Whether experiencing connection issues or just introducing Weave to your office, checking that your network is compatible with our systems makes the process so much smoother.
Please note that this information is provided as a courtesy. You are responsible for ensuring that minimum technical requirements for installation and provision of the Weave service are met. Additionally, you are responsible for any additional configuration and maintenance of network equipment to meet your requirements, such as security settings, firewall deployment, or other operational requirements, including, but not limited to changing default passwords and periodic hardware, software, or firmware updates.
VoIP call quality is significantly impacted by the quality of your internet connection. Accordingly, we recommend that all devices supporting the Weave service (e.g., phones, desktop computers, etc.) have a wired connection to the internet. Wireless network connections are typically inconsistent and do not provide sufficient quality to support VoIP call traffic. If you choose to connect your devices via a wireless connection, you may experience degraded call quality and impact to the Weave service. Weave is unable to provide troubleshooting for wireless network connections. We recommend that you work with a local IT support partner to identify a solution.
General Network Recommendations
Here are the router/firewall configurations you should disable for the best experience with Weave on your Network Hardware:
- Disable SIP ALG
- Increase UDP Timeout to 90 seconds
- Utilize any Quality of Service (Priority) functions that your equipment has. For DSCP packet tagging, we use the following: 46 (RTP) & 26 (SIP)
- Whitelist our FQDN.
Once these updates have been made, we recommend a full network reboot.
Weave Speed Requirements
Discover the bandwidth (speed) requirements for Weave phones:
Download Speed: 200 Kbps
Upload Speed: 200 Kbps
Recommendations: With the quantity of phones you're planning to implement, please make sure you consult with your IT professional and/or internet service provider to make sure that your network bandwidth speeds are sufficient. Weave recommends at least 200 Kbps upload per phone and 200 Kbps download per phone.
These recommendations apply only to Weave Phones and do not take into account any other services you may have on your network, including streaming media, additional devices, accessible wifi, and other various sources that may impact your overall bandwidth. It is your responsibility to ensure there is sufficient bandwidth on your network for optimal performance.
Network Latency
Make sure the media in your phone calls travels fast enough on the network to prevent voice quality issues.
Recommendations: If your Latency score is about 150 ms, we recommend that you call your internet service provider and have them troubleshoot your network to get that lowered beneath 150 ms. Additionally, if your Jitter score is above 30 ms, you will also want your internet service provider to troubleshoot this lower as well.
Minimum Operating System Requirements
Check that your operating system is up-to-date.
Operating System Status: Unknown
Recommendations: Please review each of your desktop computers and servers to confirm you are running up-to-date operating systems. To benefit from everything Weave has to offer and also keep your data secure, a supported operating system must be installed on each of your desktop computers and/or servers. Unsupported operating systems stop receiving security updates and can no longer effectively protect your customer data. Additionally, Weave may not provide support if you experience technical difficulties due to incompatibility of Weave software with your operating system. You can find more information here.
Understanding Network Terminology
Here are some general terms you should know:
Network Bandwidth: Bandwidth encompasses two metrics: download and upload speed. The download speed is how fast your network can download data from a website/server and your upload is how quickly your network can take information locally and push it up to a server/cloud.
Network Latency: Network latency occurs when a packet of data is sent to another computer/server and back. The amount of time it takes for that packet to complete that route is the latency. Every transfer will have some amount of latency, but when this metric value gets too high, it will cause audio issues, delays in your conversations, and even dropped calls.
Network Jitter: This is a variance in latency, or the time delay between when a signal is transmitted and when it’s received. This can cause delay in your conversations and is especially noticeable when you pick up the handset to answer a call and the customer can't hear you for several seconds.
Packet Loss: Packet loss refers to data that is lost after being transmitted across a network. This may be caused by network congestion, hardware issues, or configurations.
Network Address Translation (NAT): Weave functions best on networks with single NAT. A double NAT means that two or more different devices in your network are doing “Network Address Translation.” This may cause signaling issues with your phones resulting in degraded call quality, dropped calls and one-way audio.
SIP ALG: This protocol prevents some of the problems caused by router firewalls by inspecting VoIP traffic (packets) and, if necessary, modifying it. However, we find it doesn't work as intended and causes more problems than it solves.
UDP Timeout:This refers to the amount of time a UDP Pinhole stays open on a Firewall or Router.
FQDN: The complete domain name for a specific computer, or host, on the internet is its FQDN. This is where all the IP Addresses that Weave uses for our phone platform live. If we ever add or remove an IP Address your FQDN will automatically make that adjustment for you.
Single Thread: Your phone system typically runs through a single connection. This test will measure your speed results for that single connection providing you a more accurate expectation of your phone system quality and performance. This test is the primary test as many applications utilize a single thread connection.
Multi Thread: Multiple connections are used as a general gauge of speed across multiple connections simultaneously. Although this test helps us understand the top end of the network’s internet speed it doesn’t actually give us an accurate picture of how Voice calls will perform on the network as those typically run on a single thread.
Check Your Network
Take some steps to make sure your current network is compatible with Weave Phones.
- See if you have a recommended firewall, router, and modem
- Complete an internet speed test
- Go to speedtest.net
- Under Connections beneath the GO button, change the setting from Multi to Single
- Click the GO button
- Let the test run (you will see a speedometer-type gauge)
- Once it has fully run you will see the test results appear in the grid along the top
- Write down the download and upload speed to have ready for your call with Weave
- Complete any of the Advanced Network steps that may be required by your router
- Receive a Public IP if necessary
Weave does support VLAN and we are happy to provide support in getting VLAN set up with Weave phones. Before you call, make sure to have the MAC addresses of your phones and the VLAN tags.