If you are experiencing temperamental reliability problems with your VOIP hardware/software (registration/connectivity) or problems with in/out bound calls, this guide may well solve some or all your issues!
If you notice a mistake or error, please let me know so I can correct it.
Cheers!
REQUIREMENTS
- a standalone Modem or combined Modem/Router (e.g. ADSL, xDSL NBN, Fibre, Satellite, et al);
- the Modem bridged to your Router; and
- have ATA or Phone H/W device(s) (or VOIP S/W clients) connected;
Log on to your router and view your current "Routing Table". It usually is found near 'Status', 'Network' or perhaps under an 'Advanced' area. Check with your router documentation or call manufacturer support.
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PROBLEMATIC & UNRELIABLE VOIP - ROUTING TABLE
Your Routing Table (within the router) might look something like this (i.e. "192.168.10" and "192.168.0" - mine beforehand (-or- "169.254.0" and "10.1.1"\"10.0.0"\"192.168.0" etcetera...)):
Code: Select all
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Type Iface
220.230.11.22 * 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 WAN0 ppp0
192.168.10.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 MAN0 eth0
192.168.0.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 LAN br0
default 220.230.11.22 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 WAN0 ppp0
default 192.168.10.1 0.0.0.0 UG 1 0 0 MAN0 eth0
- OR -
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Type Iface
220.230.10.11 * 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 WAN0 ppp0
169.254.0.0 * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 MAN0 eth0
192.168.0.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 LAN br0
default 220.230.10.11 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 WAN0 ppp0
default 169.254.12.34 0.0.0.0 UG 1 0 0 MAN0 eth0
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VIABLE SOLUTION:
What worked for me/us, in order to get everyone's internal voice hardware (SPA5xx, SPA901, PAP2T, SPA3102, etc) to work, was so incredibly simple!
In the example above, you can see there are TWO "default routes". So when the ATA or Phone or S/W tries to perform NAT stuff, registrations, communicate with the outside, it may get stuck going through the wrong route! So if it is listening on the wrong route, then it cannot receive phone calls or sometimes make them. Problems your experience will obviously be very different to others, but read on...
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INSTRUCTIONS
- Directly connect yourself to the Modem device (Wi-Fi or Cable) - i.e. the device providing Internet connectivity.
- Configure the WAN service if required - choose "BRIDGE" mode (e.g. my ASUS router only supports PPPoE, so I use LLC/SNAP and 8/35 VPI/VCI).
- Log in to the Modem and DISABLE the DHCP service.
- Change only one setting at a time, so we can confirm the routing table is correct. You can always come back and change other settings.
- Save changes and take a backup of the device configuration.
- Disable *everything* Wi-Fi related on the device (including any non-related and built-in services, if possible).
- Reconnect the Modem and the router. Reboot both devices.
- On the WAN of the router, confirm it is configured appropriately (DHCP or PPPoE/A etc.) and DO NOT set a static router WAN IP.
- Reboot the routerif required. The router will auto-discover and obtain the "real" WAN I.P. address automatically.
- Perform thorough testing (1+ day). Prank call yourself from a mobile phone (NOT a VoIP phone), or a SIP Phone on your mobile's 2G/3G/4G.
- Once satisfied, and you have read further down this post, you can begin to experiment with enabling/disabling the router's SIP-ALG / SIP-Passthru / SIP-Passthrough feature, to further determine what could be causing issues or be incompatible, to make sure your routing table looks *similar* to these examples..
HAPPY AND RELIABLE VOIP - ROUTING TABLE
Your Routing Table *should* look something like this afterwards:
Code: Select all
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Type Iface
220.230.11.22 * 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 WAN0 ppp0
192.168.0.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 LAN br0
default 220.230.11.22 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 WAN0 ppp0
Code: Select all
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Type Iface
220.230.11.22 * 255.255.255.255 UH 0 0 0 WAN0 ppp0
169.254.0.0 * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 MAN0 eth0
192.168.0.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 LAN br0
default 220.230.11.22 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 WAN0 ppp0
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I suspect I need to something else on the ASUS router - but regardless, I now have a Routing Table that has ONE route & relaible VOIP!!
I have had several VOIP ATA/devices (SPA901, SIP-T46G, PAP2T, SPA3102, SPA504G and so on) registered and online for over 72 hours.
Well, except until I stick in the fecking Cisco SPA232D-G7!!!