Someone else is saying that nobody should go to Vonage using my name - not true. I have 3 friends on Vonage and they all believe it fits their needs for support and quality. One of them had some trouble getting reimbursed for 3 months for minutes used over his plan because a hangup wasn’t caught. Besides that, they’ve all been happy enough not to leave/switch from Vonage. I have no personal experience with that company.

The single post listed as “Kevin” appears to be my original posts.

I was going to update this blog with new info today. Can’t trust it. So long. The rest of you need to know this.

OLD SETUP:
==========
- Vonage
- 2 separate lines using Linksys PAP2 unit.

NEW SETUP:
==========
- Sunrocket
- Daisy chained 2 Innomedia Gizmo’s
- Linksys router, Gizmo 1 WAN port to router LAN port.
- PORTS 5060-5061 and 16384-16403 forwarded to WAN IP of Gizmo 1 per tech support
**Gizmo 1
- WAN = static IP for internal network
- LAN = default (192.168.251.1)
**Gizmo 2
- WAN = DHCP (plugged in to LAN on Gizmo 1)

This works. I have all interfaces limited to 10mb (as evidenced by green led instead of yellow). I run this on Cable connection with 5mb. So far, not hit on network bandwidth (4.75 down / 485 kbps up)

Heads up though… their tech support has no clue unless you get to their tech leads, etc. and even they couldn’t tell me how to do this. I know someone there does because before I purchased the two Gizmo’s / accounts, I asked them how to make this work and they said to “daizy chain them”. When I called in to ask for details… no help at all. I had to use my own brain cells.

HTH! If you need further details, email me direct.

That being said, I, personally tried a company called VelocityTel. Great folks, good call quality and poor features.

So now it’s on to SR. Let me say this first - I have had numerous compatibility issues with VoIP and Linksys in any combo. My advice (for what it’s worth) is to avoid that combo at all costs.

Now, a quick work on ports and QoS. Most VoIP carriers will use the same common ports for their service. A good resource to use when someone tells you to open, close or forward a port is:

http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers

Don’t hesitate to use/open both TCP & UDP protocols.

Port #53 is for Domain Name Server and I’m not sure why a VoIP carrier would like for you to open or redirect this port other than to resolve DNS functions which the router should be doing already…

Port # 69 is for TFTP (Trivial File Transfer) and is used to config your VoIP adapter.

Port # 5060 is for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and is used to for call set-up and tear-down processes.

Port # 5061 is SIP with the added umph of Transport Layer Security (TLS) which, theoretically, helps to keep your call secure - much like SSL but stronger encryption.

It’s all fun and games until your bandwidth drops or calls won’t go through. Here’s an easy solution - Broadband Device (DSL or Cable Modem) to a HUB or Switch (recommend at least a 4-Port.) Most providers will allow for anywhere from 2-4 Dynamic IP addresses by default, sometimes more, depending on your service level.

Have a static IP? This should not be a concern for the following scenario since, to my knowlege, “static” IP addresses are pointed to your MAC (Media Access Control) adress. For example, if you currently have a “static” assigned to your router, then this would remain unaffected by the use of a switch.

Step 1. Plug the ethernet cord from your modem into a switch.

Step 2. Plug your VoIP ehternet cable into the switch.

Step 3. Plug your router’s WAN ethernet cable into the switch.

With this, you get to keep the security of the hardware firewall, and don’t have to do any advanced port or QoS configs.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

I’ll be opening another ticket with Cisco/Linksys on QoS.

Fact 1, SunRocket Gizmos slow down internet activity when installed as SR requests.

Fact 2, Having more than 1 device on a LAN with the same MAC address is a really bad idea - google “ARP” for details.

Fact 3, Placing the gizmo behind your router is more secure, but there are trade offs in complexity and/or voice quality.

Fact 4, I’ve been working with Cisco/Linksys tech support for 6 weeks to solve this issue.

Fact 5, My setup:
Comcast 6000down/384up Kbits/sec
Toshiba DOCSIS 1.1 modem
WRT54GX-v2 router / 2.00.16
Gizmo on the “inside”
Multiple PCs and other media devices

Linksys has given me some ports to be forwarded to the gizmo - they seem like a major guess.
We have double checked my QoS settings; basically, Gizmo is HIGH and all other devices (by MAC) are LOW. Also, I’m on a beta version of the next firmware; so far so good.
“kindly try to forward port 10,000-20,000, 5060-5061, 53 and 69 using UDP protocol” to the gizmo. I have no proof this will work, but wanted to share. Seems like shots in the dark to me. None of those ports interfere with others I need, so I’m willing to try.

I may disable the SPI, once I figure out exactly what is really does. Facts, not hearsay.

If someone finds this interesting, throw me an email in a week or so with the URL back here. Once I have a known good config, I will create a clear picture of the network and settings, if there is interest.

Thanks!