Fongo powers free calling solutions for a number of brands. This forum includes information and tips on all of those offerings. Note that your specific services may vary based on the specific Fongo product that you're using.
sbordun2 wrote:I have D-Link DIR-655 router with "SIP ALG" option enabled and 2 SIP hard-phones connected.
I do not have any issues with his configuration
I just got D-Link DIR-615 and flashed DD-WRT so I just plug my Linksys PAP2 without do any port forwarding
I got dial tone, calling in and out no problem so I was happy with it. No more port forwarding
Be wary ALG, as with various other traffic shaping and QoS technologies on SoHo routers it is often a broken implementation. Surprisingly, I don't see any mention of D-Links having issues here:
Funkytown wrote:I had many problems with the Linksys wrt54gp2 so I went out and bought a Handytone502 brand new and not once did I have any issues and the price for 45$ was great at the time! When I first plugged it in put the settings in it and voila, works like a charm for over 1 year and counting!
I recently found that monoprice has their own branded routers, the reviews are decent and the built-in feature set is fairly impressive. Anyone have experience with these?
I agree that the D-LINK 615 configuration is not user friendly.
I initially forwarded ports 5060, 5060, 6060, 6061, 10000, 20000, 13000, 13001. The voice calls were working but I was getting a timeout every 12 hours or so (phone doestn't ring). The firmware is up to date and I found another parm in "Tools" - "Schedules". Checking the "All week" and "24 hours" boxes will fix the timeout issue. This topic is not well documented on the D-LINK web site.
The other issue with this router is the faxing capability failing and I had to define the ATA in the DMZ to send and receive faxes. I called Norton tech support and they stated there is no risk with the DMZ since the Norton firewall superseeds the router firewall and my network is protected.
Can anyone recommend a wired only router that is VoIP friendly? Preferably it would work as a DSL modem as well. I have a separate high end wireless access point that is located centrally in my house so I don't need a router with wireless. I currently use the Bell 2Wire router and it's pretty basic.
Why wouldn't you just get a proper wireless router like the TP-Link TL-WR1043ND, flash it with DD-WRT, use it as your wireless router and use the 2Wire as a modem only in bridge mode? 2wire = crap
I am using Netgear WNR-2000 v2 with TomatoUSB firmware on it and is working fine. I also have WRT54g with Tomato on it and is also working good.
This is rather my note I wanted to share with everyone, but I was having issues with DD-WRT on both routers, even though I had all necessary ports properly forwarded.
I would lately get a call and other party would hear me just fine, but I couldn't hear them, unless they call me again and all start working. To mee, it looks like DD-WRT is not opening ports on time, or something.
Before switching over to Tomato, I was even trying not to pick up the phone right away, but leave it to ring 2 times, but the issue was still there.
Now, with TOMATO, I did multiple tests and I even pick up the phone before the first ring completes and all working as it is suppose to.
I was having the same behavior with both routers with the latest DD-WRT for both of the two models.
After switching to TOMATOusb/TOMATO (latest versions), all problems gone.
By the way, NAT Keep Alive/NAT Mapping were always disabled on my ATA and are still in disabled state.
These posts are very informative, but sadly very outdated. I think this is a very useful topic, in desperate need for updates to cover newer devices.
I dumped my 'new' Netgear Dual Band WNDR3700. It was useless for Fongo Home Phone service. Back to my old TP-Link G router outperforms it for VoIP by miles. But I still have occasional hiccups - like no incoming calls.
I am looking for a Dual Band N router, which performs well on Fongo Home. Willing to pay $70-99 range. Can anyone help me with suggestions based on, not reviews, but real life experience?
godot2012 wrote:These posts are very informative, but sadly very outdated. I think this is a very useful topic, in desperate need for updates to cover newer devices.
I dumped my 'new' Netgear Dual Band WNDR3700. It was useless for Fongo Home Phone service. Back to my old TP-Link G router outperforms it for VoIP by miles. But I still have occasional hiccups - like no incoming calls.
I am looking for a Dual Band N router, which performs well on Fongo Home. Willing to pay $70-99 range. Can anyone help me with suggestions based on, not reviews, but real life experience?
1. I started with my old TP-Link G router - after some initial issues it worked with the FONGO provided GrandStream ATA reasonable will. From time to time I had various problems (no incoming calls, no dial tone, etc.) These were with resolved with complete restarts (power Off/ON) of my "home telpehone system" (modem; router;ATA). The problem was serious enogh to look for a better router.
2. I purchased a Netgear Dual Band WINDR3400 (Refurbished at Factory Direct $30). It worked very well as a network device for data connections on both bands to the Internet, but for FONGO Home serice it was a complete disaster. My old TP-Link, while not perfect, it was by far more reliable. This was the time I started to look for "recommended" routers. Hence my previous post here. (At least one user post on the Internet claims that even the latest Netgear WINDR4500? is useless for VoIP.)
3. On somewhat of an impulse (which one should never do) I purchased at the Future Shop a D-Link DIR-835 for $89. Setup was not too bad, I finished without any help other than the install guide. When connected, my ATA my home phone came to life only with a few seconds delay. It also seemed to stay in touch with the rest of the telephone world fine. All featrures worked OK.
I was getting curious about the rating of this device and when I looked it up on the Internet I was surprised about the long list of discusted customers of the D-Link DIR-835. Some said the unit is a complete junk. A couple of users complained that it died on them after a few weeks/months.
4. I figured I can do better. This time I did my home work (Internet research) and based on high ratings by both, PC World and users I picked up a CISCO Linksys EA3500 - BestBuy $99. Installation was easy, Internet connection was OK. Range of coverage in my house was about the same as the TP-Link DIR-835. (My router is installed in my basement, far from an ideal location.) I did not run any specicific load/bandwith tests. Packet drop tests were OK - no loss with either.
Now the bummer - when I connected my ATA to the EA3500 it never got into the groove! I never got a dial tone! The "Award winning Tech Support" person was very nice. Put me on hold to confer with others. At the end no one there seemed to have a clue why the my ATA/phone does not work with their device and works with others. She suggested to transfer me to an enginneirg support team by another company, which would charge me for the service. lol - the router was one day out of the retail store!
I talked to several sales people and staff the CISCO's 'award winning' tech support had little or no understanding of what makes VoIP work and what are the pifalls. This is a real problem.
For better of worst; the Linksys EA3500 goes back to BestBuy, D-Link DIR-835 stays connected. Maybe it is not shuch a bad unit after all. I still have 11 days to return it to the Future Shop - if needed. After that I have some coverage by my MasterCard.
godot2012 wrote:1. I started with my old TP-Link G router - after some initial issues it worked with the FONGO provided GrandStream ATA reasonable will. From time to time I had various problems (no incoming calls, no dial tone, etc.) These were with resolved with complete restarts (power Off/ON) of my "home telpehone system" (modem; router;ATA). The problem was serious enogh to look for a better router.
2. I purchased a Netgear Dual Band WINDR3400 (Refurbished at Factory Direct $30). It worked very well as a network device for data connections on both bands to the Internet, but for FONGO Home serice it was a complete disaster. My old TP-Link, while not perfect, it was by far more reliable. This was the time I started to look for "recommended" routers. Hence my previous post here. (At least one user post on the Internet claims that even the latest Netgear WINDR4500? is useless for VoIP.)
3. On somewhat of an impulse (which one should never do) I purchased at the Future Shop a D-Link DIR-835 for $89. Setup was not too bad, I finished without any help other than the install guide. When connected, my ATA my home phone came to life only with a few seconds delay. It also seemed to stay in touch with the rest of the telephone world fine. All featrures worked OK.
I was getting curious about the rating of this device and when I looked it up on the Internet I was surprised about the long list of discusted customers of the D-Link DIR-835. Some said the unit is a complete junk. A couple of users complained that it died on them after a few weeks/months.
4. I figured I can do better. This time I did my home work (Internet research) and based on high ratings by both, PC World and users I picked up a CISCO Linksys EA3500 - BestBuy $99. Installation was easy, Internet connection was OK. Range of coverage in my house was about the same as the TP-Link DIR-835. (My router is installed in my basement, far from an ideal location.) I did not run any specicific load/bandwith tests. Packet drop tests were OK - no loss with either.
Now the bummer - when I connected my ATA to the EA3500 it never got into the groove! I never got a dial tone! The "Award winning Tech Support" person was very nice. Put me on hold to confer with others. At the end no one there seemed to have a clue why the my ATA/phone does not work with their device and works with others. She suggested to transfer me to an enginneirg support team by another company, which would charge me for the service. lol - the router was one day out of the retail store!
I talked to several sales people and staff the CISCO's 'award winning' tech support had little or no understanding of what makes VoIP work and what are the pifalls. This is a real problem.
For better of worst; the Linksys EA3500 goes back to BestBuy, D-Link DIR-835 stays connected. Maybe it is not shuch a bad unit after all. I still have 11 days to return it to the Future Shop - if needed. After that I have some coverage by my MasterCard.
A PM is a 'Private Message'. Just click on his green 'Fongo Support' user name and it will take you to a page where you can send him a private message.
My D-Link is going back to Future Shop. I lost incoming call this am. I was trying to call home and got the dreaded "long pause followed by the busy" signal. Same as with my old TP-Link g router. I was totally ticked. When I got home and checked outgoing calls were working fine but I had to power Off/On the ATA to get things working again. I wish at least FONGO would route all incomplete incoming calls to voice mail.
Thanks to all of you, at least I have three routers to pick from. It am totally disappointed with my experience with the Linksys. I was attracted to the simultaneous dual band feature and the promised easy installation. Anyway back square one. But at least I have some known to work devices to pick from.
I have tried several "new" - that is dual band - routers. All of them had the same problem. My HT701 Speedstream ATA was unable to register through them. I found it strange that the same ATA had no problem to register using my two "old" G routers It bugged me why this was happening. Based on my experience, here is the scoop! The "old" routers are not too smart. They required more involved user setup. They kind of fell into the "not user friendly" category. The effort was not too complex and following the user guide it was not an impossible task to configure them.
The new generation of devices are "smart". They are kind of "plug and play". You can just plug your dual band CISCO Linksys 3500 or a NETGEAR WNDR4000 (both devices were highly rated by various groups like PC Mag etc.) into your DSL modem and voila! You get connection to the Internet. Your PC and tablets will work fine, so will your access to the configuration of your router. However, when you connect your ATA to the Ethernet port, it will not register. As I said these new devices are kind of smart. But NOT SMART ENOUGH! The guys at FONGO support suggested I try to set up the NETGEAR WNRD4000 - God forbid manually, that is the old fashioned way! And it worked! Here is the setup for the NETGEAR WNDR4000:
Go to router setup and select "Advanced Settings"
1. Internet Setup:
Set Require Login = Yes
Internet Service Provider = PPPoE - the router was smart enough to figure the service (protocol) out correctly! Login = enter your login name - the one you use for your Internet provider
PW = enter your password[/b]
2. WAN Setup
Set NAT Filtering Set "Disable" SIP ALG
Save these these changes and restart the router. After your router is ready, plug the HT701 into Ethernet port 1. It will now register OK. In a few seconds you will get a dial tone and you will be ready to make and receive calls.
It is proper to give credit when warranted. It was FONGO support staff who suggested to me to try manual setup. In hindsight, I was blind sighted by the smartness claimed by the router manufacturers. Also, I believe manual configuration will work with most, if not all new routers to get the ATA to register. After my experience it just makes sense. What irks me that both Linksys and NETGEAR support was trying to sell me "pay for service" help. Particularly when the solution was this simple. They were not at all concerned when I told them that their unit will go back to the store. Not much for customer care. (One can get more attention and a deal from Bell and/or Rogers when one tells them that there are other options.)
As a side note; I prefer the NETGEAR device to Linksys. I like the LED indicators on the NETGEAR box, as well the ability to shut off the wifi bands while keeping my wired LAN alive and connected. Located in the basement, it also seems to have a better range - at least on my house.
Thanks FONGO support! And I hope some of you will find this info useful.
