Need a VOIP expert to help!
Discussion
I have a few voip phones running on a virgin media business account at work, and they've been getting worse - can't hear, can't be heard. It's on a dynamic IP address - virgin are suggesting I switch to a fixed one but that doesn't really convince me.
Gradwell, my phone provider are saying it's a "network issue" because they tried to update the firmware in the phones and it fails with a "network error" during the update, but they can't tell me what exactly the phone is trying to do during the update and via what port or anything else for me to check.
In terms of testing is there anything I can do to check the "quality" (I don't know what else to write!) of the data stream presumably on (is it?) port 5060?
The internet and all other aspects of the account work fine.
Thanks in advance!!
Gradwell, my phone provider are saying it's a "network issue" because they tried to update the firmware in the phones and it fails with a "network error" during the update, but they can't tell me what exactly the phone is trying to do during the update and via what port or anything else for me to check.
In terms of testing is there anything I can do to check the "quality" (I don't know what else to write!) of the data stream presumably on (is it?) port 5060?
The internet and all other aspects of the account work fine.
Thanks in advance!!
Do you know if the service provider for your phones makes (tcp) connections to your phone on 5060 ?
if so how is that achieved (for example with a NAT?) - this is more difficult without a fixed IP.
Is your phone listening on 5060 locally ? Do you have any status pages at the service provide (for example to see when it last worked?)
if so how is that achieved (for example with a NAT?) - this is more difficult without a fixed IP.
Is your phone listening on 5060 locally ? Do you have any status pages at the service provide (for example to see when it last worked?)
Edited by gavsdavs on Thursday 31st August 13:22
Most common issues with voip phones
Sip ALG not disabled - can cause one way transmission, problems with phones registering
UDP timeout - set too low you'll get calls dropping
Ports blocked - phones won't register or update
QOS not set up on switch - call quality issues
Other random ones
DNS issues - phones won't register or are slow to do stuff
Vlans not set up right - some phones don't like being scattered across different vlans - can cause one way transmission on internal calls
Your provider should be able to supply you with a firewall guide to ensure you cover as much of the above as possible.
Sip ALG not disabled - can cause one way transmission, problems with phones registering
UDP timeout - set too low you'll get calls dropping
Ports blocked - phones won't register or update
QOS not set up on switch - call quality issues
Other random ones
DNS issues - phones won't register or are slow to do stuff
Vlans not set up right - some phones don't like being scattered across different vlans - can cause one way transmission on internal calls
Your provider should be able to supply you with a firewall guide to ensure you cover as much of the above as possible.
ooo000ooo said:
Most common issues with voip phones
Sip ALG not disabled - can cause one way transmission, problems with phones registering
UDP timeout - set too low you'll get calls dropping
Ports blocked - phones won't register or update
QOS not set up on switch - call quality issues
Other random ones
DNS issues - phones won't register or are slow to do stuff
Vlans not set up right - some phones don't like being scattered across different vlans - can cause one way transmission on internal calls
Your provider should be able to supply you with a firewall guide to ensure you cover as much of the above as possible.
^^^ Basically this... Sip ALG not disabled - can cause one way transmission, problems with phones registering
UDP timeout - set too low you'll get calls dropping
Ports blocked - phones won't register or update
QOS not set up on switch - call quality issues
Other random ones
DNS issues - phones won't register or are slow to do stuff
Vlans not set up right - some phones don't like being scattered across different vlans - can cause one way transmission on internal calls
Your provider should be able to supply you with a firewall guide to ensure you cover as much of the above as possible.
Based on the firmware update failure, I'd be looking to focus initial attention on finding if there are any ports getting blocked, NAT and/or firewall (that guide will be useful).
The other thing to bear in mind is the type of connection and the contention ratio on your line.
HTH
M
Some great things for me to do here - thanks a million. I decided to check. my QOS settings - as in, I know I don't have that set up and it seems a great idea to ring fence some bandwidth for the phones. So I went to log on to my router and now, since the guy in "support" at virgin reset my router to "help" me with the poor voip service (he didn't ask - just literally did a full on factory reset wiping out all my setup) but now I can't even access 192.168.0.1!!
A quick google reveals that the Hitron router they use can sometimes do this. Not sure if it's on some whacky subnet now (although it's still functioning as a modem) or if it's just become corrupt. So now I have to fix that before I can fix the phones......hhhhhmmmmpppphhhh
A quick google reveals that the Hitron router they use can sometimes do this. Not sure if it's on some whacky subnet now (although it's still functioning as a modem) or if it's just become corrupt. So now I have to fix that before I can fix the phones......hhhhhmmmmpppphhhh
ooo000ooo said:
Buttery Ken said:
Might be worth taking the leap to soft-phones now? So much easier to use, more functionality, more portability etc?
Another thing to go wrong and harder to troubleshoot 
I've got 100's of customers using soft-phones (8x8 mostly) for years and we barely get any tickets raised.
Just a quick update - this problem was solved as suggested above by installing a router that had QOS settings on it.
When I eventually got connectivity back I put the virgin hitron router into bridge mode and just got a half decent router from
Amazon - the QOS settings took the form of a very basic “preferred device” arrangement but I have to say it has worked very well, and we now have good voice quality.
Thanks to all helpers.
Best
Julian
When I eventually got connectivity back I put the virgin hitron router into bridge mode and just got a half decent router from
Amazon - the QOS settings took the form of a very basic “preferred device” arrangement but I have to say it has worked very well, and we now have good voice quality.
Thanks to all helpers.
Best
Julian
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