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IanCalhaem

2 posts

Wannabe Geek


#318189 24-Dec-2024 09:11
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Review

 

Summary

 

This review details the tremendous support provided by TP-Link support engineer, Abner Zeng to analyse and provide the parameters required to connect the VX1800v router to the One NZ fibre network and to configure the VOIP Landline.

 

Background

 

When any item of equipment is purchased, one hopes and expects support from the supplier and/ or the manufacturer.

 

However, the situation becomes very complex when a piece of equipment is designed to work with a service from a third party, and more so when multiple service providers are involved.

 

In my instance I was replacing a modem/router that had been supplied by my local Internet Service Provider (ISP), a different company supplied the physical network, in this case the fibre and termination equipment (ONT).

 

Thus,

 

·       I purchased the new modem/router from the retailer PB Tech, in Auckland

 

·       The equipment was manufactured by TP-Link (VX1800v) selected because I wanted a WiFi mesh system with VOIP functionality.

 

·       The ONT and fibre was provided by Chorus and

 

·       The Internet Service Provider (ISP) was Vodafone, now renamed ONE NZ.

 

When I connected the VX1800v to the ONT I was able to connect the router to the EWAN and successfully obtain high speed connection and my static IP address.

 

My VOIP connection failed.

 

Multiple calls to my ISP (ONE NZ) told me that the VS1800v Router would not work with the ONE NZ system. This did not make sense to me as ONE NZ were moving over to TP-Link routers instead of the previous UltraHub.

 

A search on line found many other people failing to get the VX1800v router to work on the ONE NZ network, and people were discussing how to setup an UltraHub for VOIP and then a TP-Link router in AP mode for WiFi.

 

I could not find how to put the VX1800v into AP mode so I called TP-Link support.

 

TP-Link support advised that the VX1800v should work on the ONE NZ network and advised removing the UltraHub completely.

 

I called ONE NZ again and told them what I had been told by TP-Link. ONE NZ then admitted that the router will work on their system but is not supported (by ONENZ).

 

ONE NZ network advised that the settings should be automatically downloaded and nothing was required by the user.

 

I knew that was not correct as I had had to manually configure the router to get the EWAN working, so it was a call back to TP-Link.

 

TP-Link were very helpful and said they would investigate and get back to me. This they did after a couple of days, with a set of entries to try in the router, and instructions to call them back if they did not work and they would try remote management of the router.

 

I tried every combination I could think of but nothing worked. However, my investigations alerted me to the fact there were two username/password combinations – one for the EWAN and a different username and password for the VOIP registration. I knew the VOIP username, as I could get that from the old UltraHub, but I did not know the password, and it appeared to be different to the password I has used for the EWAN.

 

So, another call to ONE NZ, but this time asking the specific question – What was the password for the VOIP registration? After a lot of discussion, they gave me a password that they said was the only one in their system.

 

I did not have any success using the setting supplied by TP-Link and the new VOIP password. So, in desperation I called TP-Link support and asked for their help…

 

Solution

 

I received a fantastic response from TP-Link support engineer, Abner Zeng.

 

After confirming I was happy to receive remote assistance, a TeamViewer session was started to begin 15 minutes later.

 

Abner Zeng spent over an hour checking the setup that I had configured to get the EWAN working, and then investigated the VOIP setup. I had supplied both the password used for setting up the EWAN and the second password for the VOIP registration supplied by ONE NZ.

 

As I had found, the obvious settings did not work, so Abner loaded network monitoring software and then captured network the traffic to and from the ONE NZ during attempted VOIP registration.

 

This allowed various combinations to be tested and eventually a valid combination was found that resulted in the VOIP number to be successfully registered.

 

Result

 

·       The TP-Link VX1800v router DOES work successfully on the ONE NZ network

 

·       To set up the EWAN connection a username and password are required, these are the username and password which are used to access the customer’s ONE NZ account on the web.

 

·       A different username and password are required to register the VOIP (SIP) registration.

 

o   The username consists of <Area code><phone number>@vodafone.co.nz

 

o   The password must be obtained from ONE NZ and is not able to be changed by the customer.

 

 

 

 

 

Example Settings for VX1800v

 

Advanced > EWAN

 

 

 

 

id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t"

 

path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f">

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Username and password are the values chosen by the user when the Vodafone (One NZ) account was set up.

 

 

 

The Telephony on the router has to be set up separately.

 

From the Advanced tab > Telephony > Phone Number > click the Edit icon.

 

 

 

 

 

·      The provider is “Other”, not Vodafone which is available on the dropdown list.

 

·      The phone number is provided by One NZ

 

·      The registrar address is vodafone.co.nz.

 

·      The authentication ID consists of the “phonenumber”@vodafone.co.nz

 

·      The password is provided by One NZ

 

When everything has been entered correctly the status of phone line will change to a tick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sincere thanks to TP-Link Support Engineer, Abner Zeng, for his dedicated perseverance to provide this solution.

 

 

 

Result

 

•         The TP-Link VX1800v router DOES work successfully on the ONE NZ network

 

•         To set up the EWAN connection a username and password are required, these are the username and password which are used to access the customer’s ONE NZ account on the web.

 

•         A different username and password are required to register the VOIP (SIP) registration.

 

o        The username consists of <Area code><phone number>@vodafone.co.nz

 

o        The password must be obtained from ONE NZ and is not able to be changed by the customer.

 

 

 

Summary

 

I highly recommend the TP-Link VX1800v router with VOIP as a replacement for the UltraHub. The support from TP-Link Engineer Abner Zenq was outstanding and continued until a solution was found that worked with the One NZ Network.

 

The Router forms the basis of a complex network consisting of  Easy Smart TL-SG105E/108Eswitches with separate Vlans for Video, data and computer traffic, and RE605X wifi range extenders.


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Spyware
3736 posts

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  #3324109 24-Dec-2024 09:28
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Most people on One NZ use IPoE with vlan id=10 rather than PPPoE. Certainly the published settings are for IPoE.





Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.




trig42
5802 posts

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  #3324121 24-Dec-2024 09:50
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The hardest bit out of all of thiat would have been getting the VOIP password out of OneNZ I imagine.

 

 

 

If you didn't have a static IP, I don't think you'd need to worry about your internet username and password either.

 

 

 

Well done to TP Link Customer support though.


IanCalhaem

2 posts

Wannabe Geek


  #3324132 24-Dec-2024 10:55
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I succeeded when I asked the specific question - "What is the VOIP (SIP) password". Then they responded. 




MaxineN
Max
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  #3324137 24-Dec-2024 11:00
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trig42:

The hardest bit out of all of thiat would have been getting the VOIP password out of OneNZ I imagine.


 


If you didn't have a static IP, I don't think you'd need to worry about your internet username and password either.


 


Well done to TP Link Customer support though.



And supplying the VoIP password to a customer is an absolute no no.

OP. You are lucky and I wouldn't consider that a long term solution. At some point it will change and then it will stop working and you will get told to plug back in your One NZ supplied CPE.

It isn't long term as:
A. It may not be functioning correctly (beyond basic dialing, things like hold, transfer or waiting are done on the CPE so your TP link and it may not work).

B. It's not supported, expect 0 help.

C. You could get blocked if your CPE decides to do something dodgy and the engineers pick up on it.

There is a reason why passwords are not given out (and this agent should not have, you are told not to for all of the above and more) and there is a reason why One NZ gear is only supported, they're trained and there are several systems in place that do automation.

That call would be monitored and if it's not flagged I'd be shocked.

If you wanted to use your own CPE along with voice then you could just pick a different VoIP provider, you're not tied to One and it could even be cheaper and maybe supported.




Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

 

I use quic. They're a great ISP for techies. Use my referral I get money off my bill! You can get the setup fee waived too via this code when you order! R177510EBNVXP


RunningMan
8915 posts

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  #3324160 24-Dec-2024 11:48
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IanCalhaem: [snip] ONE NZ then admitted that the router will work on their system but is not supported (by ONENZ).

 

This pretty much sums up the entire situation. You are now using an unsupported configuration (possibly in breach of One's T&Cs - it would be prudent to confirm) that risks not working with any future changes from One, and possible disconnection if you are in breach of the T&Cs.

 

Further, you don't seem to have the skillset to self support such a config (as evidenced by the reliance on external support). A landline is frequently something that is relied upon for emergency communication and it seems counter-intuitive to muck with it. Is the dial plan correctly set up to handle all NZ calling patterns with One's system?

 

It's great to experiment, learn new skills and step off the beaten track, but I'm not sure that anything other than that has been achieved here. The One rep will likely get a talking to for handing out info they shouldn't have, and the user experience with the phone may be reduced.

 

 


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