do i need to use stun or just provision at local site

[robort]

We have our main site that has provisioning via the local lan.

We have a remote site thats just on the internet.

If I provision the phone at the main site and take it to the remote one and allow use outside the local lan will it work?

or do i have to mess with stun etc?

Thanks

 

[Saqqara]

Any phones configured a local lan, will not work remotely.

You need to configure the device as stun.

 

[robort]

Thanks just trying to find the exact answer as some seem to work and some dont which is weird.

out of interest why wouldnt it work - what info does provisioning give it that doesnt work outside the lan?

thanks

 

[JohnS_3CX]

The provisioning provides a Local IP address. But the remote side is remote - it cannot access the local IP of the main site.

This means the phone will not find the PBX and it cannot register.

 

[robort]

ip address of the 3cx system? but this is in the cloud so has a public ip? or ip of the handset but isnt this on dhcp?

thanks

 

[JohnS_3CX]

ip address of the 3cx system? but this is in the cloud so has a public ip? or ip of the handset but isnt this on dhcp?

thanks

The point was: if its in the cloud, then why would you want to provision it as local lan? The local lan IP of 3CX does not exist in the cloud.

So you should expect this to 100% fail.

 

[robort]

our phone system is hosted so i assume thats what you mean by cloud. arent all the phones provisioned as local lan by default the other choices being sbc or stun?

sorry if stupid question

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Hi @robort

The simpler way to think about it is like this:

a) If 3CX is on the same LAN as the phones >> Use LAN provisioning

b) If 3CX is not on the same LAN as the phones >> Use SBC or STUN


You have a cloud machine, so the phones are not on the same LAN as the 3CX system.
I would highly recommend you use an SBC which will be the quickest and easiest solution for you.
https://www.3cx.com/docs/3cx-tunnel-session-border-controller/

 

[robort]

Ah I see why im getting confused the system is hosted but we're on a mpls to our host so its on the lan effectively d'oh.


Thanks

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Ok, in this case if you have a site-to-site connection then it would work because you are simulating a LAN that connects the two sides.

This is perfectly fine, so long as all types of traffic are allowed between the two sides and setup correctly such that neither 3CX or the phones are aware of its existence. They need to think that they are on the same flat LAN.

The VPN configuration is outside the scope of 3CX, so if you have any issues on that end we will not be able to assist and you will have to speak with a network specialist.

 

[robort]

is there a max number of stun phones you can have before you should use sbc?

 

[JohnS_3CX]

No, there isn't.

But it becomes an administration issue the more you have, so what we recommend as a general rule, is that if you have 1-2 phones at one site then STUN should be ok. But if you have more you should use SBC.

STUN has other challenges too that SBC will not have, like your provider's modem blocking SIP, or having SIP ALG service interfering with the calls, or having issues with one way audio or no incoming calls, and in the worst case no registration.

You can try STUN first if you want, and then see how it goes - just be aware of the possible issues you could run into and the time needed to troubleshoot and correct them. If its too much trouble or if they are unreliable in the long run, the answer is to use SBC.

 

[robort]

is sbc as easy as an installation file and thats pretty much it?

 

[robort]

if i install it at the remote site will the existing stun phones not work until all transferred over or can i do them one by one?

Thanks

 

[SweetAction]

is sbc as easy as an installation file and thats pretty much it?

And providing a key. You setup the SBC in the 3CX mgt console and it's next next next if running on Windows

if i install it at the remote site will the existing stun phones not work until all transferred over or can i do them one by one?

Thanks

You can move them one by one. No reason you can't have sbc and stun at same site (although why would you want to).

 

[robort]

just to test it without destroying my working phones! thanks for your help

 

[robort]

fyi installed the sbc today and all seems to work so thank you!

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Excellent news! while migrating all phones to SBC, make sure they have been factory reset (to forget their STUN settings).

And if you had any IP-Phone port forwards or enabled "PBX Delivers Audio" on the extensions, these can now be safely removed.