[WXC/VFX] Configuration of SPA2102 routed through WAG54

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [WXC/VFX] Configuration of SPA2102 routed through WAG54

andynz

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#16132 26-Sep-2007 09:04

After some lightning over the past day or so, my 2 VOIP phone lines have failed. I talked with Xnet help desk and the only conclusion they have is the WAG54GP2 is faulty. I was looking for a replacment WAG but they seem to be out of stock in most places, in fact Dick Smith show them as and end of run product, is there a new all in one solution coming out?

Anyway as the ADSL still works fine, I have an SPA2102 coming and wanted to check how to configure things for a smooth setup.

So the setup is SPA2102 - LAN HUB - WAG54GP2. As Xnet needs to access the SPA for VFX setup, can you tell me what ports I need to open from the WAG to the SPA2102 so Xnet can access it? Does the QOS still work in this situation? Again, any port issues I need to setup or consider? Any problems with connecting the 2102 via the LAN and hub to the WAG?

Cheers
Andy

maverick

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#88137 26-Sep-2007 10:04

Hi Andy,

Yes a couple of people have been effected by the lightening sorry to say, You should be pretty good with that setup however a Hub is not a switch so if you have multiple PC's on it and doing file transfers for example then you would probably see issues, so if you can plug the 2102 into its own switch port on the wag would be a better option, best practice is to give it a static IP as well and assign that IP QOS on the router, The help desk can assit with this if you have any concerns. We would also need the Mac Address of the 2102 so we can configure the device with your lines, , . The wag is not end of life btw not yet anyway

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andynz

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#88140 26-Sep-2007 10:18

Hi Maverick

Thanks for the reply and setup details. Sorry, called it a HUB on our LAN but is actually an SMC unmanaged switch. My understanding is that an unmanaged switch allows separate paths to run at full speed at the same time so should this be ok or would I need a managed switch if I don't plug into the back of the WAG. I know the easiest option is to plug the 2102 into the WAG but they are in separate buildings on our property (probably didn't help being in different buildings with the lightning strikes!)

I run static IP on most gear on our network so that shouldn't be a problem. Just to confirm, I don't need any inbound ports opened for you to connect to the 2102?

Cheers
Andy

maverick

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#88145 26-Sep-2007 10:52

No you should be okay with a switch, the SPA2102 should pick it's config automatically if you have the VFX one, we just need to make the config first though so get the details to us as you can.

Btw since your device is offline, do you know that that the "Call Forward Unreachable" service will automatically forward your Phone off to another number and switch back to normal working when the device is back on line....pretty handy feature

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andynz

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#88150 26-Sep-2007 11:03

Yes, read your post about forwarding when off line. I have had to battle the, "told you we can't really on this new VOIP service" since the lightning struck. I pointed out the forwarding feature which is a huge improvement on standard Telecom lines. We recently had faults on multiple lines and the contractors just dropped the lines off without warning for hours on end. We wondered why the phones were quite!!

Cheers
Andy

andynz

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#88471 28-Sep-2007 09:18

Hi Maverick

Thought I'd give you some feedback on adding an SPA2102 after our WAG54 ports got zapped by lightning. The process of changing over has not been without it's problems and I thought it was worth telling you about.

I installed the SPA2102 WAN port via a switch to the WAG54. To configure the 2102, I had to set it up on the LAN side, which was fine. I enabled remote admin so I could configure the 2102 from our LAN which is on WAN side of the 2102.

The first problem I had was having to register the MAC address with Xnet. The help desk were great but after telling me it takes 1-2 days to register the MAC, I explained what had happened and it was urgent. To their credit, it ended up being a couple of hours but it is still frustrating to have the MAC issue to contend with. I understand Xnet does this for security reasons but if you have a small home business as we do, you need your phone lines back ASAP. As the VOIP hardware does not seem to be that robust I would like to keep a spare 2102 here to swap out in emergencies but I can't do that because of the MAC registration time with Xnet. As an aside, the other line is with mynetfone.com.au which does not require MAC registration and I can get this going immediately. Again, understand why you have done this but it's a problem for more critical users if you want to appeal to the business as well as domestic market.

A lesser problem was having to enter the cfg update location/string with the help of the help desk. Part of this was the firmware update. After the update to the xnet firmware, I lost the admin logon and also I couldn't access the 2102 via the WAN connection due to the remote access being disabled by the firware update. I can understand you want to disable remote access if the 2102 is connected to an ADSL modem but it's a hassle if your using it on a LAN. Once I worked out waht was going on, I got my laptop onto the 2102 LAN connection and re-enabled the remote access.

So nothing life threatening but enough hassles to put me off changing all our lines over the VFX for awhile yet.

I hope you take my comments as constructive feedback rather than moaning, overall VFX is a great service but having to register the MAC with associated delay if you have to change the hardware is real hassle. My vote would be for a bit less security and easier setup.

Cheers
Andy

maverick

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#88481 28-Sep-2007 11:06

Hi Andy,

Appreciate you taking the time to write your comments, and no I don't take your comments as moaning it's your opinion and it's all valuable based on how you would like to use the service, I may not agree with them but will generally give my reasons why

So the biggest issue for us as a Telco is security both for you as the customer and us as the provider and this we will not knowingly compromise sorry. Now to address a couple of the points directly.

The WAN port on the SPA2102 , now the reason for this is as you suggested it's for security, we lock the WAN port thats because a lot of people are not technically minded so we err on the side of caution ,we don't want customers compromised so the LAN web access will be the only one available.
MAC address , this is for both security and performance, this allows us to put a configuration on a know device that works 100% with our services, if we didn't what could happen is that people will change a setting here and there and then services like 3 way calling doesn't work or perhaps they mess with the fax settings and then fax stop working or worst case the timers are changed and all of a sudden the call doesn't hang up correctly and we get a 2 Hour call to a Mobile. We will get charged for this call so we would look to charge you as the customer. Now you as a custy won't be happy with that and our response would have to be sorry but you control the config you control the results, so if we do it our way we control the config we accept responsibility for the call control. The only way to do that is through configs assigned to unique MAC addresses so hence the provisioning setup.

I have actually gone over this a few times before as well and their is probably more I can add, but I do appreciate the feed back but Andy our responsibility is to the security of our network and customers so we will always err on the side of caution because the last thing we want is for people to lose faith in security of the network, worst case scenario is someone hacks your account through a open WAN port finds your details of the account and then chalks up 24 hours of 090014Phil (my retirement fund phone line at $58 a minute ) who takes responsibility Andy ? it's happen already in NZ not us btw but another provider, VOIP is a great product but due to it's a nature it is also a very very big security risk and one we try to always be vigilant on, whilst I can understand you wanting a slighter easier setup and we will always look to see how we can improve here I think we may have to just disagree slightly on this but I hope you see our side of the story as well.

Regards
Phil Moore
Operations Manager
WorldxChange Communications

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andynz

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#88498 28-Sep-2007 12:19

Hi Phil

Thanks for your time taken in replying and yes I do appreciate your points about security and who is responsible for what. I guess the only real problem is with the MAC address setup time. Can anything be done about this? How about being able to change it as part of my online account setup? I am just thinking about having that spare 2102 ready to go in case of problems. You can guarantee the hardware will fault 5 minutes after Xnet help desk goes offline for the day!

Cheers
Andy

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hairy1

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#88500 28-Sep-2007 12:39

A bit off topic but related: With the thunderstorms around Auckland I was considering a back up device for my WRTP54G. Maverick, did most of the devices that had issues with the thunderstorms lose just the ATA function on their routers?

Regards,

Matt.

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