Cannot register using wireless service

[JST]

I am using an HTC One M7 Google Android Phone. The installation of the config file worked just fine, but the phone can only register when it is on the local network. It doesn't register when it is using the LTE network of my phone provider.

Can somebody point me in the right direction to debug this? Thank you!

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

Hello @JST
As a first step make sure that you pass the firewall checker and under the phone provisioning tab select 3CX client and make sure that "Use 3CX tunnel for remote connections" is enabled.

 

[JST]

OK. I found something. In the previous release I passed the firewall test, but the latest version is giving some errors now. It now says that the 3CX Media Server has failed. Some port tests below the 3CX Media Server fail with "full cone test failed".

I will check if these are real errors because I have previously seen some false positives caused by the multi port scanning process of the firewall test. Will report back on that.

"Use 3CX tunnel for remote connections" was already activated. I also double checked that the firewall allows the ports used by 3CX on the external network.

 

[JST]

My suspicion was correct. The new version is using a different source IP to run the port scan. Once I have added that to my exclusion list, it allowed the port scan and the firewall test completed successfully again.

Is there anything else I can try? I am just puzzled that it doesn't even register...

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

Does your FQDN resolve to your public IP address? Send a welcome email and edit it with a notepad. Are the information in the welcome email correct?

 

[leejor]

the phone can only register when it is on the local network. It doesn't register when it is using the LTE network of my phone provider.

What about an external Wifi hotspot? Does that work?

In the extension settings, you do have the option set to allow outside registration, right?

In the 3CX activity log, is there a registration attempt shown?

 

[JST]

Thank you for your feedback!

I will try to test it with a WIFI hotspot in the next few days and, yes, the option to allow outside registration is set.

However, I don't see a registration attempt in the 3CX activity log. Firewall check is passing.

 

[JST]

I have one more observation. As part of trying to resolve an issue with the push service, I have installed another test instance on a VM at work. That instance is using a static IP. On that instance, I can register the phone and it shows "On Hook", but the status remains at "Connecting".

Both locations are using the same firewall rules. It seems that part of the issue is using dynamic IP, but it also appears that my firewall rules are missing another port to support status information (e.g. "Available").

Are there any ports the firewall check isn't checking? How does the 3CX mobile client communicate status information? And, most importantly, why doesn't it work with dynamic IP? Is anybody using dynamic IP successfully or am I trying to set something up that simply doesn't work?

 

[JST]

Just made another discovery. I can connect on the system using dynamic IP if I disable the 3CX tunnel service.

So, I checked the logs again and found the following in the end of the 3CXTunnel log:

19:25:17.051|7feae1741700| Info|/home/repomaster/root15_sp4/Sources/Projects/Tu$
19:25:17.074|7feae883b780| Info|/home/repomaster/root15_sp4/Sources/Projects/Tu$
19:25:17.074|7feae883b780| Info|/home/repomaster/root15_sp4/Sources/Projects/Tu$
19:25:17.075|7feae883b780| Info|/home/repomaster/root15_sp4/Sources/Projects/Tu$
19:25:17.075|7feae0d34700| Info|/home/repomaster/root15_sp4/Sources/Projects/Tu$
19:25:17.075|7feadaffd700| Info|/home/repomaster/root15_sp4/Sources/Projects/Tu$
19:25:17.075|7feadb7fe700| Info|/home/repomaster/root15_sp4/Sources/Projects/Tu$
19:25:17.076|7feadb7fe700|Error|/home/repomaster/root15_sp4/Sources/Projects/Tu$

The last line is in error and the error message says "Cannot set the tunnel to listen on 192.168.1.250:5090 errrcode=99"

Where does this IP address come from? It isn't the 3CX system address. In fact, the address is unused on my local network.

Could this be related to my problem?

 

[leejor]

If you don't use that IP, it somehow made it into the 3CX settings. I would check over the variables to see if that IP is in there somewhere. As far as Presence not working..."connecting"... have a look over the list of ports required for various 3CX services, you probably don't have all of the needed ports forwarded.

https://www.3cx.com/ports-used-3cx-phone-system-v14-v15/

 

[JST]

Thank you for your feedback!

I found numerous parameters pointing to this IP address and simply changed them to the IP address of the 3CX system. The error message is gone now, but I still cannot connect from an external IP to the 3CX system when the 3CX tunnel is activated.

Do I loose some functionality when the tunnel is off?

Oddly, enough the tunnel now also doesn't work with the static IP. Not sure why it initially worked with the tunnel...

I guess I am making some progress, but the tunnel problem is puzzling...

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

If you had a wrong local IP in your installation then i think your best option is performing a backup without license and FQDN (save the backup to safe location) un-install the system and re-install with the correct IP.
Presence port by default is 5001 unless you changed it during installation

 

[JST]

Yes, that makes sense. I will give that a try first thing on Monday.

It appears that the installation somehow grabbed a DHCP address when I provided it with the FQDN. Hopefully, it will work this time.

Most likely some of my other issues are related to this problem as well...

Anyhow, I will report back once the re-installation is done.

 

[JST]

I found that the installation "randomly" chooses to get a DHCP address. I have assigned the proper IP by MAC address and FQDN, but it somehow opts to do DHCP anyhow.
On the third install it works, but now I am stuck on the licensing screen. It says:

License Activation Failed
The activation server reported multiple activations. Please activate your product from the original computer on which it was installed.

Well, yeah, I wasn't really planning on installing it so often either. How can I get this fixed? I didn't take a copy of the original MAC address and VMware assigned it a new one each time the installation ran...

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

The only thing you can do is contacting the sales department. Only they have control over license keys.

 

[JST]

Hmmm, I called you Florida office twice, they took all my information (email, phone, etc.), but nobody has called me back. I like your product, but this is kind of a broken sales process is it? In my humble opinion, it should be possible to unlock a locked license within minutes.

I have also sent an email directly to [email protected], but haven't received a response either.

While this kind of behavior is fine for a home solution, I would be somewhat worried about business. Hopefully, this is just a one-off experience?

 

[9009]

I had a similar problem with my Android 3CX Client. It kept on showing "Connecting" while on LTE or when not using our local WiFi network.

I forwarded Port 5001 and that solved the connecting problem. It now connects in or out of our local WiFi network and shows "Available".

This link may help: https://www.3cx.com/ports-used-3cx-phone-system-v14-v15/