LAN-only installation, external calls' sound intermitent

[luisalonsoramos]

Hello,

I recently set up a small 3CX installation for a new office. Currently I have the 3CX on a Windows 2003 Server (firewall off) virtual machine, on a server running just that virtual machine. I have a gigabit ethernet LAN, and a Grandstream GXW-4104 with 3 PSTN lines.

I have four extensions, all of which currently are softphones (I just bought a Cisco IP phone, but the power adapter is missing so I cannot install it for one or two more days).

Internal calls between the extensions work OK, but if I make an outbound call, the quality is very bad. There doesn't seem to be a big delay, but the sound is intermitent very often, making it difficult both for me and the other party to understand each other.

In both the FXO gateway and 3CX I made the least configuration changes required to make it work.

[EDIT: This is the server log for a call I just made:

==
09:57:52.133 [CM503008]: Call(24): Call is terminated
09:57:46.625 [MS211000] C:24.1: 192.168.1.105:40006 is delivering DTMF using RTP payload (RFC2833). In-Band DTMF tone detection is disabled for this call segment.
09:57:33.306 [CM503007]: Call(24): Device joined: sip:[email protected]:5064;transport=udp
09:57:33.296 [CM503007]: Call(24): Device joined: sip:[email protected]:50714;rinstance=f0ac41306f8a823b
09:57:33.286 [CM505002]: Gateway:[FXO Gateway 1] Device info: Device Not Identified: User Agent not matched; Capabilities:[reinvite, replaces, able-no-sdp, recvonly] UserAgent: [Grandstream GXW4104 (HW 2.0, Ch:10) 1.3.4.9] PBX contact: [sip:[email protected]:5060]
09:57:33.286 [CM503002]: Call(24): Alerting sip:[email protected]:5064;transport=udp
09:57:32.264 Currently active calls - 1: [24]
09:57:28.849 [CM503025]: Call(24): Calling PSTNline:018000214000@(Ln.10002@FXO Gateway 1)@[Dev:sip:[email protected]:5064;transport=udp]
09:57:28.839 [CM503004]: Call(24): Route 1: PSTNline:018000214000@(Ln.10002@FXO Gateway 1)@[Dev:sip:[email protected]:5064;transport=udp]
09:57:28.829 [CM503010]: Making route(s) to <sip:[email protected]:5060>
09:57:28.829 [CM505001]: Ext.581: Device info: Device Not Identified: User Agent not matched; Capabilities:[reinvite, replaces, able-no-sdp, recvonly] UserAgent: [3CXPhone 5.0.14900.0] PBX contact: [sip:[email protected]:5060]
09:57:28.809 [CM503001]: Call(24): Incoming call from Ext.581 to <sip:[email protected]:5060>
09:57:09.351 [CM504001]: Ext.581: new contact is registered. Contact(s): [sip:[email protected]:50714;rinstance=f0ac41306f8a823b/581]
==]

I like the product quite a lot and am thinking about adding it to my portfolio of IT services, but I first have to make it work for myself

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Luis Alonso Ramos
Chihuahua, Mexico

 

[smb1]

You have not specified what virtualisation platform you are using, but do mention Server 2003. Jitter in a virtual environment usually can be compensated for.

If using Windows Virtual Server or VMWare Server, I don't believe this is supported.

If using Hyper-V on Windows 2008 or 2008R2 or VMWare ESXi have a look at: http://www.3cx.com/blog/docs/hyper-v-instance/

This blog entry may also assist: http://www.3cx.com/blog/docs/voice-quality-hyperv-vmware/

 

[luisalonsoramos]

Thanks David. I am using a Windows 2003 Server host with Virtual Server 2005 R2. The virtual machine is also running on Windows 2003 Server.

I will take a look at the blog posts. From a quick look, they may help, but I'll try them when I get to the office.

Thanks again!

 

[smb1]

You probably want to upgrade to a more modern virtualisation platform such as Hyper-V or VMWare ESXi. There are free versions of both available, but if you have other machines you are hosting on VS 2005, then you may need to consider how best to proceed.

 

[luisalonsoramos]

Thanks. Yeah, I think I will move to Hyper-V. The thing is that since it is a test server for now, it's running on an old computer that does not support hardware virtualization, so Hyper-V wouldn't run. I will use another computer and try again.

 

[luisalonsoramos]

I moved the 3CX installation from the virtual machine to the physical server, and it improved a lot. However, sometimes the problem still occurs, albeit less frequently and less badly (yet bad enough to sometimes not allow the other party to be understood.)

Any other ideas? Thanks!!