Constant Ringing

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Constant Ringing

Postby Tom Lehan » 04/17/2018

I have the Grandstream 701 and on the Vaxxine internet through Cogeco, after it has been active for about 15 minutes, it will start ringing and not stop unless the receiver is picked up or power removed. On another internet provider Carrytel, the device works correctly. What setting needs to be changed and why is this happening?
Thanks
Tom
Tom Lehan
Just Passing Thru
 
Posts: 4
Joined: 04/17/2018
SIP Device Name: ht701
Firmware Version: ?
ISP Name: Vaxxine through Cogeco
Computer OS: win7
Router: ?

Re: Constant Ringing

Postby Liptonbrisk » 04/18/2018

Do these calls or ringing correspond with different numbers (that clearly aren't normal phone numbers) on your call display? 100, 1000, 1001, 999, (or "admin") etc? If so, those aren't calls. They're SIP scanners. SIP scanners are programs written by crackers (script kiddies). They look for ways to break into your home network by scanning for open ports. Typically, they'll scan for common service ports to see if they're open, such as UDP 5060, 5061 and a few others (some scan for a lot more than that). If a port is open, they can access your ATA (and, potentially, other devices on your LAN). Your phones will ring with caller ids appearing as 1001, 999, something else that's clearly not a regular phone number, etc. These crackers will try to make free calls using your services (or much worse). That's why it's important to have a good NAT firewall in a router protecting your ATA, computers, and other devices on your LAN (local area network) and to never port forward or use DMZ. Port forwarding is security risk. Enabling DMZ is even worse.

Do you not have a router? Possibly Carrytel issued you a modem/router combo or gateway, and if so, it probably had a restricted cone NAT firewall. If you were not issued a modem/router combo or gateway by Cogeco and if you don't have your own router, then your ATA is unprotected. If Cogeco gave you a gateway or modem/router combo that has a Full Cone NAT, then it would also not be very useful for protecting your ATA.

When you check your call logs, by logging into https://www.freephoneline.ca/callLogs, do you see the call that you answered listed? If not, then you're not dealing with actual phone calls. That's an important question.


1. Do you have "Allow Incoming SIP Messages from SIP Proxy Only" enabled in your ATA? If not, it should be. That feature does help block SIP Scanners.

2. Ensure that your ATA is provisioned according to this PDF file: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=18839#p75423.
Check your settings.

3. When buying a router for VoIP, ensure you buy one that does not have a full cone NAT.
Visit https://www.think-like-a-computer.com/2 ... es-of-nat/.

Mango from the Obitalk.com forums writes,

“Use a restricted cone NAT router, and do not use port forwarding or DMZ. Restricted cone NAT will only permit inbound traffic from the service provider you're registered to. If you have a full cone NAT router, it will allow traffic from any source. This is probably not what you intend.

If you have a Windows computer, you can test your router using the utility here: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22292023. To run it, use stun stun.ekiga.net from a command prompt.” Essentially, you download the stun-test.zip file; extract the stun.exe file from within the zip file to an easily accessible location; use an elevated command prompt (visit http://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-ru ... inistrator); change directory (cd) to the directory or location where you extracted stun.exe (visit http://www.digitalcitizen.life/command- ... c-commands); and type “stun stun.ekiga.net” without the quotation marks followed by the enter/return button on your keyboard.

Asus routers, at the time of this writing, produce port restricted cone NAT routers, for example and are fine, provided you’re using one with Asuswrt-Merlin, third party firmware installed: https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about.


4. Again port forwarding and using DMZ are bad ideas (port forwarding opens ports/holes in your NAT firewall; it's a security issue). And that's another reason why you should have a router with a good firewall to protect your ATA.

5. It's best to have a decent router for VoIP.
Stick your ISP's modem/router combo or gateway in bridge mode, use your own router, and properly enable QoS for your ATA (if you’re going to use adaptive QoS, give your ATA the highest priority for internet traffic and assign lower priorities for all other devices on your LAN). Refer to your router's manual.

I'm not a big fan of this site, but for a general QoS description, visit http://www.voipmechanic.com/qos-for-voip.htm (avoid anything this site says about the G.729 codec because you really don’t want to be using this low bitrate codec unless you’re using Freephoneline on a smartphone with a poor cellular data signal).

What you want in a router for Freephoneline (or a VoIP SIP service) is one

a) with a restricted or port restricted cone NAT Firewall,
b) that lets you disable its SIP ALG feature (especially if it's faulty),
c) with strong QoS features,
and d) that has the capacity to modify both Assured and Unreplied UDP timeouts.

With respect to "d)" ...

Thanks to Mango, many of us now understand that in order for ATAs to remain registered and working properly with a VoIP SIP provider like Freephoneline, in particular after power failures, the following conditions must be met:

UDP Unreplied Timeout (in your router) < NAT Keep-alive Interval (in your ATA; for Obihai ATAs this is X_KeepAliveExpires) < UDP Assured Timeout (in your router) < SIP Registration Failure Retry Wait Time (or RegisterRetryInterval in Obihai ATAs)

“<“ means less than.

When a modem leases a new IP address, a problem can arise where prior associations using the old IP address are maintained in the router. When the ATA attempts to communicate using the old IP address, the response is unreplied, and then if the UDP Unreplied timeout is greater than the Keep Alive Interval (and UDP Unreplied timeout is often set to 30 by default in consumer routers) a problem arises where the corrupted connection persists. If UDP Unreplied timeout is, for example, 10, and the NAT Keep Alive Interval is 20, then the corrupted connection will timeout or close. A new connection will be created, and everything will work fine.

Another problem can occur when the Keep-Alive interval is greater than UDP Assured Timeout (often 180 by default in consumer routers): the NAT hole will close due to the ATA not communicating frequently enough with the SIP server. In turn, incoming calls may, intermittently, not reach the ATA. Again, X_Keepalives expires is supposed to be 20 with FPL.

Getting access to both UDP Unreplied Timeout and UDP Assured Timeout settings in consumer routers may be difficult, if not impossible. Asuswrt-Merlin, third party firmware for Asus routers, does offer easy access to these two settings, which are found under General–>Tools-->Other settings. In part, for this reason, I tend to use Asus routers. However, my understanding is that third party Tomato firmware has these two settings as well. So if your router supports Tomato firmware, that may be another option. Note that I will not be held accountable any damage resulting from failed firmware updates.

The keep alive interval for FPL is 20. The SIP Registration Failure Retry Wait Time is 120. I use 10 for UDP Unreplied Timeout and 117 for UDP Assured Timeout.



Nothing (gateways or modem/router combos) currently issued by ISPs has all of those features. Typically it's best to put whatever gateway or router/modem combo they given you into bridge mode and to use your own router with the features that were just listed. In particular, point "a" helps to protect your ATA. Points b,c,and d and unrelated to SIP Scanner issues. But if you happen to be looking for a new router, those are things to consider.


So SIP scanners are the first cause for ringing that I would consider. Another, significantly less likely, cause may be related to ring voltage settings or the specific phone you're using (try another phone), but the reason I think a voltage issue is unlikely is due to the fact you weren't experiencing this problem with Carrytel. If it is some voltage issue, I probably won't be able to assist.
Please do not send me emails; I do not work for nor represent Freephoneline or Fongo. Post questions on the forums so that others may learn from responses or assist you. Thank you. If you have an issue with your account or have a billing issue, submit a ticket here: https://support.fongo.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. Visit http://status.fongo.com/ to check FPL/Fongo service status. Freephoneline setup guides can be found at viewforum.php?f=15.
User avatar
Liptonbrisk
Technical Support
 
Posts: 2764
Joined: 04/26/2010
SIP Device Name: Obihai 202/2182, Groundwire
Firmware Version: various
ISP Name: FTTH
Computer OS: Windows 64 bit
Router: Asuswrt-Merlin & others

Re: Constant Ringing

Postby Tom Lehan » 04/19/2018

WOW. I will check into that. Will go to dads to check his settings. The ringing appears to be from a setting incompatibility over an actual call as the rings are not normal as shorter and faster between rings.
Thanks Tom
Tom Lehan
Just Passing Thru
 
Posts: 4
Joined: 04/17/2018
SIP Device Name: ht701
Firmware Version: ?
ISP Name: Vaxxine through Cogeco
Computer OS: win7
Router: ?

Re: Constant Ringing

Postby Liptonbrisk » 04/19/2018

Tom Lehan wrote:the rings are not normal as shorter and faster between rings.


Ringing from SIP Scanners is similar to what you've described.
Please do not send me emails; I do not work for nor represent Freephoneline or Fongo. Post questions on the forums so that others may learn from responses or assist you. Thank you. If you have an issue with your account or have a billing issue, submit a ticket here: https://support.fongo.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. Visit http://status.fongo.com/ to check FPL/Fongo service status. Freephoneline setup guides can be found at viewforum.php?f=15.
User avatar
Liptonbrisk
Technical Support
 
Posts: 2764
Joined: 04/26/2010
SIP Device Name: Obihai 202/2182, Groundwire
Firmware Version: various
ISP Name: FTTH
Computer OS: Windows 64 bit
Router: Asuswrt-Merlin & others

Re: Constant Ringing

Postby Tom Lehan » 04/22/2018

I have Dad's cable modem with one WAN out connected to a powered Ethernet switch with his free phone connected and computer only. I connected my free phone 701 box and it would not work, at all; strange! Connected Dad's 701 directly to cable modem and it worked but did not wait long enough to test for ringing.. Will be trying his system with his phone and my phone connected to a router to see if the switch is the culprit to the ringing.
Tom
Tom Lehan
Just Passing Thru
 
Posts: 4
Joined: 04/17/2018
SIP Device Name: ht701
Firmware Version: ?
ISP Name: Vaxxine through Cogeco
Computer OS: win7
Router: ?

Re: Constant Ringing

Postby Liptonbrisk » 04/22/2018

Tom Lehan wrote:I have Dad's cable modem


Modems don't contain NAT firewalls. Modem/router combos (sometimes referred to as gateways by Rogers, for example) do. The router portion of the modem/router combo contains a NAT firewall.

Providing both the brand and model number of the devices being used would be useful.

with one WAN out connected to a powered Ethernet switch


Switches don't typically have firewalls either, unless it's not really a switch but a router.

Your dad is either protected or he's not. With no firewall at all, the ATA is not protected. If he's using full cone NAT firewall, he's not really protected either.

I've already provided the stun test you should be trying in step 3 in my original reply, and I already stated what settings should be enabled in step 1 and 2 in my original reply.
It should also be relatively trivial to check call display on a phone with call display compatibility for 100, 1000, 1001, 999, admin, etc. when the rings are occurring.


Liptonbrisk wrote:1. Do you have "Allow Incoming SIP Messages from SIP Proxy Only" enabled in your ATA? If not, it should be. That feature does help block SIP Scanners.

2. Ensure that your ATA is provisioned according to this PDF file: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=18839#p75423.
Check your settings.


http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r28350568-
https://wiki.4psa.com/display/KB/Unders ... host+calls
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r276535 ... s-received
http://blog.kolmisoft.com/sip-attack-friendly-scanner
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/voip-ms- ... y-1691509/
etc.
Please do not send me emails; I do not work for nor represent Freephoneline or Fongo. Post questions on the forums so that others may learn from responses or assist you. Thank you. If you have an issue with your account or have a billing issue, submit a ticket here: https://support.fongo.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. Visit http://status.fongo.com/ to check FPL/Fongo service status. Freephoneline setup guides can be found at viewforum.php?f=15.
User avatar
Liptonbrisk
Technical Support
 
Posts: 2764
Joined: 04/26/2010
SIP Device Name: Obihai 202/2182, Groundwire
Firmware Version: various
ISP Name: FTTH
Computer OS: Windows 64 bit
Router: Asuswrt-Merlin & others

Re: Constant Ringing

Postby Tom Lehan » 04/27/2018

I needed two Ethernet ports to connect the ATA phone and computer to the internet, one more than available on the cable modem so installed just an Ethernet switch with no consideration to protecting the ATA. During the ringing, removing the receiver stopped the ring and display was blank. Your information, Liptonbrisk has been educational and although I am older, you can teach an old dog new tricks, we are just slower at absorbing it. I gained knowledge and understanding on some of the settings and too that I still know little in this field..
The ATA would not allow me access to the settings so required a default reset, wiping out all previous settings. Provisioned the ATA to PDF file settings and installed the username and password where required...Simple... NOT as obtained a message that the password was incorrect, After several resets, and attempts to configure over a few days, contacted customer support. Password was correct but to all, DO NOT CUT AND PAST THIS INFORMATION in the settings as something in the process will create an error; Customer support suggested Typing it in.
From your posts, I have installed a router, reset the ATA and now 24 hours later everything is functioning correctly.
My sincere appreciation to you, Liptonbrisk, Freephone/ Fongo staff and all contributors to the posts on here for your support and willingness to share your knowledge. Really impressed!
Thanks
Thomas Lehan
Tom Lehan
Just Passing Thru
 
Posts: 4
Joined: 04/17/2018
SIP Device Name: ht701
Firmware Version: ?
ISP Name: Vaxxine through Cogeco
Computer OS: win7
Router: ?

Re: Constant Ringing

Postby Liptonbrisk » 04/27/2018

Tom Lehan wrote:Simple... NOT as obtained a message that the password was incorrect, After several resets, and attempts to configure over a few days, contacted customer support. Password was correct but to all, DO NOT CUT AND PAST THIS INFORMATION in the settings as something in the process will create an error; Customer support suggested Typing it in.


SIP username and password can be found after logging in at https://www.freephoneline.ca/showSipSettings.
Copying and pasting can work. However, the user needs to be very careful not to paste extra spaces (or ensure that the full password is being copied without any extraneous characters).
For example, if my password is Klh123kjh1, then I don't want to copy and paste _Klh123kjh1_, where _ represents spaces that needs to be deleted both before
and after the password. That issue can also occur if the mouse cursor is positioned improperly before pasting.
Anyway, it's easy to accidentally insert an extra space (or spaces). I have that problem too sometimes when editing documents and emails. So, it's good that customer support suggested typing
in the password manually to ensure you wouldn't encounter that problem.

From your posts, I have installed a router, reset the ATA and now 24 hours later everything is functioning correctly.


That's excellent news! Given that you have a new router, please, when you have some free time, update your forum user profile with the brand
and model so that in the event you have future issues others can see your router information when helping to troubleshoot.

By the way, the proper device reboot order is always modem (wait for it to be fully up and running)-->router (wait for it to be fully up and running)-->ATA.
Should you begin rebooting devices for troubleshooting purposes, please remember that sequence.

although I am older, you can teach an old dog new tricks


If we’re lucky we learn something new every day. And there's tons of things, I'm sure, you could teach me.


Thank you very much for letting us know that everything is working for you again, and I hope you have a great weekend!
Please do not send me emails; I do not work for nor represent Freephoneline or Fongo. Post questions on the forums so that others may learn from responses or assist you. Thank you. If you have an issue with your account or have a billing issue, submit a ticket here: https://support.fongo.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. Visit http://status.fongo.com/ to check FPL/Fongo service status. Freephoneline setup guides can be found at viewforum.php?f=15.
User avatar
Liptonbrisk
Technical Support
 
Posts: 2764
Joined: 04/26/2010
SIP Device Name: Obihai 202/2182, Groundwire
Firmware Version: various
ISP Name: FTTH
Computer OS: Windows 64 bit
Router: Asuswrt-Merlin & others


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