Using Rogers/Motorola portable modems.........

[Browncoat]

..which is what I have, they can be bought at Staples or ordered with the service at 99$.
Now my frustration is that I've always considered myself to be well above the average user, I am a system builder, both AMD and Pentium
systems. I've solved numerous software problems on my own.... no tech needed.
The Rogers/Motorola portable modem and service seemed to be the best solution for me at the time as i was moving to a home with no land line
and being by myself, no network needed, hence no router.....just the modem, as it uses the cell phone tower network.
I wanted to save money on Ontario Long distance, therefore my use of your softphone. VOIP is still new to me[one month] approximately.
What is driving me up the wall is that last month with just a mic and speakers and aside from a little echo, which i fixed by turning down the speakers,
My calls to my cousins worked out fine, then I 'upgraded' to a headset and things got worse instead of better. I ran test mode, now all I see because the sentence runs out side the dialogue box "Unable to send/receive sound data! Port 13000 should....and that is where its cut off, with the 'd' chopped in half.

How do i get control of Port 13000?..remember there is no router here....Windows 2000 Pro SP4(which falls under your requirements), which has no native firewall, only XP and later. One chowderhead over at Rogers said the port couldn't be opened or it would destabilize their network{huh? I said], then he pointed me to canyouseeme.org
and their port tester, which told me what i already knew...it couldn't connect to my IP address through 13000. The second one [a female with an even worse accent] insisted no ports were closed to me, not according to your test applet. Then the same page points to "No-IP" and they claim to have a solution.
Speed is no problem...I have five times your requirement in that.
It is a DHCP system....... should i go from automatic settings to connecting directly to a proxy?
I've never done that before...previously on dialup i just punched in the numbers from my previous providers' documents.
Both TCP/IP properties now in the dialogue box are set to get IP automatically and obtain DNS server automatically.
Even going manual, with proxies, wouldn't it still have to go through Rogers gateway?
74.210.98.1 ???
Who would I connect with for free?......Yes I'm a cheap bastard!
Anyhow, at least it still works as an answering service, yet no one bothers to leave a message but since the caller ID doesn't show up on my cell phone,
I don't know who it is until I come here to check the logs.

What can be done so i can make these free outgoing calls?

[Browncoat]

Addendum....

Just got off the phone with "Peter" from Rogers tech support and he assured me that from their end no ports are closed,
he hasn't even heard of such a thing as "Port 13000" he's only familiar with the four digit versions
so what am I to do?

[Krazie243]

Well as a matter of a completely free option, it is difficult to make guarantees. We will never charge money on a monthly basis for this service, but if you purchased an adaptor (from us or any store) and got a configuration file ($50) you would be able to connect your ATA to a router and be fine. I have yet to see an internet solution that blocks the ports that ATA traffic runs on. So while some internet companies might only allow for 4-digit port access (which would block 5-digit port access like port 13000...) since the ATA works off of UDP 5060 and UDP 5061 it is fine. So if you don't mind buying some hardware and a config file, your problems could be fixed easily. Other than that, it almost sounds, by your description, that your internet solution has a port access rage limited to being 4 digits long. Since the softphone requires 5 digit port access, there would be an issue. Maybe you could request to be connected to a Tier 2 tech from your Internet Service Provider and see if they can make changes on their level. If not, I highly recommend getting an adaptor.

[Browncoat]

This is Rogers we're talking about.....as in TV..cable...cellphone......etc.

So you're saying you're not really a free service, you want me to spend money, like Skype and the rest?

[FONGO_kris]

This is not what he is saying,

All of our charges are all ONE TIME FEES and if you have your own hardware than you may use that free of charge of course. The Freephoneline softphone is FREE and will always be free, it is used for testing purposes for our customers and if you wish to keep using that than you may do so. But for those who don't want to wear a headset everytime they make a call and deal with poor headset quality or what have you, there is the ATA option with enables you to plug in a regular home phone (Corded or Wireless).

Essentially FPL is indeed free, the only cost to it is $79 for the adapter and $50 for the configuration settings file. The ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) is optional. If you have one you may use it and we wont make a stink about that as it is your decision not ours as to what you do or do not use.

One advantage of purchasing our ATA is the free tech support that comes with it. Not saying we would EVER charge for tech support as Microsoft and other companies do, but the support is limited. If you get one of the more generous agents they may take some of their personal time to assist you in fixing the issue yourself but it is not a company policy to go out of our way to help someone who is not using our hardware.

Keep in mind that most of our tech staff for FPL is very well versed in VoIP technology as I consider myself as a well versed and competent person when it comes to SIP/IP Phone technology as well as basic VoIP services - Plus the more complicated services such as IP Peering and SIP URI Advanced Forwarding etc...

I would suggest if you have any question to email fpl_admin@295.ca or to call one of our offices any time from 9am - 8pm as someone such as myself would be glad to assist you and offer any information short of our credit card numbers.

---- In addition, running through a proxy would limit more capabilities of the soft phone as you have no control over what is done with outgoing/incoming packets, for all you know Rogers could restrict access as Curtis said above to 5 Digit ports (I believe they do).

Another issue is you are using a portable modem which runs off cellular towers which is VERY convenient it looks like and from what I hear works great. But there is your issue. It runs of cellular towers.

If you were to ask someone to unblock UDP Ports 13000 and 13001 on their "Mobile" (Cellular) Internet, it would most likely cause them to put you on hold indefinately as most of them aren't really trained to do such things -- It would take a Tier 2 Technical support rep a fairly substantial amount of time to do so anyways.

All in all I would agree with Curtis in recommending the purchase of one of our ATA's as well as a 2 or 4 port switch for connecting your laptop (I would assume) and ATA with some RJ-45's (Ethernet Cables)

PS - Keep in mind I am writing not only for you but for anyone else who reads this post, so don't take offense to the "Laymans Terms" in brackets.

Thanks,

[Krazie243]

I'm not saying that the one time fees are even necessary - but when you use our equipment, there are a lot less problems. The more control we have over your VoIP experience, the more we can ensure that it works. Using one of our adaptors means that we will have tested it before shipping and ensured that it can call and be called. It will have all the most up-to-date settings which will all have been entered in by our top techs. Basically, you would be getting a device that was touched by the best ATA configurers in our company. And in my opinion, that beats out any number of hours speaking to tech support any day.

But staying with a free option is entirely up to you. It simply means we have less control over your circumstances. It is entirely possible that the 5-digit port range is disabled for Roger's Portable Internet (rendering most 'Skype'-like applications useless) or it might be another issue entirely. The difficulty is that we can't always find out for sure what is blocking your network traffic. I sincerely hope Roger's is not disabling 5-digit port access but I wouldn't put it past them. Of course, having an ATA solves that problem if it does exist. I highly encourage you to call Roger's and speak to a tech and ask for someone a level above them (we call that Tier 2 as a regular agent is called Tier 1) and that way you can ask someone with the most technical experience with Roger's networks whether or not the 5-digit port access is disabled or not.

Another thing to try: I recently spoke to what I suppose you could call our Tier 2 tech regarding access ports. It might seem ridiculous to open this many, but try opening UDP 10000-20000, 6100 - in addition to the UDP 13000, 13001 that you already have open. For clarification, that first range is, in fact, 10000 to 20000 (the entire range) I am told it is possible that softphone applications can sometimes randomly pick a 5-digit port number starting with "1" for use through a router. I don't know what the UDP 6100 is for but may as well try it as well. Of course, you could always try a router free option. You mentioned not having a router anyway, so this might be more useful to other people reading this, but you can still talk to Roger's and ask for a Tier 2 tech agent for information about 5-digit port access.

[Browncoat]

Whoa.....!

That edit to my previous post really lit a fire under peoples' asses!

To be fair I'll give it a try after.

Now that I have a Home Theatre PC in the living room, den and bedroom I'll be building a network so each can
record and access their DVR/PVR files from a single server, I'll get the ATA then but the HTPCs really only need to be connected
once a week to sync their clocks with the NIST time servers and get their files from schedulesdirect.

In the meantime the softphone can still act as voicemail service, if only the people I want to hear from would leave messages,
instead of me chasing down their numbers via the call logs!

Until then, thanks.

[Mazzie]

Well as a matter of a completely free option, it is difficult to make guarantees. We will never charge money on a monthly basis for this service, but if you purchased an adaptor (from us or any store) and got a configuration file ($50) you would be able to connect your ATA to a router and be fine. I have yet to see an internet solution that blocks the ports that ATA traffic runs on. So while some internet companies might only allow for 4-digit port access (which would block 5-digit port access like port 13000...) since the ATA works off of UDP 5060 and UDP 5061 it is fine. So if you don't mind buying some hardware and a config file, your problems could be fixed easily. Other than that, it almost sounds, by your description, that your internet solution has a port access rage limited to being 4 digits long. Since the softphone requires 5 digit port access, there would be an issue. Maybe you could request to be connected to a Tier 2 tech from your Internet Service Provider and see if they can make changes on their level. If not, I highly recommend getting an adaptor.

I guess I have found this thread a bit late after it was posted, but I also have portable internet, not Rogers, but Bell. However, it works on the same principal as the Rogers portable. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I thought you could only use an ATA on a home phone line? As the original poster said he doesn't have a home phone line and neither do I, how would an ATA help us? I have downloaded the softphone, but I can't get it to work either because it says my ports are not open. I don't have a router set up, only this portable modem, so can anyone please tell me how I can use the softphone?

Many thanks

[FONGO_steve]

Well as a matter of a completely free option, it is difficult to make guarantees. We will never charge money on a monthly basis for this service, but if you purchased an adaptor (from us or any store) and got a configuration file ($50) you would be able to connect your ATA to a router and be fine. I have yet to see an internet solution that blocks the ports that ATA traffic runs on. So while some internet companies might only allow for 4-digit port access (which would block 5-digit port access like port 13000...) since the ATA works off of UDP 5060 and UDP 5061 it is fine. So if you don't mind buying some hardware and a config file, your problems could be fixed easily. Other than that, it almost sounds, by your description, that your internet solution has a port access rage limited to being 4 digits long. Since the softphone requires 5 digit port access, there would be an issue. Maybe you could request to be connected to a Tier 2 tech from your Internet Service Provider and see if they can make changes on their level. If not, I highly recommend getting an adaptor.

I guess I have found this thread a bit late after it was posted, but I also have portable internet, not Rogers, but Bell. However, it works on the same principal as the Rogers portable. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I thought you could only use an ATA on a home phone line? As the original poster said he doesn't have a home phone line and neither do I, how would an ATA help us? I have downloaded the softphone, but I can't get it to work either because it says my ports are not open. I don't have a router set up, only this portable modem, so can anyone please tell me how I can use the softphone?

Many thanks

The ATA doesn't require a home phone line - it just requires an internet router so it can share internet access with the other devices in your house.

Have you tried changing the port the softphone operates on? Menu > Settings and it's in the last tab I believe. We just added this feature with the latest version.

[Mazzie]

The ATA doesn't require a home phone line - it just requires an internet router so it can share internet access with the other devices in your house.

Have you tried changing the port the softphone operates on? Menu > Settings and it's in the last tab I believe. We just added this feature with the latest version.

It was a long time ago since I downloaded the softphone, couldn't get it to work so I gave up. However could you please tell me how I can download the softphone now? I can't find any links for it on the freephone.ca website.

I'll download it again, (when I know where to download it from) and try configuring it again and change the port to see if that works as your new version now has an option to do that.

Thanks for your help.

[Mazzie]

Don't worry, I found the download link, it's difficult to find though if you are already registered and logged in.

[FONGO_kris]

I'll add that to the list of things to do while upgrading the website again