Spark 4G B315 routers

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gtyler

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#205896 1-Dec-2016 17:15

Hi all,

I have 3 HAUWEI B315 4G routers here, have been having problems getting a VOIP phone (SIP) to work over them. got the 3rd with the telephone jack enabled, this also uses SIP, so thought if I paid for Spark's SIP service it would have SIP not blocked. Has anyone else had experience of this? 2TALK tell me they think it is SIP ALG setting, but there is no setting for this in them.

sbiddle

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#1680939 1-Dec-2016 21:55

The spark service used CG-NAT and no guarantees of voice quality.

There are numerous threads on here discussing this very issue and the fact that it's inherently going to break VoIP. SIP is not blocked - it's the mere fact CG-NAT is not really compatible with SIP. Most people who have moved on because they realise why it won't work well.

The Spark voice service is totally unrelated as it used a separate APN with dedicated QoS and does not go over the Internet.

2talk should really be offering the correct advice and telling people it's not a supported solution and why it's not going to work. It has nothing to do with a SIP ALG.

gtyler

6 posts

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#1680952 1-Dec-2016 22:24

Problem is not voice quality, first router worked, but an outgoing call cut of after 15 sec, exactly 15sec, every time. incoming calls no problem. the 2nd one will not even register. the 3rd is a friend's one, works ok. 2nd one is one they supplied for a "landline" has different firmware. has a section in the menu for SIP and all the normal SIP settings. these settings were in when I got it, I could change them to try it with my 2tALK account, but they have not given me the password, so I could not change it back. Skinny was 1/2 the price for slightly less data, I would have gone with that, but Spark would not let them supply a service to me as I already had the spark service. Skinny told me this.

PhantomNVD

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#1680955 1-Dec-2016 22:29

gtyler:
Problem is not voice quality, first router worked, but an outgoing call cut of after 15 sec, exactly 15sec, every time. incoming calls no problem. the 2nd one will not even register. the 3rd is a friend's one, works ok. 2nd one is one they supplied for a "landline" has different firmware. has a section in the menu for SIP and all the normal SIP settings. these settings were in when I got it, I could change them to try it with my 2tALK account, but they have not given me the password, so I could not change it back. Skinny was 1/2 the price for slightly less data, I would have gone with that, but Spark would not let them supply a service to me as I already had the spark service. Skinny told me this.

Really?
Then use their address finder with your neighbours address and put yours (or your work's) as the delivery address and get Skinny anyway? Only proviso is that they serve your area, they can't really prevent your use as that would be Illegal discrimination I'd say (or pricefixing?)

sbiddle

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#1680956 1-Dec-2016 22:30

I'm not sure if you really understood my initial response. There are plenty of other threads on here describing this in detail so I didn't want to repeat everything.

In a nutshell your own SIP service using a Skinny or Spark modem will not work. Yes there are exceptions and workarounds, but it should not be relied on for a SIP connection. The best workaround is a VPN to another PC somewhere that has a public IP that's not behind CG-NAT.

This has nothing do with with the router, settings in the router or anything like that. It's primarily the fact it's a CG-NAT connection which inherently breaks SIP. You also can't modify the SIP settings in the router. These are managed by Spark and use a private APN. Even if you could change these it still wouldn't work with 2talk.

If you want voice over a FWA solution use the Spark voice product. It's the only solution that's guaranteed to work without issue.

gtyler

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#1680973 1-Dec-2016 23:03

thanks, are you saying that STUN will not work for CG-NAT? I still have a lot to learn with this, in fact, it is probably to late to learn seeing I have not done so in 65 years.....

sbiddle

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#1681008 2-Dec-2016 07:14

gtyler:

thanks, are you saying that STUN will not work for CG-NAT? I still have a lot to learn with this, in fact, it is probably to late to learn seeing I have not done so in 65 years.....

The purpose of a STUN server is to establish the public IP of a connection and the type of NAT firewall the SIP device is behind.

It does not (and can not) fix double NAT which inherently breaks SIP. There are situations where double NAT will work and can be made to work, but such a discussion is basically beyond this thread.

Dairyxox

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#1681017 2-Dec-2016 08:10

sbiddle:
I'm not sure if you really understood my initial response. There are plenty of other threads on here describing this in detail so I didn't want to repeat everything.

In a nutshell your own SIP service using a Skinny or Spark modem will not work. Yes there are exceptions and workarounds, but it should not be relied on for a SIP connection. The best workaround is a VPN to another PC somewhere that has a public IP that's not behind CG-NAT.

This has nothing do with with the router, settings in the router or anything like that. It's primarily the fact it's a CG-NAT connection which inherently breaks SIP. You also can't modify the SIP settings in the router. These are managed by Spark and use a private APN. Even if you could change these it still wouldn't work with 2talk.

If you want voice over a FWA solution use the Spark voice product. It's the only solution that's guaranteed to work without issue.

Can you expand on the possible work arounds?
We've got a couple of the Spark FWA connections and they do have issues. We get dtmf tones over the line when certain people talk.
What about ISPs like bigpipe that are CGNAT also but can use 2 talk fine? (At least bigpipe can offer a static ip - sparkBOLTE cant/wont)

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sbiddle

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#1681018 2-Dec-2016 08:24

Dairyxox:
Can you expand on the possible work arounds?
We've got a couple of the Spark FWA connections and they do have issues. We get dtmf tones over the line when certain people talk.
What about ISPs like bigpipe that are CGNAT also but can use 2 talk fine? (At least bigpipe can offer a static ip - sparkBOLTE cant/wont)

I'm talking about workarounds for CG-NAT and blocking of inbound uninitiated traffic. The simplest is a VPN to get around the limitations.

DTMF when people talk is a very strange issue but I know has been discussed elsewhere and I thought it was resolved.