VOIP ATA, Softphone, and Port Forwarding

[ymhee_bcex]

auswalk,
I think Mike's recommendations may be a little ambiguous (either that, or I disagree with some of them). You should turn off ALG and SPI (SPI is a feature of firewall; I think that's what he means by Firewall/SPI). I don't think you should turn off firewall on the router altogether.

Normally, you don't need to put adapter in DMZ, nor forward any ports. Adapter should work just like your softphone - register and forget it. Usually, you enable port forwarding for troubleshooting purposes (such as one-way audio, etc.).

And usually consumer routers notify you that DMZ and port forwarding are conflicting settings; so you really do one or another.

Last, assuming you have Voipo-provided locked adapter, you can't set up STUN server yourself.

[auswalk]

auswalk,
I think Mike's recommendations may be a little ambiguous (either that, or I disagree with some of them). You should turn off ALG and SPI (SPI is a feature of firewall; I think that's what he means by Firewall/SPI). I don't think you should turn off firewall on the router altogether.

Normally, you don't need to put adapter in DMZ, nor forward any ports. Adapter should work just like your softphone - register and forget it. Usually, you enable port forwarding for troubleshooting purposes (such as one-way audio, etc.).

And usually consumer routers notify you that DMZ and port forwarding are conflicting settings; so you really do one or another.

Last, assuming you have Voipo-provided locked adapter, you can't set up STUN server yourself.

That is the problem. When I don't port forward 5004-65000 I get one-way audio etc.

[burris]

I have been with VOIPo since before the beginning and this is what I have that gives me excellent results.

Since I was around before, I have the privilege of being able to use any of my collection of ATAs and program them myself. Since we're talking about phone service and since I haven't had a land line for 7 years and I have to please my wife, I long ago decided to find the best settings and leave them alone.

I don't ever use STUN and I wouldn't ever put anything in the DMZ. In my router, I have SPI and ALG off. I have a third party firewall as the router firewall causes me problems.
I have the ATA set with a static IP and the router ports 5004-65000 forwarded to that static IP.

My ASUS router has DD-WRT and I don't use any QOS, since for me, it causes more problems than it is worth and my DSL speed is 6/786.

The above settings offer me a connection that rivals POTS in both connectivity and audio quality.

I wish I could take credit for all this, but the credit must go to Brandon\VOIPo who spent many hours over the years tutoring me and ultimately convincing me the right path to take.
My basic nature is to effect change for the sake of change, but as I mentioned, this is phone service and not really the place to fool around and then blame the provider when it doesn't work.

To be fair, everybody has a different setup and talks and listens on different circuits, so there will certainly be differences. However, talk to VOIPo...they do know what they are doing.

[christcorp]

auswalk,
I think Mike's recommendations may be a little ambiguous (either that, or I disagree with some of them). You should turn off ALG and SPI (SPI is a feature of firewall; I think that's what he means by Firewall/SPI). I don't think you should turn off firewall on the router altogether.

Normally, you don't need to put adapter in DMZ, nor forward any ports. Adapter should work just like your softphone - register and forget it. Usually, you enable port forwarding for troubleshooting purposes (such as one-way audio, etc.).

And usually consumer routers notify you that DMZ and port forwarding are conflicting settings; so you really do one or another.

Last, assuming you have Voipo-provided locked adapter, you can't set up STUN server yourself.

I did mean to turn OFF ALG and ALSO to turn OFF the Firewall in the router all together. Some routers call it firewall and some call it SPI. (Stateful packet Inspection). I DO RECOMMEND turning the firewall off. At least as a means to verify if the firewall is causing the problem. There are many more AND BETTER firewall options than using the basic SPI capability of a consumer grade router.

I haven't used SPI in my router in more than 10 years. (Can't remember the last time I used it). And FWIW, I've NEVER had a virus, trojan, DOS attack, or attack of any kind on my home system. At least disable it long enough to determine if it's contributing to the problem. Also; don't use DMZ, just use port forwarding.