Anyone using 2 or more lines with m0n0wall or pfSense router ?

[Bob777]

If so, do you use port forwarding in your router to get your VoIPo service to work?

The reason I mentioned m0n0wall or pfSense is they are fairly similiar in port forwarding, and I'm using m0n0wall. I would imagine some other routers out there may also be similiar in setup to m0n0wall and pfSense.

I want to verify that thee is somebody out there is actually doing port forwarding with m0n0wall or pfSense with 2 or more VoIPo lines...and it is working properly for you. If it works for you, then it might work for me.

I have 2 VoIPo lines. I can receive phone calls on one VoIPo phone number using ports 5060 & 5061. Tech support told me to use those ports.

VoIPo tech support told me to use ports 5078 & 5079 on my other VoIPo phone number. I cannot receive phone calls on that line. When I try to answer, the calling phone never hears that I have answered, and the calling party just goes through to my VoIPo voice mail.

If I can just find someone out there that has 2 or more VoIPo lines that work properly for you, with your ATAs behind your m0n0wall or pfSense router, then that will give me hope that I can eventually do the same thing. Maybe I'm not port forwarding correctly, but so far I can't see that I'm doing it wrong.

I use to be able to receive calls on both phones, but about 3 weeks ago, I stopped being able to answer calls on my one phone line...I have no idea why. I was told to do the port forwarding, which so far has not worked. But like I said, I would feel much better if I could just find someone out there that it does work for, that has 2 VoIP lines.

Tech support told me to hook my 2 ATAs directly to my ISP's modem. I can't because I'm using my only public static IP on my router. I don't have any public static IPs left for my 2 ATAs. Plus I don't want to spend a lot more money just so my 2 ATA will each have a public static IP.

I think my 2 VoIPo ATAs should be able to work correctly when placed on the LAN side of my router, because I think there are a ton of other people here with 2 or more VoIPo lines with their ATAs behind their router.

I have heard there is something called STUN technology that some VoIP companies use that routes ports through the router, to the ATAs without the customer having to resort to doing port forwarding. I don't know if VoIPo uses that though...although I remember seeing a tech support person mention that in a chat session I had with them a couple days ago. I asked about it, but he didn't say much about it.

Thanks much for your reply.

Bob

[chpalmer]

If so, do you use port forwarding in your router to get your VoIPo service to work?

The reason I mentioned m0n0wall or pfSense is they are fairly similiar in port forwarding, and I'm using m0n0wall. I would imagine some other routers out there may also be similiar in setup to m0n0wall and pfSense.

I want to verify that thee is somebody out there is actually doing port forwarding with m0n0wall or pfSense with 2 or more VoIPo lines...and it is working properly for you. If it works for you, then it might work for me.

I have 2 VoIPo lines. I can receive phone calls on one VoIPo phone number using ports 5060 & 5061. Tech support told me to use those ports.

VoIPo tech support told me to use ports 5078 & 5079 on my other VoIPo phone number. I cannot receive phone calls on that line. When I try to answer, the calling phone never hears that I have answered, and the calling party just goes through to my VoIPo voice mail.

If I can just find someone out there that has 2 or more VoIPo lines that work properly for you, with your ATAs behind your m0n0wall or pfSense router, then that will give me hope that I can eventually do the same thing. Maybe I'm not port forwarding correctly, but so far I can't see that I'm doing it wrong.

I use to be able to receive calls on both phones, but about 3 weeks ago, I stopped being able to answer calls on my one phone line...I have no idea why. I was told to do the port forwarding, which so far has not worked. But like I said, I would feel much better if I could just find someone out there that it does work for, that has 2 VoIP lines.

Tech support told me to hook my 2 ATAs directly to my ISP's modem. I can't because I'm using my only public static IP on my router. I don't have any public static IPs left for my 2 ATAs. Plus I don't want to spend a lot more money just so my 2 ATA will each have a public static IP.

I think my 2 VoIPo ATAs should be able to work correctly when placed on the LAN side of my router, because I think there are a ton of other people here with 2 or more VoIPo lines with their ATAs behind their router.

I have heard there is something called STUN technology that some VoIP companies use that routes ports through the router, to the ATAs without the customer having to resort to doing port forwarding. I don't know if VoIPo uses that though...although I remember seeing a tech support person mention that in a chat session I had with them a couple days ago. I asked about it, but he didn't say much about it.

Thanks much for your reply.

Bob

I do and it works fine.

What are you using as your router? pfSense or Monowall and what version?

[Bob777]

Hi chpalmer:

Thanks for the post.

I am using m0n0wall v 1.231 on a WRAP board.

Are you using m0n0wall? I have a pfSense book and notice it is fairly similiar to m0n0wall for port forwarding. I wish there was a good book on m0n0wall.

I assume you are using 2 ATAs, both behind the same NAT...one for each of your VoIPo phone lines?

Are you using ports 5060 & 5061 for your one ATA and 5078 & 5079 for the other ATA? Thats what VoIPo tech support told me to do.

I have a feeling I'm not doing port forwarding correctly. How did you do your port forwarding?

Thanks much,
Bob

[chpalmer]

Hi Bob:

I use pfSense 2.0 with an ATA for two separate lines and another that only does outgoing for a third line (so no register)

I do no port forwarding. Only built firewall rules to allow the servers access to the wan address...

The two routers do have some differences. I know on earlier versions of pfSense the static port redirect did not happen on 5060. But would on 5079... I have no problem with redirect and in fact it helps. They have taken the 5060 static port out of the later versions as its easy enough to add if you need it...

With pfSense you can use a Siproxd package which if all the ata's are on on port (say 5060) then it will allow multiple ATA's on the same sip server... I dont think you'd need that as I dont...

[Bob777]

Hi chpalmer:

Thanks for the reply.

That could be the difference.

Sounds like you are using one ATA, with two VoIPo lines going to the one ATA. I have two seperate ATAs, with one phone line going to each.

So maybe I should get VoIPo to set me up with two phone numbers on just one ATA. That way I'll only have one ATA to worry with.

When you say,
"I do no port forwarding. Only built firewall rules to allow the servers access to the wan address..."
I'm not sure I understand.

Do you have a public static IP on your router wan port? I use public static IP.

What do your rules look like? Are they built into the Firewall>>>>NAT and Firewall>>>>Rules sections of pfSense?

My 2 ATAs are Broadstream model HT501. The one ATA that I can receive calls on, the "Phone 1" & "Phone 2" LEDs flash at the same time...when the phone is on the hook. But for the one ATA that I cannot receive calls on, the "Phone 1" & "Phone 2" LEDs do not flash at the same time. They alternate in flashing. One turns on, while the other is off. Then the other LED flashes on while the other LED is off. So something is definitely different (or wrong) there.

UPDATE: I got up this morning, and now the 2 LEDs are flashing simultaneously, just like the other one. That might be a good sign.

[chpalmer]

Hi chpalmer:

Thanks for the reply.

That could be the difference.

Sounds like you are using one ATA, with two VoIPo lines going to the one ATA. I have two seperate ATAs, with one phone line going to each.

So maybe I should get VoIPo to set me up with two phone numbers on just one ATA. That way I'll only have one ATA to worry with.

When you say,
"I do no port forwarding. Only built firewall rules to allow the servers access to the wan address..."
I'm not sure I understand.

Do you have a public static IP on your router wan port? I use public static IP.

What do your rules look like? Are they built into the Firewall>>>>NAT and Firewall>>>>Rules sections of pfSense?

My 2 ATAs are Broadstream model HT501. The one ATA that I can receive calls on, the "Phone 1" & "Phone 2" LEDs flash at the same time...when the phone is on the hook. But for the one ATA that I cannot receive calls on, the "Phone 1" & "Phone 2" LEDs do not flash at the same time. They alternate in flashing. One turns on, while the other is off. Then the other LED flashes on while the other LED is off. So something is definitely different (or wrong) there.

I use two ATA's... One with two lines that register and receive incoming calls as well as outgoing... and one ATA that does not register so it does not get incoming calls but only outgoing.

For that reason the second ata really does not count here.

But I do not have any port forwarding rules for the ata's. Ive never needed them.

I have two wan addresses here. One dhcp and one static. Voip stuff is on the dhcp.

http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/VoIP_Configuration Heres a pfSense doc...

Running out to a quick service call....

[tritch]

I assume you are the same user (Airplane777) over in DSLR. If so, it appears your m0n0wall has caused more issues than your current one. Just out of curosity, is it really worth the headaches to continue to use m0n0wall? I'm not familiar with it at all, but for the average user a feature rich home router should suffice for most peoples needs and would likely eliminate the issues you've been having altogether.

So maybe I should get VoIPo to set me up with two phone numbers on just one ATA. That way I'll only have one ATA to worry with.

If you are intent on keeping m0n0wall, I would pursue the option you've stated above and move both phone numbers over to the ATA that is not having any problems at all. It's likely this would eliminate the firewall/port blocking issue you are having with 2 ATA's attached. This would also allow you to assign a port forwarding range if necessary to a single ATA. As it stands now, your port forwarding range options are limited because you can't assign the same port range to the static IP's of both ATA's.

To avoid violating the TOS limit of 5000 minutes per month, I would try one these options:

Option 1:
If you use more than 5000 minutes combined between the 2 phone numbers, then I would have Voipo combine both accounts (phone numbers) to just 1 ATA on line ports 1 and 2 respectively.

Option 2:
This option is cheaper and assumes that you never have need to have the phone accounts at a separate location or public network. If you use less than 5000 minutes combined between the 2 phone numbers, then I would close one of your accounts and convert/move that phone number into a virtual number over to the remaining account for $3 extra per month. Then you would convert the virtual number into an independent 2nd line on line port 2 by logging into vPanel, clicking the Beta tab, then "2nd line" and follow the procedures for converting the virtual number. You could also have Support do this process for you, just to keep problems from arising during the account closure and virtual number conversion process.

I'm sure Voipo's support group will help you get things working whatever your decision might be. Their Tier II support team is top notch and very knowledgeable. I would try to schedule a support call with them.

[djrobx]

I just wanted to add to this thread, since it's what shows up at the top of a google search for PFSense and VOIPo. I have a GrandStream TA.

I was experiencing 1 way audio on inbound calls once I installed PFSense. I noticed looking at the firewall logs that the external servers were attempting to connect on low ports outside the "standard" port forward ranges VOIPo recommends. The problem is caused by an outbound port remapping feature, which is enabled by default for security reasons:

https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Static_Port

This link describes the feature and includes instructions on enabling a "static port" which disables this feature for a specific device. Once you do that, the generally prescribed port forwarding options will work and the 1 way audio problems stop.

I had seen a few other posts suggesting setting up some specific mappings for specific external servers, but I didn't want a solution that was dependent on knowing external IPs. VOIPo might change those. I figured it had to be something simpler, since the port forwards work OK with most generic routers

[chpalmer]

I just wanted to add to this thread, since it's what shows up at the top of a google search for PFSense and VOIPo. I have a GrandStream TA.

Ive replied to a few posts over at the pfsense forums on similar subjects and since the 2011 post I made here I have turned up a few pfsense boxes for customers with VOIP. Basically if you look at the information you have already described here namely the failed attempts by the servers to connect inbound you can build firewall rules based on that. No port forwarding needed. You dont want it especially if your running more than one ATA behind your firewall. I have a few numbers here behind my primary data center and use the SIProxd package on my pfSense box. At other sites I simply have built firewall rules allowing both SIP and RTP servers access to the LAN address of the ATA on the customer LAN and have absolutely no problem.