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Best phone to use for remote extension?

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Lee Moreau

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Here's my set up below, this works perfectly fine with Asterisk but from what I understand 3CX needs STUN and I can't get it to work with any of my Cisco phones. We use DSL right now, 10Mbps down and 7Mbps up and have 2 users in the office then will have 1 user working from home. I don't have a static IP as it's a rip off with my ISP so I use a dynamic dns service so I have a .com domain that always points to my current IP.

I have Cisco phones and Polycom right now. Cisco doesn't work at all as it doesn't support STUN so I don't think I'll be able to use those unless it's somehow possible? I have one Polycom and the 3CX site says sometimes you can get them to work with NAT Traversal but I tried for awhile and had no luck. I have issues getting it to work even on the local network anyway though.

So was looking at Snom or Grandstream etc. Was just wondering if one particular model is better than another for remote extensions, or would it make more sense to provide my teleworking employee with a VPN router that connects back to my office over VPN and then have them just use the Cisco phones as well?

Not all that familiar with how STUN works, I see it says to enter stun.3cx.com as the STUN server on the phones, but how does that server know what my phone is? Is my PBX talking back to that server as well or something or do I have to do further configuration? Thanks so much!
 
My understanding is that in the latest versions (I think 9, 10 and 11) STUN (at the set end) is no longer needed.As mentioned here...http://www.3cx.com/blog/docs/3cx-phone-system-parameters-table/

It has to do with the ALLOWSOURCEASOUTBOUND parameter. See...http://www.3cx.com/blog/docs/3cx-phone-system-parameters-table/ which I now believe comes set as "1" as default

STUN itself, is simply a test to allow a device to know what type of NAT it is "dealing" with. There are a number of STUN servers available and you are not restricted to any one in particular.

This has a good explanation as well as a nice little diagram. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STUN
 
As long as there is a fixed public IP and the firewalls are configured correctly, then there really should be no reason for STUN. If STUN is needed, then I do not think Polycom supports the feature, but they have recently updated their firmware portfolio, so this may have changed.

While SNOM is good, 3CX has announced that they are no longer planning to move forward with the SNOM product line, so this might alter your thinking. Yealink and Grandstream are good candidates as both are supported and easy to configure and have lower price points. Panasonic has just recently been added to the phone portfolio and while I have been using the cordless model for a couple of years, I confess that I have not remoted one or tried any of the corded models as of yet.
 
So strange because I tried installing 3CX on Amazon EC2's Windows Server cloud but I couldn't get it to work at all. I was getting one way audio non stop and all the guides I would read kept saying that it was NAT issues and so on but would also say that STUN was needed etc. I never did try though with a Cisco 7960 like most of my people use, I only tested it with 2 softphones. The thing was the softphones always did one way audio but then when I installed it to a virtual machine on my local computer it worked right away. I had all ports etc open as far as I know, but maybe it's an issue with Amazon as they seem really picky. I just don't know where else to go for a good priced Windows Server VPS is all.
 
I'm giving this another shot but quick question, is there anywhere to set NAT on for an extension? With Asterisk when we have it on prem we have to set in each extension NAT=no for the Cisco phones to work. But if it's on a VPS or in the cloud, we have to set NAT=yes otherwise the phones wont' register. As soon as we do NAT=yes they connect.

I have it set up with all ports opened but the phones aren't registering. Softphones do but the Cisco ones don't even appear on the 3CX log as trying to connect. So just not sure what I need to do. That setting above is already at 1.
 
I have not remoted one or tried any of the corded models as of yet.
g.gif
 
Actually looks like I was able to get it going somehow. I ended up just disabling NAT on the Cisco phone and it works. Would that cause any future issues do you think though?
 
Lee Moreau said:
Actually looks like I was able to get it going somehow. I ended up just disabling NAT on the Cisco phone and it works. Would that cause any future issues do you think though?

If it's working now and the set continues to remain registered, and you can place and receive calls with no issues, then unless you make other changes in your network I would say, no, you should not have any issues in the future.

Any changes to the network, however, at either end, can (as we all know), have unintended, detrimental, consequences, that may have to be dealt with at that time.
 
So that was short lived lol. I had to switch back to the local PBX etc then when I put it back, it registers but there's no audio at all. I have a sneaking suspicion its something on my end though. Right now at the office I have DSL which is a stupid modem/router combo then I have DMZ to my actual router with QoS. When I have the phone connected to my router it registers but doesn't do audio now. Just connected it to the modem/router directly and none of the lines register. Will try it at home where I have cable and a proper router.
 
So I'm really stumped now. I took it home where I have cable that's an actual modem connected to my Netgear WNDR3700 router and same thing, registers but won't do any audio on calls. Just for fun I connected it DIRECT to the cable modem and same issue still registers makes calls but no audio even on internal calls.

So it must be something with my VPS. What I don't get is I have 2 separate VPS providers to test, and on both I've disabled firewall and opened up all ports and it does the same thing. Really at a loss here it's so strange, worked earlier and now nothing.
 
The best is 3CX Phone (for Windows)
 
Lee Moreau said:
So I'm really stumped now. I took it home where I have cable that's an actual modem connected to my Netgear WNDR3700 router and same thing, registers but won't do any audio on calls. Just for fun I connected it DIRECT to the cable modem and same issue still registers makes calls but no audio even on internal calls.

That's no audio both directions? have a look at the 3CX log, what IP/port is the remote set registering with?
Lee Moreau said:
Right now at the office I have DSL which is a stupid modem/router combo then I have DMZ to my actual router with QoS.

Is this not double NAT? Even though you are using DMZ, that just opens up the ports. Is your (second) router getting an IP from the modem/router combo? Are you able to dis-able the router on the combo unit so that your second router can get a public IP rather than a private one from the combo unit? Can you get a stand-alone modem to use with the other router. Depending on your provider, and the speed they are running, you can sometimes find them for a couple of buck at a Goodwill or second hand store.
 
It's driving me crazy. I have DMZ enabled on the router/modem to my actual router but I have the router/modem in bridge mode now. But at home I have cable so it's just a cable modem and connecting the phone direct to that modem which would eliminate all port issues still doesn't work.

I'm not even sure if it's one way audio or none. The phones won't even register to it now. Like it's on and off sometimes they register othertimes they don't. My phone has 3 extensions on it, and sometimes 2 will register and the 3rd won't, other times line 2 and 3 register but the 1st doesn't. That's at home and at my office on 2 separate connections as well.

Now it doesn't even work connected to the on - prem 3CX box. I can receive calls but not make calls out they all just say dialing out in the logs then after awhile say PBX said BYE. I don't get this at all or understand why its so complicated. This system seems so weird like it was just working an hour ago on my on prem system but now won't make any outbound calls. All it says now is:

24-07-2012 17:05:33.906 [CM503020]: Call(C:10): Normal call termination. Call originator: Extn:4945. Reason: No answer
24-07-2012 17:05:33.906 [CM503016]: Call(C:10): Attempt to reach <sip:[email protected]:5060> from Extn:4945 has failed. Reason: No Answer
24-07-2012 17:05:33.906 Leg L:10.2[Line:10000>>18662223456] is terminated: Cause: 408 Request Timeout/INVITE from local
24-07-2012 17:05:33.906 [CM503003]: Call(C:10): Call to <sip:[email protected]:5060> has failed; Cause: 408 Request Timeout/INVITE from local
24-07-2012 17:05:28.453 Currently active calls - 1: [10]

Tried with CallCentric and does the same thing.
 
Managed to fix that issue with the on prem box. I had DMZ enabled in the router to the PBX just to make sure all ports were open to test etc and nothing worked. I then went in and opened all the ports manually like 5060-5090, 9000-9049 and now the calls are going through.
 
I just wish I could figure out this one way audio issue it's driving me nuts. I've tried 3 separate VPS providers now and they all do exactly the same thing. I've disabled firewall completely, I've enabled it but opened all the ports necessary and its always the same old thing. There's just no way that it can be a problem on my end because I've tried it at my office with DSL and a router, connected to the router then the DSL modem direct, then at home on cable connected to a different router and to cable modem directly. With Asterisk we would move our phones everywhere and they'd always register and work so I'm at a total loss here.

Like I'm trying a soft phone now and it does the same thing. Just for fun I entered my hosted Asterisk info and it worked immediately 2 way audio etc and I changed nothing in the settings. So I feel that it has to be something on the 3CX end but I have no idea what, it's driving me insane.

If 3CX is on a VPS and all 3 I tried do the same thing, and firewall has all ports open etc, then what else could it possibly be that's blocking audio? Even if I connect to 3CX using my iPhone over 3G it also has no audio.

The only thing I have to do differently with Asterisk is enable NAT on the actual IP phones, otherwise they won't even register. However if I have NAT enabled on the IP phones then they won't register with 3CX so I have to disable it. I don't think that makes a difference though as like I said I've connected direct to the cable modem and still no go.

I hate to keep going back to Asterisk because I like 3CX better but I've used Asterisk on many VPS systems and I've never had this issue. So I really feel like it's a 3CX config issue but I have no idea what it could possibly be. So crappy :(
 
I do not mean to insult, but trying to grasp exactly where you are in the process as many variables have come into play.

As I understand it, you simply would like to ba able to run 3cx on a VPS and have the remoted phones, wherever they may be, communicate.
For clarity-
1. Did you load 3cx on a local machine and have local extensions work?
2. Using the local instance, we're you able to then remote a phone and continue to have communications?
In the above, what version of 3cx and what type of phone and, in the case of #2, did you use the tunnel, stun or none?
You indicated DSL and no fixed ip, but using a ddns for resolving to your system. Is dsl in play at both the remote and where the local 3 cx installation is? DSL does not play nice without a fixed ip in my experience. I also appreciate the fact that providers are picky about how they will even issue one. I have a client who started this way and tried to get a fixed ip, but he had to subscribe to one of the higher speed plans. He was willing to do so, but because he was too far from the CO, they could not get him the plan and then refused to accommodate the ip request......even though he was still willing to pay the higher price and still remain at a lower speed. We ended up going PSTN gateway as he had a bad experience with cable. In any event, it seemed like his ip changed all the time, any time and the ddns had a hard time with it. I'm not suggesting this is the culprit in your case, but something that might need some monitoring.

Let's start with the above questions and set a reference and then move on to the next.
 
Thanks for your reply. Here's basically what I have done and what my setup is from start until now:

- In my office I installed 3CX on a physical Windows server here with local extensions. The local extensions work great (they are Cisco 7970 and 7960 IP phones but also work with Softphones and when I tested the iPhone app using auto provision). The connection here is DSL with a dynamic IP so I was going to use a DDNS service so that I'd be able to remote in if necessary. However the only reason I did this config was because everywhere I was reading was saying that 3CX needs STUN for remote extensions and my Cisco phones don't support it but now it sounds like with v11 it is possible with the right ports open. So that's why I started looking at VPS options, also because people were posting here that they had it working on EC2 etc. I never tried to connect over the Internet back to the office but just tried quickly and couldn't get it to work but not sure if the ports are right. I believe they are but the 3CX system doesn't even show the connection attempt in the logs and the phone just won't register. I put DMZ to the phone system just as a test but no go just says request timeout on the phones.

- Next I tried Amazon EC2 so I installed 3CX on it and disabled the windows firewall then opened all ports in the EC2 firewall. The Cisco phones with Asterisk need NAT turned on on them, so they wouldn't register until I finally realized to disable NAT on the Cisco phones which made them register right away. The soft phones would register immediately as well. However there was no audio on any of the calls, not one way just no audio. If I called other extensions etc they would ring, and the logs would show calls in progress but just no audio.

- Then I tried 2 other VPS providers because I thought maybe Amazon was the issue since it has the EC2 firewall plus Windows, but the exact same thing happened on the other 2, the phones register but no audio at all.

- In my office my DSL modem is in bridge mode connected to my router which the phones connect to. At home I have cable, so to eliminate router issues, I connected the IP phone direct to the cable modem. It registered but same thing no audio. Even using a Softphone on my iPhone on 3G would do the same thing, register but no audio. This was for all calls, like I'd call the voicemail access number, an IVR etc and it would show connected, but just no audio at all.

- Also on 2 of the softphones I have they support STUN as well as an iPhone softphone Bria. The phones register but still no audio. On 3CX I enabled STUN on it and same thing.

- Lastly, it says on the 3CX site about phones needing STUN etc and how to set up Linksys. So I have a SPA adapter here so I set it up the way it said to, enabling STUN etc. Guess what, exact same thing, registers with no audio. So even when using STUN it doesn't seem to do anything.

HOWEVER, I seem to have just made some sort of progress because on an initial test it seems to be working...
I was on the STUN settings page in Network settings on 3CX and I noticed it said if your IP never changes disable STUN. So I did that, I disabled STUN and entered my static IP for Amazon EC2. I restarted 3CX like it said to do and made a test call from my iPhone connected over 3G and it worked right away. I just set up my Cisco phone for it and it also connected right away as well and seems to work.... Could that have been the issue?
 
Well the use or not of STUN was in my earlier post (3rd in the thread). I have not had a need for STUN in recent memory, but have used before. I try and avoid and prefer the fixed or tunnel as one or the other has gotten me by.

I do not think you will have any future issues but you may need to monitor and assess if the keep Alives are effective at keeping the ports open.
 
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