ALERT: ISP Blocking VoIP Ports Again: UPDATED 04-25-05

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 21, 2005 Posts: 11

I'm not a Vonage subscriber just yet, but I'm still determined to take the company I work for to Vonage. But reading all this things about Mexican Telco giant "blocking" VoIP doesn't make things easier for me.

I will setup a meeting with a Telnor (same thing as Telmex) next week, and just be opened with her ablout the blockage, maybe they are just blocking home lines, maybe if we get a dedicated line there aren't any "filters" or "blocks" there.

I do NOT want to switch the company to cable, why? because it **** here, it's expensive and SLOW. And BW is very important and during peak hours cable just doesn't do it for me.

Does anyone know if Telnor is blocking Vonage in Tijuana?

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 14, 2005 Posts: 3

Well after doing some tests, it seems they are just blocking some pools of PPPoE on some cities. I have a static ip address (not via pppoe) and im not affected by these. So I can tell that they are selecting which range of ip addresses are being affected. I could easily tell that they woudlnt block any kind of traffic with their expensive leased lines (no DSL), since they are getting more money over leased lines (for a E1 you can end up paying like 1500-2000 US dlls per month) while u can get a DSL line at that speed for at much 400 US dlls.. or half of it for 100 US. I will try to contact some guys at telmex on the Network Operation Center to check what they got in mind or how they are blocking it.

For now im thinking in installing an asterisk server on a US server, and use that to bounce calls on a different SIP/RTP port, that would mean goodbye vonage.. anyone knows if its easy to migrate a Vonage Phone number to another voip provider that has open sip servers (aka broadvoice)??

Posts: 2135

Lex wrote:

Well after doing some tests, it seems they are just blocking some pools of PPPoE on some cities...

Who are "they"?

Please post your ISP in your signature.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 21, 2005 Posts: 11

dconnor wrote:

Lex wrote:

Well after doing some tests, it seems they are just blocking some pools of PPPoE on some cities...

Who are "they"?

Please post your ISP in your signature.

I think he means Telmex...

Posts: 2135

guscrown wrote:

dconnor wrote:

Lex wrote:

Well after doing some tests, it seems they are just blocking some pools of PPPoE on some cities...

Who are "they"?

Please post your ISP in your signature.

I think he means Telmex...

I think so also, but this topic is getting a lot of reads from the "outside". It should not be left for assumption.

Posts: 2135 · Last edited by dconnor on Sat Mar 26, 2005 1:33 am; edited 1 time in total

UPDATE 03-25-05

vonage-forum.com/article1744.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="postlink">McCaw's Clearwire Silently Blocks Competitive VoIP Offering

March 25, 2005

By Nancy Gohring

One Vonage customer says that Clearwire is blocking the voice over IP service: This is clearly a defensive move by Clearwire but surely won’t do much as far as endearing itself to customers. Clearwire recently said that Bell Canada would supply voice services to Clearwire broadband wireless customers. Apparently Clearwire wants to ensure that its customers that want voice services buy the service from Clearwire and no one else. While it’s understandable, it won’t help Clearwire to promote its image as a champion of competitive providers.

The FCC recently ruled that Madison River Communications, a telephone and DSL provider, had to stop blocking Vonage and pay a fine for doing so previously.

But Mobile Pipeline reports that it’s not clear if the FCC could make a similar ruling against Clearwire because Clearwire isn’t a local telephone company.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 14, 2005 Posts: 3

Just changed my signature, should reflect it by now.... I did some test inside telnor network and it worked fine. I could connect to an Asterisk server with PPPoE located in Mexicali and a Sipura adapter located in Tijuana on another Telnor PPPoE line. So at least they havent blocked anything yet on my area for internal VOIP communication

Posts: 9 · Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 1:00 am Post subject: Test tool / setup

Is there a way we can create a "test" tool to track our IP traffic and see if certain ports are or are not blocked?

it would probably help most of us determine if our ISP is the problem, or maybe even our own setup (router),...

Shouldn't be to hard to write a little app that can test these ports?

Posts: 3

I just posted my trouble with voice transmission over my broadband service. This has come about in the last two weeks. Our broadband provider is TimeWarner's Road Runner of Central FL - wouldn't you guess, they also offer VoIP for $39.99 to current subscribers. Such a ripoff, they are.
Rolling Eyes

Posts: 2135 · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 5:37 pm Post subject:

UPDATE 04-07-05

vonage-forum.com/article1761.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="postlink">Clearwire Was One Of Two Broadband Providers Causing Problems For Vonage

Wireless Operator Clearwire Was One Of Two Broadband Providers Causing Recent Problems, Now Resolved, For Internet Phone Operator Vonage's Traffic, A Vonage Spokeswoman Said Wednesday

April 6, 2005

By Ben Charny

Vonage also said last month that a cable operator, along with Clearwire, was suspected of blocking calls and not letting some home-phone adapters work appropriately. The cable operator's identity and the exact cause of the problems were still shrouded in mystery Wednesday.

A Clearwire spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Blocked calls by design or technical error are becoming more commonplace for Vonage and other voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, telephone operators. The usual suspects are broadband providers, which view VoIP providers as unwanted hitchhikers on their networks. Because VoIP software lets any Internet connection double as an inexpensive phone line, Vonage and other "networkless" operators need only require subscribers to supply a broadband connection on their own.

Clearwire was created by wireless pioneer Craig McCaw. It's a small provider of WiMax wireless broadband service, and it operates in St. Cloud, Minn.; Abilene, Texas; and Jacksonville and Daytona Beach, Fla. WiMax is an experimental technology that promises to broadcast broadband at a radius of several miles.

The Vonage complaints in March were levied less than three weeks after a Mebane, N.C., telecommunications provider, Madison River Communications, said it would "refrain from blocking" voice over Internet Protocol calls and pay a $15,000 fine to the government. Vonage, a VoIP provider, brought Madison River to the Federal Communications Commission's attention and may do the same with providers involved in these latest problems.

The FCC had hoped the Madison River enforcement would help eradicate what's commonly referred to as "port blocking," a way of blocking traffic--one that telecommunications providers threatened by VoIP are turning to with increasing frequency. The FCC did not comment on Monday about the impact of the fine or about the Vonage complaints.