Softphone on HTC TyTN or Tilt

Posts: 28 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Sep 05, 2006 Posts: 28

Yep, FWD works without issue. There is no doubt that WM6, as well as the device I own is fully Voip capable. Something about Vonage that it doesn't like.

Bummer, I would think that Vonage could rather easily standardize around an XML file. It would take 5 min of perl coding to add a "download windows mobile 6 provisioning CAB" to the account page and they could claim compatibility for a whole swarm of smartphones out there.

I did try to get a hold of Tech support last night. On hold for two hours, then the battery went out. Popped in the spare and waited for another 2 hours then the spare went out.

Anyway... if there is any conduit from this forum to Vonage proper, my two cents are to at least consider investigating the vast array of Windows Mobile devices out there.

They must have done something, because even Microsoft had tested and published how to use Vonage on a Smartphone. But after last summer, Microsoft's config is failing along with the rest of them.

-Dan <11011011>

Posts: 328 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Dec 13, 2005 Posts: 328

One way to figure this out - if you have the time and inclination (I don't) would be to get an ethereal trace of a device that works with the soft phone server (X-lite, maybe?) and then check it against the WM platform to see what is different. It may be in something non-obvious, like one of the user agent fields. Another thing to do would be to see what SIP message comes back from Vonage as part of the failure. Knowing "how" you fail sometimes leads to how not to fail -- of course, in dealing with MS on WM and Vonage on their server, you may find yourself with nobody who can fix this that will fix it - even if it seems easy to you (things still won't work but at least you'll know why things don't work).

Posts: 28 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Sep 05, 2006 Posts: 28

Well I got through to tech support yesterday. Went through the initial call screener, who put me through to Advanced support... Then after a few minutes I got forwarded to level two support (third person). The level two support made a few claims:

1) Said he is prohibited from releasing the SIP IP addresses.
2) Claimed that even if I found them, it wouldn't work.
3) Claimed the addresses continually cycle to prevent it from working.
4) Claimed it was a security concern to prevent DrDoS attacks.

#1) I can believe

#2) Conflicts with some of the info I find here.

#3) Leads me to believe that Vonage has given a few hardware providers their cycling algorithm if they work at all. This means only Vonage blessed HW should work, since no one else would know the timings. I don't know if I believe this since I think there are some people here who've had success with unBlessed HW... True?

#4) I'm not a firm believer in security through obscurity. Eventually people will find their servers, so best to make them public and bulletproof rather than hidden and vunerable. Who knows perhaps they are actually hidden and bulletproof. If that is the case than I can understand their logic.

In light of these points I will probably take my SIP business elsewhere. I'll probably keep my main Vonage line, but shopping around now, Vonage is far from the only carrier anymore.

I've signed on with quite a few of the free carriers that I won't name here, but I got to admit, I'm impressed.

-Dan

Posts: 328 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Dec 13, 2005 Posts: 328

With respect to the IPs of Vonage servers - the tech support guy is correct, they do not give them out. On the other hand, they DO give out the URI for soft phone accounts (sphone.vopr.vonage.net). That is converted to an IP by a DNS server and Vonage changes the DNS resolution based on traffic or other conditions.

For the most up to date, I believe that Vonage has a DNS server of their own - which may resolve differently than others as it can be changed more quickly, but others (what ever comes from DHCP) seems to work OK for the soft phone accounts.

As far as the free Voip services go - many of them work well, but if you plan on using them, I would recommend something else (like PSTN) for incoming calls, plus using more than one of the free guys for outgoing - they work well when they work, but reliability may be a problem. Having more than one solves that (you can also have a Vonage incoming number simulring different "free" services if you want to do that).

Posts: 28 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Sep 05, 2006 Posts: 28

You got me thinking....

I might try to set up the Vonage NS as my default DNS at home. That way when my phone resolves DNS names it gets it strait from the horses mouth. I'll also see if I can't put my phone in the DNZ. That way all the possible NAT issues go away. I've never tried this with NAT turned off.

Thanks again for all the input... I'll stick at it for a few.

-Dan <11011011>

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 03, 2008 Posts: 1

I found a few references to this on the net and used the SJ client on my phone. After I configured it - it does work, but only to other Vonage numbers. Any calls to other lines (landline et al) gets met with a message: Lines are temporary busy - please try your call again later.

Any ideas how to fix this???