Odd problem with voip.co.uk

Folks


I have an odd problem with my VOIP.


My LinkSys PAP2 is connected to a BT Business Hub (aka 2Wire 2700) router.
The PAP2 is set up in the router DMZ - i.e. no firewall.
2 other PC's are connected to the same router.


Outbound calling always seems to work.

But, inbound calling does not work when both the other PC's are turned off.
Callers hear a message "this number is temporarily unavailable".
The "Phone 1" LED on the PAP2 does not light up.

As soon as at least one of the PC's is booted up the Inbound calling works fine.
The "Phone 1" LED on the PAP2 lights up.

I have checked the router timeout and it is set to 0 - no timeout.
Also the router logs don't seem to show that it is dropping the line.


I have no idea what could cause this. Any ideas?


Thanks - Adam

Adam Lipscombe wrote:
> Folks
>
>
> I have an odd problem with my VOIP.
>
>
> My LinkSys PAP2 is connected to a BT Business Hub (aka 2Wire 2700) router.
> The PAP2 is set up in the router DMZ - i.e. no firewall.
> 2 other PC's are connected to the same router.

How many WAN IP addresses have you got? Have you tried assigning a
different one to your ATA? Have you tried testing the one you've
assigned to your ATA with one of your PCs?
If you've only got one WAN IP address and you're using a pseudo-DMZ,
then one presumes that visiting something like ShieldsUp at grc.com
would show the SIP port as being open. You could install Wireshark on
one of your PCs and put the PC in the same place as the ATA [same IP,
same port]. Then make an inbound call and see if you get any connection
attempts from voip.co.uk.

> Outbound calling always seems to work.

This is usually an issue with port forwarding. Have you tried binning
the DMZ and configuring port forwarding instead?

> But, inbound calling does not work when both the other PC's are turned off.
> Callers hear a message "this number is temporarily unavailable".
> The "Phone 1" LED on the PAP2 does not light up.
>
> As soon as at least one of the PC's is booted up the Inbound calling works fine.
> The "Phone 1" LED on the PAP2 lights up.

Do you mean, literally as soon as it's booted [ie the ethernet light
comes on on the relevant port] or do you mean, once it's doing stuff on
the internet?

> I have checked the router timeout and it is set to 0 - no timeout.
> Also the router logs don't seem to show that it is dropping the line

Is it possible to increase the verbosity of your router logs? Update
the firmware?

Just a thought - what happens if you have both PCs off, make an
outbound call [to generate a bit of traffic], and then make a call in?

alexd

ale.cx wrote:
> Adam Lipscombe wrote:
>> Folks
>>
>>
>> I have an odd problem with my VOIP.
>>
>>
>> My LinkSys PAP2 is connected to a BT Business Hub (aka 2Wire 2700) router.
>> The PAP2 is set up in the router DMZ - i.e. no firewall.
>> 2 other PC's are connected to the same router.
>
> How many WAN IP addresses have you got? Have you tried assigning a
> different one to your ATA? Have you tried testing the one you've
> assigned to your ATA with one of your PCs?
> If you've only got one WAN IP address and you're using a pseudo-DMZ,
> then one presumes that visiting something like ShieldsUp at grc.com
> would show the SIP port as being open. You could install Wireshark on
> one of your PCs and put the PC in the same place as the ATA [same IP,
> same port]. Then make an inbound call and see if you get any connection
> attempts from voip.co.uk.
>
>> Outbound calling always seems to work.
>
> This is usually an issue with port forwarding. Have you tried binning
> the DMZ and configuring port forwarding instead?
>
>> But, inbound calling does not work when both the other PC's are turned off.
>> Callers hear a message "this number is temporarily unavailable".
>> The "Phone 1" LED on the PAP2 does not light up.
>>
>> As soon as at least one of the PC's is booted up the Inbound calling works fine.
>> The "Phone 1" LED on the PAP2 lights up.
>
> Do you mean, literally as soon as it's booted [ie the ethernet light
> comes on on the relevant port] or do you mean, once it's doing stuff on
> the internet?
>
>> I have checked the router timeout and it is set to 0 - no timeout.
>> Also the router logs don't seem to show that it is dropping the line
>
> Is it possible to increase the verbosity of your router logs? Update
> the firmware?
>
> Just a thought - what happens if you have both PCs off, make an
> outbound call [to generate a bit of traffic], and then make a call in?
>
> alexd
>

I think Alex's idea is a good one. The router may be set to disconnect
if there is no activity, therefore incoming calls would fail.

To fix this set the router to 'Always on'. You could also set your sip
registration to 60 seconds, so that there is activity on the router even
when your machines are off.

Ross
-----------------------
Ross Beer
VoiceHost Support
www.voicehost.co.uk

Ross Beer wrote:
>
> I think Alex's idea is a good one. The router may be set to disconnect
> if there is no activity, therefore incoming calls would fail.
>

This is quite a common setting on routers.

In some countries (I forget which) you pay for the time your ADSL line
is online. Or they have a package that allows `10 hours usage a month`
or similar.

Consequently some routers by default, disconnect after a no activity
time out.

Tim