may
> not have it "turned on".  The best thing to do is have a fixed (home) node
> that you connect to from your mobile hotspot node using ilbc. The fixed
> node would then be connected to your ultimate destination(s) using any
> available codec. This also allows others to connect to you on your hotspot
> node via your fixed node as they probably could not directly connect.
>
>
> *73 Doug*
>
> *WA3DSP*
>
> *http://www.crompton.com/hamradio <http://www.crompton.com/hamradio>*
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 4:26 PM, "David McGough via arm-allstar" <
> arm-allstar at hamvoip.org> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Frank,
> >
> > The CODECs, as listed in the [general] stanza are for outbound
> > connections from you node.
> >
> > And, CODECs in the other stanza (such as [radio]) are for inbound
> > connections from other nodes, to your node.
> >
> >
> >
> > 73 David KB4FXC
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 12 Mar 2018, "Frank McKibben via arm-allstar" wrote:
> >
> > > Re: etc/asterisk/iax.conf
> > >
> > > I have previously reads ome information regarding codec usage in
> > > AllStar
> > and
> > > wish to confirm the editing of the iax.conf file.
> > >
> > > I  wish to reduce the data usage on my portable node.  From previous
> > > conversations with members of this group I understand that the ilbc
> > codec is
> > > much more efficient than the default  g726aa12 codec and using it
> > > has
> > little
> > > impact on voice quality while substantially cutting the data usage.
> > >
> > > Is implementing it is simply a matter of  rearranging the order that
> > > the ilbc codec is listed in within the file?
> > >
> > > For example:
> > > under the [ general ] heading  I changed the order
> > > From:
> > > disallow=all
> > >
> > > allow=g726aal2
> > >
> > > allow=ilbc
> > > allow=ulaw
> > >
> > > allow=gsm
> > > jitterbuffer=yes
> > >
> > >
> > > TO:
> > > disallow=all
> > >
> > > allow=ilbc
> > > allow=g726aal2
> > >
> > > allow=ulaw
> > >
> > > allow=gsm
> > > jitterbuffer=yes
> > >
> > > My confusion is that, these codecs appear several times in this file
> > under
> > > different headings and I am uncertain if I should be editing the
> > > order in all references to them or just certain headings.  Could you
> > > comment on
> > the
> > > purpose of the different headings and what they control   General,
> > > radio-proxy, radio etc.
> > >
> > > Thank you I really appreciate the knowledge you all share in this
> > > email list.
> > >
> > > Frank Mckibben, N0AFO
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > >
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> > >
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> > >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
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> >
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> >
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