SIP registration

[magnavore]

I have tried on several occasions to deploy the 3CX for our small VoIP service, but all in vein. The problem I experienced with two latest free versions was SIP registration. After initial successful registration everything goes in complete chaos. With my dynamic IP, STUN registration is crucial, but it is not working properly and/or reliably. Several common issues such as connection speed, latency and firewall settings that I read about on this forum do not seem to be relevant to my situation. My internet speed is at 10 M down / 1 M up and I put the XP server in front of the firewall for testing purposes.

I would greatly appreciate any hints. Is this software really working? Purchasing a full version does not seem to be an attractive option as for much less money one can set up a Linux server with a full version of Asterisk.

Thanks in advance
Konny

 

[ecwilson]

You will need to post your server logs so people can take a look at them to help you solve your problem.
Yes this software really works we have four servers in operation for clients but it is not on the same
level with a linux/asterisk server. Those products have been around a bit longer but the 3CX product
is still coming along. The words complete chaos does not tell anyone what the real problem is??? You
will need to post these things in order to get help here???
1)...voip provider
2)...ip phones used or softphones used
3)...3cx logs
4)...what version of 3cx installed

Also just because your isp tells you 10MB/1MB that does not
mean that is what you are really getting everyday all day??? :evil:

ecwilson

 

[N_G]

The problem almost certainly is with the fact that you are using a dynamic IP. This is not a good environment for a phone system. other problems are probably firewall configuration and so on.

Just curious, if you can setup Asterisk for much less money, why dont you?

 

[ecwilson]

I will agree with Nick but the problem with his assiment is 94% of
all consumer/residential internet connections here in the USA use
dynamic ip assignments. With that said you really don't have a
choice on a public ip but the 3cx software will still work on a
DHCP ip address. But with out logs there is no way to see what
is going on inside the 3cx system. We tested the system on a
cable modem & DSL connections without a problem but move
to colocation which is where all of our other systems are.

ecwilson

 

[coelhopsi]

Yes... letting us know what "complete chaos" means would be of great help on trying to resolve this issue.

I have been using 3CX at home with dynamic IP and have had no problems at all.

 

[N_G]

When a dynamic IP is changed (and some times ISPs forces the change) then - until the lines are re-registered - all inbound and outbound calls will fail. I guess you can put the re-registration to a minimum. Just not an ideal situation for a PBX but maybe for a home install it will suffice. Also keep in mind we did not design 3Cx as a consumer pbx but rather a small-medium business PBX.

 

[Andy Schmidt]

Well, let's be realistic - most U.S. ISPs have NO interest with keeping their DHCP servers busy constantly assigning new IP addresses.

MY experience over the years has been that my various home broadband connections (first DSL, the Cable, now Fiber/FIOX) each were assigned dynamic IP addresses from a DHCP pool - but, as long as I did NOT power off my broadband modem/router, it would renew the SAME IP address for weeks if not MONTHS. So, while technically it was not "static", I really can't see how 3CX would be bothered by the fact that a particular IP address was assigned MONTHS ago by a DHCP server?

And, obviously, if I DO power down my broadband modem/router, calls will drop ANYHOW, so re-registrations would be the least of the worries?

In other words, I would warn against jumping to the quick conclusion that this is likely a problem of dynamic/DHCP assigned IP addresses. I would look elsehwere (once this user provides logs and specific details).

 

[Philco]

Hi, I've not looked in this thread until today. I'm with Andy on this. In the UK home and business broadband unless specificaly requested, are given a single dynamic IP address and as Andy mentions this address can remain valid for several months and I am convinced the IP address does not always change even if the router is rebooted, probably like any DHCP pool the Teleco pool retains the mac of a connected device (i'm guessing) unless itself autorefreshes the pool or has been rebooted.

If it was a dynamic IP address problem I would have thought that all VOIP devices would suffer the same problem in that location, and I think 3cx is actually more robust than discrete voip devices for registration.

Konny, have you checked to see if the IP address from the teleco provider has changed while the system is up, as I have not known them chnage on the fly unless there was a problem at the teleco. If it is likely to be changing so regular then I would imgagine it would not be just VOIP that would be suffering.

I have to say, I have known instances where businesses on business parks have been provided with a broadband connection from the park owner, and the IP address is refreshed quite regularly in an attempt to provide more security, and maybe because of this I have noticed that VOIP devices on these parks even with sip registratioon of 60 seconds have ended up with double registrations at the voip provider.

Interesting.

Phil

 

[radelman]

I have a dynmaic IP and no registration problems. The stun server is supposed to resolve this. The STUN server allows clients to find out their public address, the type of NAT they are behind and the internet side port associated by the NAT with a particular local port. This information is used to set up UDP communication between the client and the VOIP provider and so establish a call. The STUN protocol is defined in RFC 3489. Please post your logs so we can identify the exact problem.

 

[Discovery Technology]

If you tried your XP Server in front of your firewall and had STUN configured and working (as it is crucial, I would agree also) then a dynamic IP wouldn't be your problem.

Once it is behind the firewall, you would definietly need to open STUN, SIP and external RTP and use a decent firewall that doesn't mangle your ports as the traffic passes through - the firewall test in 3CX will confirm this for you quickly enough.

I would suspect possibly a port clash on one of the regular ports that 3CX uses, perhaps or possibly your VoIP trunk settings might not be quite right - playing around with different settings on your VoIP trunk including registration periods might be worthwhile trying.

Cheers, Brendan

 

[tekknow]

If you are on a Public IP you need the following


in the file C:\Program Files\3CX PhoneSystem\Bin\3CXPhoneSystem.ini
[Network]
LocalSubnets=0.0.0.0/0

Delete any local subnets that may appear , but SAVE A COPY


Turn Off all STUN , i think in the general settings

Turn off all STUN on trunks


Restart the system

 

[Discovery Technology]

I've had to use this setting on an Asterisk system in the past when accessing the SIP Server over VPN tunnels from remote subnets - would the 3CX Server be expecting the samie: add each remote subnet into this section of the .ini file?

Thanks, Brendan

 

[Philco]

Must admit, I've never had to set anything like this on a system, whether the server is behind a router with NAT and dynamic WAN IP, or behind a router with static public IP, or behind a router where all devices behind the router (server, phones etc) are all on individual static public IPs. Stun also left on in all cases.


In all cases except the dynamic WAN installation (due to the address change of course) remote phones work too.

I'll just add, the only problem I have had, and I've posted elsewhere on the forums, was where audio from remote phones was not being received at the server, and it we discovered that the router at the server was not passing incoming RTP. Changed router to one that we know works and all was fine.

The above with at least 5 different ISP in the UK, but I guess thats where things may differ elsewhere.

Phil

 

[Discovery Technology]

Were you using the outbound proxy setting on the remote phones when you were experiencing the problems?

Was it a NAT or VPN scenario otherwise?

 

[Philco]

Most deffinitely was using proxy. The instance where the remotes wouldnt work, we tried the firewall on the router turned off, firewall on sever turned off, both and also server on DMZ, changed router and it worked fine.

Phil

 

[Discovery Technology]

Can I ask what model router you replaced?

I have had success with Cisco and Cyberguard routers so far in NAT scenarios, and Sonicwalls in VPN scenarios (not so well in NAT setups as it seems to play around with the ports as they pass through the F/W)

 

[Philco]

Yes, here in the UK the troublesome router it was a BT Voyager 2110, which may be made by Dynalink. I now use Netgear WG834G.


Phil