Configuring Hub 2 for VOIP service

[#1]

If the SIP ALG requires disabling in the interim on the Hub One then I can probably do this remotely for you.

[#2]

Hello again

It seems that the answer to my question "can I expect the Hub Two to "just work" ?" is NO ...

I haven't set up the N300 yet but, just to experiment, I have acquired two A&A numbers and set up Linphone softphones on a couple of computers. After just the usual twiddling to get it set  up, I was able to send calls to them, no problem.

Except that, a few hours later, one of the softphones was bombarded with spam calls (no, I didn't answer any of them!), so I've had to shut them down.

Now, to be fair, A&A say in very big letters that you need to set up a firewall - this was what prompted this whole thread - and, since I'm using a Hub One which doesn't allow it, I have skipped that part.

I'm curious to know how other A&A users are coping if they aren't setting up firewall rules? Or am I missing something? Are other VOIP providers less susceptible to this issue?

[#3]

I don't use A&A so can't comment on their service, but it's rare I get calls from unknown sources on any of the VoIP accounts I do have registered.  I've got a DrayTek VoIP router which has several accounts registered, and a Gigaset N300 with four accounts registered (with some overlap between the two), and no firewall rules in addition to the routers default ones have been set; the SIP ALG on the DrayTek has been disabled but that's for other reasons.  Generally any unwanted calls are genuine wrong numbers.

Rather than speculate on possible causes for your flood of incoming calls, I'll wait for someone more knowledgeable to hopefully comment.

[#4]

Except that, a few hours later, one of the softphones was bombarded with spam calls (no, I didn't answer any of them!), so I've had to shut them down.

@Banksman that's because the SIP Alg on the Hub one opens port 5060 to the world! Some phones can handle it and will only respond to calls from the server to which they are registered, others cant

Take up @bobpullen s offer to disable it remotely and that should fix it. I don't believe the Hub 2 ALG  has the same bug but ( as confrmed by most people in this thread ) SIP Algs are best disabled!

[#5]

Thanks again. I won't waste anyone's time in patching my Hub One since it will be going in the bin in a couple of weeks. I'll wait till the new one comes and see what I can do with it.

[#6]

@Banksman 

Might be worth keeping a a back up.

Otherwise ask PlusNet for a returns bag and they'll recycle it for you.

Brian

[#7]

There's a link to the Royal Mail click and collect site here where you can print a returns label and have the old hub collected by your postie for free.

[#8]

Sorry to mislead you, I didn't mean that literally. "bin" = "that box full of old electronic stuff that I might need one day even if half it is now steam powered."

[#9]

Well, I'm now live on full fibre ... and my Hub 2 finally turned up (after the Openreach install, but never mind) and I seem to have most things working.

However, it was mentioned upthread that in the Hub 2 I should be able to turn off the SIP ALG ... but I can't find the option to do that. Can someone point me in the right direction, please?

Thanks

[#10]

Advanced Settings > Firewall > Configuraton, from memory.

[#11]

Thanks - no idea how I missed it, but there you go.

As it happens it was turned off by default, so job done already!

[#12]

My FTTP was installed today - everything fine, with Plusnet Hub2 router. Now I want VOIP.

I bought a Grandstream 812 ATA, got a new local phone number from 'Number People' and a SIP server address from linphone.org.   There seem to be lots of conflicting info on how to set this up. I connected the WAN socket on the ATA to a LAN port on the router and an analog phone to one of the output ports on the ATA and entered what seemed sensible in the ATA configuration. MY SIP server shows as registered on the ATA configuration and I get a solid blue light (phone symbol) on the selected ATA output port.  On the router configuration files I created a port forwarding rule on the router firewall tab for the ATA IP address (192.168.1.112) with port number 6060, as shown on the ATA profile page. When I try to call to the ATA phone,  the stats page on the Number People dashboard shows the attempted calls, but records them unanswered. It does not ring. Similarly, I cannot successfully call out. I've tried doing so on skype. Sometimes Skype says it is ringing, but it reallly isn't. Do these observations mean the calls are not getting through the router? 

I am not asked to enter the newly assigned phone number anywhere; is this correct?

What am I doing wrong?

[#13]

@Ernesto  to use your Number people number with a voip adapter you need to add their voip/sip facility https://numberpeople.co.uk/voip-sip/ .

You then configure the ht812  with the number people details which I assume they'll provide

Forget the linphone.org account , it has no number associated with it.

[#14]

Brilliant!      Many thanks MisterW.    Everything works now.