Understanding quality of serviceΒΆ
Quality of Service refers to the ability of a network to offer an enhanced level of service to certain types of traffic. For example, Voice-over-IP (VoIP) traffic requires lower latency and jitter than web and e-mail traffic. Bonded Internet can be used to implement almost any type of traffic management strategy.
The following table shows the sensitivity of some common applications to network bandwidth, latency, and jitter.
| Bandwidth | Latency | Jitter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DNS | Low | High | Low |
| VoIP | Medium | High | High |
| Video conferencing | High | High | High |
| Web browsing | High | Medium | Low |
| Medium | Low | Low | |
| Web TV/video | High | Low | Low |
A network with ideal QoS would give each application the level of service it required, even when more than one application is active on the network. For example, VoIP traffic would receive low-latency, low-jitter service while web browsing traffic receives high-bandwidth service.