Grandstream behind router?

[trman]

I have been with Voipo about 3 weeks. I have been very happy with everything. Call quality as good as my previous landline.

When I got the Grandstream ATA I set it up in front of the router as per the instructions provided, like modem > Grandstream > router. Everything worked great, call quality is good, no complaints.

Yet I read these threads and it seems many people are putting the Grandstream BEHIND the router, like modem > router > Grandstream.

So my questions are:

1. What is the purpose of putting the Grandstream behind the router instead of in front of it as per the Voipo instructions? It does seem having it behind the router causes problems for some, so why do it?

2. If there is a danger of having the Grandstream in front of the router because it isn't behind the router's NAT firewall? I mean what could someone do? Your computer and network are still protected by your router.

3. Has anyone actually experienced any problem having the Grandstream in front of the router as per the Voipo instructions? If so, what?

4. And finally, don't you think that Voipo thought this out and would not provide instructions to put the Grandstream in front of the router if there was a danger for having it there?

If there is a compelling argument for having the Grandstream behind the router, I will change mine, but I would like to hear from Voipo on this as well as other users.

[sjarrell]

If you have a very simple router setup their instructions are fine. They are the most foolproof way and easiest to ensure that all of the ports are open for your VOIPo adapter. That's why they recommend that you set it up that way. There's no danger involved as the adapter is doing network address translation just like your router is doing (actually it gives your router a NATTED address.) If you don't know what this means there's a real good chance that you should just leave everything the way it is.

There are a number of reasons many of us do not want the adapter ahead of our routers. Here are a few of mine:

1. I don't like doing "double translation". Their device NATs the addresses once, then my router does it again because I need the additional flexibility below.
2. I'm using a VPN so installing the adapter ahead of my router simply won't work.
3. I use port forwarding already for some of my devices on the network and the adapter can't do port forwarding. It does simple NAT and DHCP functions.
4. It's a much cleaner installation to have just one DHCP and NAT device on your network.

Bottom line... if it works and if you don't understand how to setup your router and what all of this means, IMO don't worry about it. Leave it as is.

Steve

[Tooth]

I have my grandstream behind my router out of necessity. When I try to put the grandstream in front of my router, my router can't make a connection to the internet. When I put the grandstream behind my router, everything works as expected. I should also point out that I've assigned a static IP address to the grandstream and have set up my router to forward the large range of ports (as suggested by VoIPo) to the grandstream static IP.

[trman]

Hi Tooth, thanks for your reply.

When I first hooked my my grandstream I couldn't make an internet connection, then I shut everything down (modem, ATA, router ) and rebooted in order as per the instructions and it has worked great ever since.

[burris]

I think that VOIPo suggests putting the ATA in front as it eliminates many of the problems that people have with their routers.
Not everyone knows how to properly set up a router, open ports, turn off SPI, etc., and some routers are quite basic and don't really do a good job of routing.
So it's probably a more reliable hook-up for the masses.

Of all the ATAs I have on my shelf, I found the GS to be the most reliable. It just sits there and works around the clock.

[george1979]

I hooked up grandstream as per the instructions and my router could not connect to the internet. I rebooted in the order it says and still the same problem. Its like the grandstream adapter blocks my router or just interferes with it. Put it behind the router and works good for the most part.

[trman]

So far it seems that those that replaced the Grandstream behind the router did so because it wouldn't work properly in the recommended position in front of the router.

This makes me feel better, I thought there was some other reason for placing it behind the router.

I still wish someone from Voipo would chime in on this and let me know if there is any other reason to have the Grandstream behind the router other than only when it doesn't work in front of the router.

[Tooth]

I hooked up grandstream as per the instructions and my router could not connect to the internet. I rebooted in the order it says and still the same problem. Its like the grandstream adapter blocks my router or just interferes with it. Put it behind the router and works good for the most part.

FWIW, I found this discussion on the BroadbandReports forum about what might cause conflicts between the grandstream and wireless routers:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/foru...02-no-internet

I tried to make some of the adjustments discussed in that thread, but I was never able to get an internet connection on my router when putting the ATA in front of my Belkin router.

[trman]

I guess I was lucky that I didn't have a conflict. My router is the Linksys dual band WRT610.

[laris]

This is my setup.

Modem - Linksys Router running ddwrt - grandstream.

I login to the grandstream set the static IP to work on my network. Went into my router and set port range forwarding for 5004 - 65000 UDP to the static ip.

Plug in it and everything works!

The reason I put it behind my router is so I don't have anything between my computer and the internet. I don't like having devices between my connections because of legacy. Don't have to worry about the grandstream lagging and not being able to transmit all of the traffic. Plus I set (QOS) Quality of Service to allow the port (on the router) to have priority over everything else.