> The only time you want to care about QoS is if you are doing IP Voice over a WAN of some sort
That's *almost* like saying "the only time you want to care about using an umbrella is if it's raining".
In other words, a huge proportion of users route VoIP calls over the internet (which is a WAN), with results indistinguishable from a POTS line. How? With QoS. Due to the real-time nature of VoIP, it's absolutely essential to give VoIP traffic priority over normal internet traffic. Unless you're paying for massive amounts of bandwidth you're not using, you simply CANNOT overlook this.
> A word of warning: if you want the provider to give you QoS over the WAN there is probably a fee.
I'm not sure about other parts of the world, but no ISP in Canada that I've used offers this. Fortunately you don't need it. A good, properly-configured router will will manipulate requests and receipts to effectively throttle *both incoming and outgoing* nonessential internet traffic. Any other way, VoIP over the internet wouldn't work.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
