Questions about multiple adapters

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 08, 2005 Posts: 3

Hey everyone. I am the systems administrator for a small business and I'm interested in moving our telecom services over to Vonage.

I have a few questions that aren't covered on the Vonage site. We will need to run two adapters (PAP2 I assume; I use this at home and I'm comfortable with it). We'll have three lines in total: one voice and two data. I'm trying to figure out the logistics of using two adapters on the network.

The network is domain based running off of Windows Server 2003. This server also serves as a firewall and it runs NAT for the network. I'm familiar with basic firewalling and port routing.

Ideally I would like to have both adapters BEHIND the server so that I can monitor it's bandwidth usage through MRTG, as well as use Server 2003's QoS to ensure the quality of the calls. I don't want to put any other gateway or router in front of the server for logistics reasons. However, I don't know how to handle the port forwarding on this. I assume that all adapters use the same port ranges, so there would be no way (that I know of) of forwarding the ports to both adapters behind the gateway. Is there a way to change the ports used on either/both adapters? If so, this is the only way this solution would work.

The easiest and most logical solution is to have both adapters in front of the server. I have 7 static IPs with our ISP so I would just connect the DSL modem to a switch and have the server run NAT off of one IP and then connect the adapters to the switch with their own global IPs.

Is there an easier way of getting both adatpers to function BEHIND the gateway? Thanks in advance for any help - the Vonage site wasn't very forthcoming on this subject.

P. S.: I've already taken into account the scenarios of the server going down, etc. Bottom line is *if* the server goes down (it's on double-redundant UPSs, along with all the other telecom equipment), we won't be able to do anything at all, let alone use the phone.

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jun 26, 2004 Posts: 20

here's our scenario

cable modem
|
router(for firewall since we don't have sbs2k3 premium)
|
sbs2k3
|
multi port hub/switch
|
desktops/2 Vonage boxes/printers/etc.

we have the Vonage boxes connected to our norstar meridian phone system...

be wary of using Vonage exclusively for business (we have 3 Vonage lines but also have 3 POTS lines, 1 for all incoming calls, 1 for fax, and 1 for rollover on the first line), though, read other forum topics for this...

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 08, 2005 Posts: 3

Did you have to forward any ports through the SBS machine in order to get the Vonage adapters to work?

Posts: 39 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jul 24, 2005 Posts: 39

DId you find an answer to this problem? I am using Windows Server 2003 for my gateway and I have the WRTP54G behind the server on a switch and cannot get access to the phone port. I have a dial tone but keep getting a "beep beep" when i dial a number. When i connect the router to the cable modem it works fine. I do NOT want my WRTP54G to be the gateway. Please help.

Posts: 51 · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 2:17 pm Post subject:

Sorry I cannot answer your question specifically but I can offer you a bit of information that may be useful. It is only necessary to apply port-forwarding if your router is not capable of doing a proper job of connection tracking. The RT31P2 (and I assume the PAP2 as well) constantly "calls home" to Vonage. This happens approx every 10 seconds. This heartbeat establishes a connection that the Vonage servers use when you have an incoming call. The Vonage servers essentially use this pre-existing connection to connect to the adaptor and ring your phone. Now if your router is not capable of allowing this pre-existing connection to complete then you are out of luck and you need to open ports. I am using a Linux box as my router. I am specifically blocking almost all ports coming in. I do allow connections that originated in my local network to persist. This is what lets my RT31P2 work. NOTE: the "call home" traffic is UDP based. This is what may trip up some routers as far as connection tracking is concerned.

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 11:34 pm Post subject:

Yes, you will need to forward the ports on SBS to get the Vonage boxes to work correctly. See the router configs on the Vonage.com help pages for the exact ports. Personally, I'd be a bit leery of running Voip through SBS or Win2003 Server. Network traffic isn't priority on those systems, so you might end up with all sorts of call quality issues when the server bogs down or gets focused on doing something else.

Posts: 39 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jul 24, 2005 Posts: 39

I have been stuck trying to get my WRTP54G to connect from behind my Win2k3 box. I have opened all of the right ports, but I feel it is either a port forwarding issue or a MAC issue. If I put the router as the gateway I can make calls fine, if I put it behind my Win2k3 box I dont even get the phone port to light up. I get a dial tone and can dial, but everytime i enter the numbers i get a **beep** **beep** only. I would forward the ports 10,000 >20,000 via routing and Remote Access, but Win only allows you to specify one port at a time. Any ideas? Please help, I don't want to use y WRTP54G as a router, I want it to do Voip and a wireless access point, DHCP is off. I am using a standard port on the router and not the WAN one. Help! Rolling Eyes

Posts: 216 · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 6:46 am Post subject:

7echno7im wrote:

I am using a standard port on the router and not the WAN one.

I am not sure if I understand you correctly, but if I do, I think you will need to connect your WRTP54G using the WAN port in order to get the Voip to work. I could be mistaken though.

Posts: 39 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jul 24, 2005 Posts: 39

You are exactly right, but will my wireless clients will have to be on a different subnet and I will have to enable DHCP right? Those clients connected to the WRTP54G will now be on there own subnet and will not route thruogh my Win2k3 box?

Posts: 216 · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:07 am Post subject:

Yes, the wireless clients will be on a different subnet. And, yes, you will need to enable DHCP. The wireless clients should, however, be able to access the internet since the traffic will get routed through the WRTP54G to the Win2k3 box and out to the internet. I would spend a few minutes and set this up. That will be the only way to know, for sure, if it works for you. Wink