Router "Port Forwarding" Setup Guide

[GlorifiedG]

A common problem experienced by users having an ATA or IP phone sitting behind a Router/Hub or any form of firewall where they

(a) can make calls but cannot recieve them, or
(b) experience 1-way audio,

In most circumstances, the method of Port Forwarding can resolve these issues.
Here is a guide on how to setup port forwarding for Netgear and Linksys Routers,
and a general guide for all other brands of router.

Generic Method:

1. Log into your router firmware
2. Select "Static Routes" or similar from the administration menu
3. Create a route with a particular IP address (i.e. 192.168.1.25)
3. Log into your ATA or IP phone
4. Select IP settings and turn of DHCP and enter the IP settings created in the router (192.168.1.25, subnet mask, gateway, etc).
5. Reboot both devices and ensure the ATA/IP phone has Internet access
6. Once connected again, log back into the router and Select "port forwarding"
7. Forward ports 5060 & 5061 (for UDP traffic) to the chosen IP address (i.e. 192.168.1.25) and reboot.



For Netgear routers:

Login to the router via the instructions found on the bottom of your
device (usually 192.168.61.1 or for some devices www.routerlogin.com ).
Select "Static Routes" from the blue left-hand menu and follow the
above instructions.
Select "Port Forwarding" from the blue left-hand menu and follow the
above instructions.

NetgearStaticRoute.jpg
NetgearPortForwarding.jpg


For Linksys Routers:

Login to the router via the IP address of the router (usually 192.168.15.1
or see manual).
Select "Advanced Routing" to setup the static route as described above.
Select "Applications & Gaming" & select "Port Range Forwarding" and
setup as above.

linksys_fwd.jpg

If you still cannot recieve calls a few minutes after registration,
then you may want to re-do the static route and Port Forwarding
options and re-try.

If you still experience 1-way audio, you may need to open a 2nd range
of ports (if your router and network administrator permit you to) for RTP/voice streaming traffic, these ports are 10,000 to 20,000.

G G

[coley]

also check out www.portforward.com for info on port forwarding for a wide range of routers and apps
-Coley.

[wombat]

'

Originally Posted by GlorifiedG

[FONT=\"Comic Sans MS\"][COLOR=\"Blue\"]\r\nA common problem experienced by users having an ATA or IP phone sitting behind a Router/Hub or any form of firewall where they\r\n\r\n[COLOR=\"black\"](a)[/COLOR] can make calls but cannot recieve them, or \r\n[COLOR=\"black\"](b)[/COLOR] experience 1-way audio, \r\n\r\nIn most circumstances, the method of Port Forwarding can resolve these issues. \r\nHere is a guide on how to setup port forwarding for Netgear and Linksys Routers, \r\nand a general guide for all other brands of router. \r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\nGenerally, I have found the best way of dealing with routing (if your provider lets you do it) is to put the router into \'bridge\' mode, which means it is acting ONLY as a modem. This is then directly connected to a gateway computer, which handles all the routing and is running linux. The gateway uses PPPoE to connect to the provider. Then on a second network interface in the gateway machine, I go into the switch for the rest of the house.\r\n\r\nOnce that is done, I have TOTAL control over my routing and from the command line i can instruct the gateway to forward specific ports to specific places - and I\'m not reliant on potentially buggy router hardware.\r\n\r\nAlso, you probably want to open all ports from 5060-5070 for SIP. You probably won\'t GET all the way to 5070, but it is a good idea...'

[bolivier]

Hi,
Can i use the ip address of the router management to forward port 5060 and 5061 ?

[bindybandy]

Tried what the first post but it did not seem to work - will it work the same if i just put a password on the PAP 2 and then put it DMZ? Thanks

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by bindybandy

Tried what the first post but it did not seem to work - will it work the same if i just put a password on the PAP 2 and then put it DMZ? Thanks

Theoretically that will work as well as it's just the same as port forwarding except that instead of jsut forwarding some specific ports you are saying forward ALL ports except some specific ones, the specific ones being those in use by the devices on the rest of your network.

Before going the DMZ path try changing the local port on your PAP2 to something other then 5060, I find 5080 is a good one, and then set up port forwarding on that.

If you have other SIP devices or software on your network or a SIP aware router there can be a bit of competition as to what gets to use the public port 5060 address and this can impact any port forwarding rule you set up, logically it shouldn't and your rule should override whatever else the router is doing but assuming NAT/Routers/Port Forwarding will work logically is not a good idea.

Hth,

Aaron

[bindybandy]

Originally Posted by bindybandy

Tried what the first post but it did not seem to work - will it work the same if i just put a password on the PAP 2 and then put it DMZ? Thanks

Never mind I just realised I missed the following step
3. Create a route with a particular IP address (i.e. 192.168.1.25)

Just to elaborate on this one - mynetgear asks for the ip as well as subnet mask and gateway. Submask is 255.255.255.0 I think and since my router is plugged directly into my modem i guess the gateway is my actual isp assigned ip address? Do I have that right?

[Aaron]

Hi bindybandy,

Is your Netgear the router you have connected to your ISP's modem? If so you shouldn't need to change any subnet mask or gateway settings on it amd doing so will actually cause connectivity problems.

To put a statis address on your PAP2 then use a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and put the gateway in as the Netgear's LAN port address which is probably 192.168.25.1 by the looks.

Hth,

Aaron