WRT54GX4 and RTP300

Posts: 60 · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:14 am Post subject: WRT54GX4 and RTP300

I have a cable modem (don't know the model right now) connected to a WRT54GX4 linksys SRX400 Wireless router with the RTP300 linksys Vonage Phone Adapter connected to that. I'm having two problems (so far...):
(1) I cannot access the setup page (192.168.15.1) for the RTP300 unless I plug an ethernet cable directly into it and then try to access the set up page. Should I be able to access the 192.168.15.1 page when the RTP300 is connected to the WRT54GX4 router or is it necessary to plug an ethernet cable directly into the RTP300? I've tried giving the RTP300 a static IP and then (on the WRT54GX4) forwarding port 80 from the IP that I gave the RTP300 but that did not work either. Is that the correct port to forward? I just guessed on that one.
(2) When I have my routers set up how I plan to keep them (Cable Modem -> WRT54GX4 -> PCs, (RTP300 -> phone)), I get a dial tone from the phone I have connected but the audio on either end is choppy. Does anybody know how I can correct this or have some steps I need to try in order to fix this? I've tried powering down all of the equipment, waiting 30 - 60 seconds and then powering them all back up in the sequence Vonage suggests in their troubleshooting tips but that does not seem to work for me.

Thanks for any help. I know this was a lot to read.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:33 am Post subject: Re: WRT54GX4 and RTP300

acedanger wrote:

(1) I cannot access the setup page (192.168.15.1) for the RTP300 unless I plug an ethernet cable directly into it and then try to access the set up page. Should I be able to access the 192.168.15.1 page when the RTP300 is connected to the WRT54GX4 router or is it necessary to plug an ethernet cable directly into the RTP300? I've tried giving the RTP300 a static IP and then (on the WRT54GX4) forwarding port 80 from the IP that I gave the RTP300 but that did not work either. Is that the correct port to forward? I just guessed on that one.

OK, what you want to do is turn on "remote admin" under the "Administration" page, then from your regular network, use http://(vonage_IP_address):8080, where (vonage_IP_address) is the IP address assigned to the Vonage device on your LAN (the static IP you gave the RTP300).

acedanger wrote:

(2) When I have my routers set up how I plan to keep them (Cable Modem -> WRT54GX4 -> PCs, (RTP300 -> phone)), I get a dial tone from the phone I have connected but the audio on either end is choppy. Does anybody know how I can correct this or have some steps I need to try in order to fix this? I've tried powering down all of the equipment, waiting 30 - 60 seconds and then powering them all back up in the sequence Vonage suggests in their troubleshooting tips but that does not seem to work for me.

Go into QoS on the WRT54GX4 and set the MAC address of the Vonage device to "High" or "Highest" and see if that helps. There is either a delay in your router, or you have something else running.

Just to confirm - does the voice sound clear on the other end when you plug the Vonage RTP300 directly into your Cable modem? If so, then the WRT54GX4 is either introducing delays, or (more likely) you have a lot of traffic.

I have a WRT54G in front of my Vonage router (see my configuration in my sig), and putting the Vonage device on HIGH QoS priority by MAC address gives me crystal clear audio both ways, EVEN when my BitTorrent feeds are running (BitTorrent slows way down, of course, but that's the idea with QoS...)

Posts: 60 · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:39 am Post subject:

Quote:

OK, what you want to do is turn on "remote admin" under the "Administration" page

On which router?

Thanks for the reply. I'll try your suggestions when I get a chance. Unfortunately, I won't be able to until I get home from work.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:43 am Post subject:

acedanger wrote:

Quote:

OK, what you want to do is turn on "remote admin" under the "Administration" page

On which router?

Thanks for the reply. I'll try your suggestions when I get a chance. Unfortunately, I won't be able to until I get home from work.

On the Vonage device.

What you are doing is telling the Vonage device that it can be administered (using port 8080) from an external client. If your Vonage device was on the Internet, that would mean that anyone in the world could administer it (generally bad). However, since the Vonage device is behind another NAT firewall, it means that anyone on your local network can administer it.

Posts: 60 · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:52 am Post subject:

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. I'll post later after I try out your suggestions.

Posts: 423 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Oct 03, 2005 Posts: 423

To get rid of the choppiness when your Vonage is behind the GX router, disable its SPI firewall. The firewall slows the data down to the point where some of it gets dropped. This is because the processor is woefully underpowered to try and do this kind of inspection on real time audio packets. Works everytime. There was a thread on here where someone got there motorola MTA to work behind the wrt54gx without disabling firewall, but I don't trust it.

Posts: 60 · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:09 pm Post subject:

Do I need to forward a port of my RTP300 in order to be able to remotely administer it (it is behind my WRT54GX4 router)? If so, which port? I've got it set to port 8080 but if I go to the static IP that I gave it with :8080 after it, I get a blank page.

Posts: 60 · Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:20 pm Post subject:

nm, i'm an idiot...it sure does help to have a laptop connected to the RTP300 and another PC connected to the regular router (WRT54GX4)

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 04, 2006 Posts: 3

ColdGin wrote:

To get rid of the choppiness when your Vonage is behind the GX router, disable its SPI firewall. The firewall slows the data down to the point where some of it gets dropped. This is because the processor is woefully underpowered to try and do this kind of inspection on real time audio packets. Works everytime. There was a thread on here where someone got there motorola MTA to work behind the wrt54gx without disabling firewall, but I don't trust it.

I would confirm ColdGin's assessment and solution - I turned off the SPI firewall and viola! - no more chop on the Vonage unit.

Configuration: Cable Modem ->WRT54GX4 -> Vonage/Motorola VT1005V MTA

Per Vonage - I did adjust the bandwidth saver feature to 'Normal' for my voice line as well. Although it was the disabling the SPI firewall that saved the day.

ColdGin - what are the security concerns with disabling the SPI? From a hardware point of view, I've always felt the WAN/LAN separation provided some hardware security to accessing any LAN computers - any thoughts?

Posts: 423 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Oct 03, 2005 Posts: 423

As long as you have at least an anti-virus program in place on your computer and practice common sense when using the web/downloading, etc, you should be OK. The NAT function on your router should give you adequate protection from all but the most extremely dedicated hackers getting through to your computers. This will of course not protect you from any kind of virus or evil attachments you might download and open, but neither would that SPI firewall.