New Customer with Setup Question

Hello All!

New to VOIPo and VOIP telephony in general. Kind of a noob to general networking so this adds another level of complexity. Willing and able to learn though. Sometimes I <think> I know what I am talking about! I generally try to document my steps so I can reverse them if I screw up.

Anyway, here's my setup. Comcast broadband internet (equipment below). Initially setup in sequence Modem--->Grandstream HT502 ATA--->Router. Phone worked ok but when I did some speed tests before and after, download speed took a serious hit. Basically, cut rate in half. I was getting 70-80 Mbps which dropped into the 30s. Quite noticeable.

Decided to switch the HT502 (WAN port) to a LAN port on the router to: Modem--->router--->HT502. Not exactly called out in the directions but some quick searching seemed to indicate it would be fine. Made the change, regained my speed and everything seems to work ok. Continued searching called out some configuration changes and this is where I get confused.

I read about static IP address for HT502. Was able to login into HT502 through laptop (LAN-to-LAN) and tried to configure. Did not work, so at 1 AM last night reverted back. Could not see the HT502 on the router screens. Also, read about port forwarding but these setups appear confusing too.

Right now the router assigns IP through DHCP to the HT502, currently 192.168.1.12. I guess the IP can vary (but I'm not sure what triggers it to change) but is that a problem? The phones seems to work ok, took some calls. I did have one dropped call yesterday after about a minute.

Ultimately, if I keep the ATA downstream from the router, do I have to change anything? If yes, I will need some more guidance on steps. I just want to setup to ensure best reliability and function. Thanks for the help in advance.

Eric

Modem: Motorola Surfboard SB6121
Router: Netgear WNDR4500

Easiest thing to do is to go into the router and RESERVE a DHCP IP address for your voipo adapter. Different routers do it differently; but basically it's done by MAC address. It's the same as giving the adapter a static ip address internally that it always asks for; but in reverse. Instead of always asking for 192.168.1.12 (or whatever); the router simply says, I will ALWAYS give MAC address: = voipo adapter, the address 192.168.1.12 (Or whatever).

Then, if you want to do port forwarding, which you really shouldn't have to, you do that from the router too. A static IP address is definitely recommended because routers use NAT. (Network Address Translations). This is what gives the router the ability to allow 2,3,4,.....254 different items on your network to ALL SHARE and use the same single IP address coming from your internet provider. And voip is generally decent at working around NAT with such things as stun servers and other means. However; if the IP address of the voip adapter changes, and the network wasn't ready for the change, you can lose voip connectivity. It's simply better to always have the same IP address to the voip adapter all the time.

But the most important question I must ask is: "When you first plugged it in; even after the router; were you having any problems with it?" Bottom line #1 tech philosophy: "If it ain't broken..... DON'T FIX IT!!!!!" In other words, if you aren't having problems, then there's nothing to fix, so don't mess with it. If you start having problems with connections, voice quality, etc... then ask or open a tech ticket with voipo. But normally; a voipo adapter is "Plug and Pray (Play)". You shouldn't have to change anything unless you have a complicated network or finicky internet provider.

Mike,

Thanks for the quick reply. Did the reservation so it will pull the same IP ... very simple. I will hold off on the port forwarding and see how everything works. Did a couple more test calls with voice mail and everything seems ok. I know the tech philosophy ... that mantra applies to MANY things! Just want to make sure I am optimized so the family doesn't complain about the "change". Needs to be seamless.

Eric