Orcon Genius VoIP & Router Setup

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Orcon Genius VoIP & Router Setup

quadcomp

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#92989 10-Nov-2011 13:51

I have found much to my disgust, when I was looking at signing up to the Genius product from Orcon, I asked about specific things and all the answers were "yes".

The things I asked about were...

Can I get a static IP?
Can I setup Port Forwarding?
How long will it take to get service?

What I have found from reading many frustrated users threads, is that because of the nature of the network and they way the routers work Port forwarding does not. When I spoke to the helpdesk they said they dont support it.

The fact of the matter is, is that they brand the routers with the orcon logo and advertise that the routers are capable of it and then they say they dont support it and it doesn't work, I have already enquried with the commerce commision as this could be in breach of the fair trading act and the consumers gaurantees act.

I specifically needed these features for my work as I needed VPN pass through, now Im signed up and tied into a contract with a large disconnection fee(Which sux)

Not to mention I now have had no phone for over 2 weeks as they cant even get porting sorted. I have business accounts with Orcon and never had an issue, but this is just down right RANK!!! sort your S*#T out Orcon

Awesome in theory but not what I expected, as I am a tier 3 VOIP engineer and live in the cisco world I understand how there network works, I often install there SIP trunks into customers IP PBXs

I also would have thought this would have all been tested before going to market, and an indication that it does not work would be great.

Quadcomp

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#543717 10-Nov-2011 14:40

Orcon users are generally issued a "fixed" IP, however this is not a static IP and can change if need be.... I dont know the exact setup of the network Genius is on, but in theory a static should be able to be applied against your connection.

Port forwarding does work, or at least has for the one or two ports I use.

As for how long to take to install, they were initially flooded with new connections etc, more than expected I believe so there was some delays in getting people going.

XPD / Gavin

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Zeon

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#543719 10-Nov-2011 14:40

So they advertise the device is capable of port forwarding and they are now saying it isn't? If that's the case easiest thing would be for you to switch to another provider without paying them. If they complain take a screenshot of the part on the website which says it supports port forwarding and tell them that you will take them to the disputes tribunal - they should back off.

Are you 100% sure it doesn't support port forwarding?

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xpd

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#543741 10-Nov-2011 14:56

Id say it was more of a CSR not understanding the query.....

XPD / Gavin

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quadcomp

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#543744 10-Nov-2011 14:58

XPD> I have just got off the phone with them after 45 minutes of them telling me they dont support port forwarding a tecnical person there is going to contact me and said it maybe firmware related. and the ticket that keeps getting opened for my porting keeps getting closed, but I have been assured that a supervisor is going to own it and see it through.

Zeon> I have sent an email with a screen shot of there support page showing that port forwarding is a feature of the router, and I never got a reply. but while on the phone to them in the past hour they said they did not want me to take it any further and they want to try and get it working.

Splatty

94 posts

Master Geek

#543874 10-Nov-2011 17:51

What happens if you set up the details in 5. Advanced Settings / 10. Port Forwarding ?

Looks like that could do what you want?

Edit: Re-read your earlier reply, looks like you found it and tried it but it didn't work

Nebbie

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#544163 11-Nov-2011 10:14

Hi Guys

By the sounds of it Orcon doesn't support port forwarding as in support from the helpdesk, if this device is not capable of port forwarding that would have to be the crappiest router in the world.

Does the device have telnet/ssh access? (are pinholes not applying becuase of a GUI bug?)

Thanks
Bevin

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xpd

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#544486 12-Nov-2011 08:53

My settings and build - Ill admit I havent had to try the ports for a while but no reason for them to have stopped working....

Build Time: 2011.07.08-22:10:41

XPD / Gavin

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brookz

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#544521 12-Nov-2011 10:57

They set up port forwarding for a couple of games that I play. But I think it's time to move on as I have not been able to receive calls since moving into my new house on the 22nd of August and signing onto Genius for the first time.

sgtsunshine

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#556944 12-Dec-2011 13:53

Have you guys experienced issues with port forwarding not working internally?

I have a web server, which is accessible publicly via a specific domain (which I use portforwarding to point to a different internal port).

However, when attempting to access the same URL locally, it just won't work. Feels like portforwarding only works externally.

richms

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#558412 15-Dec-2011 18:43

sgtsunshine: Have you guys experienced issues with port forwarding not working internally?

I have a web server, which is accessible publicly via a specific domain (which I use portforwarding to point to a different internal port).

However, when attempting to access the same URL locally, it just won't work. Feels like portforwarding only works externally.

That is normal as most routers dont actually port forward, they do NAPT, which doesnt work if the source and destination are on the same netwrok as the replys would go directly to the PC requesting it and then get dropped since they are coming from a place they were not sent to.. Some routers have an option for loopback mode which will do a portfoward for anything internal and keep the usual port translation for external stuff coming in, which leads to confustion because they call it a port foward in the config which technically is isnt, but some routers have the workarounds to make it work.

Richard rich.ms

sgtsunshine

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#558627 16-Dec-2011 10:44

I've had to setup a local DNS server to get around this problem.

Quite inconvenient, considering that the previous (older) router supported this 'feature' out-of-the-box.

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Zeon

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#558637 16-Dec-2011 11:01

sgtsunshine: I've had to setup a local DNS server to get around this problem.

Quite inconvenient, considering that the previous (older) router supported this 'feature' out-of-the-box.

From a networking point of view the behavior is to be expected. Port forwarding is really messy and its much better to have public IPs for servers for this type of reason.

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Ragnor

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#558647 16-Dec-2011 11:27

Hmm most routers/modems have an option for "NAT loopback" guess the ~~iinet Bob~~ Orcon Genius doesn't?

sgtsunshine

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#558660 16-Dec-2011 12:10

Guess not!

Orcon also would not provide support, indicating that this is a networking issue, and not router-related.

I understand that this is expected/normal behaviour for routers. However, I assumed it would at least be consistent across all routers.

In any case, I guess it makes more sense to have a local DNS server.

Snackos

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#561192 24-Dec-2011 13:24

I seriously hope it supports Port Forwarding because I just signed up for the genius when I move to my home in Jan. That would really suck if it didn't. I refuse to believe that it doesn't - even the most budget of budget of routers does port forwarding.

BTW, I signed up over a month ago and still haven't got the router. Do they send it a few days before the connection date?

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