Error Code 004

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 14, 2009 Posts: 4

Hello,

I am new here but I am desperate for some help. I have Vonage and ATT is my ISP. I use a 2Wire Gateway router. For the past 2 days I have been getting error code 004 no matter what I do (I have unplugged and re-plugged everything about 42,245,457 times). Does anyone have any suggestions? Because I cannot dial out I can't call my ISP to see if the issue is on my end. HELP!! Thanks in advance for any advice.

Posts: 293 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 22, 2006 Posts: 293

You have the V-Portal, I presume?

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:42 pm Post subject:

You have internet as you are typing your post here unless your doing it from another location. If you have internet, there would be no reason to contact your ISP at this point in time.

Can you provide a brief description of your hardware and exactly what you have connected and to which ports? Are you just using an Ethernet cable from your 2Wire router to the Blue port on the back of the V-Portal? Are there any other routers or switches involved?

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:50 pm Post subject:

One other thing. I know you mentioned that you checked connections and plugged thing in and out but have you power cycled the 2Wire modem/ router? The 2 Wire Gateway has a built in firewall that sometimes has a mind of it's own and out of the clear blue, something triggers it to block the SIP responses back to you on occasion. Power cycling the 2 Wire may correct the issue temporarily but the permanent fix is to disable the firewall. You will still be protected because of the NAT function.

Recommend fix would be to get rid of the 2Wire and get a normal standalone modem which is easier to deal with if your a normal home user and not a techie who can do this on their own without each needed step and detail provided.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 14, 2009 Posts: 4

VonTechMgr wrote:

You have internet as you are typing your post here unless your doing it from another location. If you have internet, there would be no reason to contact your ISP at this point in time.

Can you provide a brief description of your hardware and exactly what you have connected and to which ports? Are you just using an Ethernet cable from your 2Wire router to the Blue port on the back of the V-Portal? Are there any other routers or switches involved?

Yes I am . No other routers or switches.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 14, 2009 Posts: 4

VonTechMgr wrote:

One other thing. I know you mentioned that you checked connections and plugged thing in and out but have you power cycled the 2Wire modem/ router? The 2 Wire Gateway has a built in firewall that sometimes has a mind of it's own and out of the clear blue, something triggers it to block the SIP responses back to you on occasion. Power cycling the 2 Wire may correct the issue temporarily but the permanent fix is to disable the firewall. You will still be protected because of the NAT function.

Recommend fix would be to get rid of the 2Wire and get a normal standalone modem which is easier to deal with if your a normal home user and not a techie who can do this on their own without each needed step and detail provided.

I have tried to power cycle the 2Wire router and I get the same issue. I think you are onto something with the firewall. I will try disabling it, I'm a little nervous though, I don't want to be vulnerable to spyware/viruses. As you can probably tell, I am not a techie and at teh moment I cannot get another router due to finances, but I will def. consider that in the very near future. I'll try the firewall thing. Thanks so much for your all of your help.

PS - Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what is an SIP response?

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 4:08 pm Post subject:

Did you power cycle your 2Wire Gateway along with the V-Portal as well?

Did you disable the firewall in the 2Wire?

Have you logged into the V-Portal and checked to see what IP address it was getting from the 2 Wire?

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 4:31 pm Post subject:

SIP is the protocol used by Vonage and other Voip providers. It is the signaling protocol used between your V-Portal and the Vonage proxy server to maintain a constant registration and it is how your able to place and receive phone calls. Every 20 seconds the V-Portal will send out a SIP Registration and you will 200 OK back. In these cases, the Proxy receives your registration packet and replies but your 2Wire router firewall does not allow the response back to the V-Portal. Therefore you see the 004 message and will not have dial tone.

Think of SIP as similar to http(web). You send a request to a web server and get a response back, web page opens. This is the same principal. Just for some reason, certain firewalls start blocking SIP and possibly other UDP based signaling protocols for no reason what so ever.

While this firewall can offer a safe piece of mind, it really does not protect your PC from trojans, spyware, malware, and viruses. If you leave your Windows firewall on and run an antivirus/ antispyware program like Avast or AVG which are really good and they also free which makes them even better,you will be OK for the most part.

Your ISP should be able to replace your modem with a standalone Bridged modem at no charge. This will only be necessary if you are having issues getting the firewall disabled..

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 14, 2009 Posts: 4

VonTechMgr wrote:

SIP is the protocol used by Vonage and other Voip providers. It is the signaling protocol used between your V-Portal and the Vonage proxy server to maintain a constant registration and it is how your able to place and receive phone calls. Every 20 seconds the V-Portal will send out a SIP Registration and you will 200 OK back. In these cases, the Proxy receives your registration packet and replies but your 2Wire router firewall does not allow the response back to the V-Portal. Therefore you see the 004 message and will not have dial tone.

Think of SIP as similar to http(web). You send a request to a web server and get a response back, web page opens. This is the same principal. Just for some reason, certain firewalls start blocking SIP and possibly other UDP based signaling protocols for no reason what so ever.

While this firewall can offer a safe piece of mind, it really does not protect your PC from trojans, spyware, malware, and viruses. If you leave your Windows firewall on and run and antivirus/ antispyware program like Avast or AVG which are really good and they also free which makes them even better,you will be OK for the most part.

Your ISP should be able to replace your modem with a standalone Bridged modem at no charge. This will only be necessary if you are having issues getting the firewall disabled..

Thank you soooo much for the info. That totally makes sense. I am @ work so I can't try it out now but I will certainly try to disable the firewall. You are seriously a godsend, thank you thank you thank you. I will be sure to let you know if it worked.