Have to switch between SIP servers more often lately

[mh1983]

Hi all,

I have the HT701 with latest firmware on FPL and configured exactly like the PDF guide in these forums. Lately, it doesn't register correctly with FPL (I get a "Device not registered" prompt when I pick up the phone).

The issue used to be intermittent and the fix was to switch SIP servers (voip to voip2 and back if needed). Now the issue regularly occurs (at least in the past week).

Any suggestions? Router and ATA config are fine, to mind, but is there anything I should check?

TIA!

[Mango]

Let's try the easy solutions first:
Use Random SIP Port should be set to Yes.
Your ATA should have a static IP assigned.
Check http://www.whatismyip.com/ periodically to be sure your ISP is not changing your public IP address frequently.

If none of that solves the problem, try to increase your ATA's SIP Registration Failure Retry Wait Time. I checked the manual for your router and was not able to find its UDP timeouts, so the correct setting will be a guessing game. Perhaps you would like to start with 300. Next time the problem happens, wait five minutes and see if it resolves itself. If not, try 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, etc. (Hopefully you won't need to go very high.)

If my guess is correct and this works around the problem, the problem is caused by your router. If you wish to upgrade to a better router that does not have this issue, I recommend any router with Tomato firmware: http://tomato.groov.pl/?page_id=69

Alternate workaround: if you have access to a DNS server, set up DNS SRV records containing voip/voip2, and configure your device to use the DNS SRV record you created. DIsclaimer: this will add a point of failure (your DNS server).

Let us know how things go.

[mh1983]

Thanks so much for the great troubleshooting steps, Mango, and for the support you provide on these forums!

It's only been a day, but my ATA is registering nicely now. I assigned a static IP and I'm hoping that did the trick. (Random SIP port was set to "yes" already.) I'll continue to monitor and try the other steps if anything changes.

I notice that the FXS port config page has primary and failover SIP server fields. Is there any benefit to filling in one with the voip server and the other with voip2?

Thanks again! Will update the thread if anything changes.

[Mango]

I notice that the FXS port config page has primary and failover SIP server fields. Is there any benefit to filling in one with the voip server and the other with voip2?

Good idea. That may be an easier alternative to the DNS SRV solution I mentioned. If you try it, let us know how it works.

[sinister.groupon]

Contrary to the suggested settings on the HT701 I have been using:

Primary SIP Server: voip
Secondary SIP Server: voip2
Prefer Primary SIP Server: On

I think the Suggested Settings should be updated to match.

[Mango]

They probably won't update the suggested settings. While what you are doing is more reliable, it makes it more difficult for them to enforce their long registration policy.

[sinister.groupon]

I thought that would still support it with the "Prefer Primary SIP Server: ON". It will only fail over to the secondary if registration fails, and once registration expires on the secondary it will try go back to the primary.

[mh1983]

Thanks to you both for providing suggestions and feedback in this thread.

I decided to try out sinister's config. Mango, is there any risk of going against FPL's policies? I want to ensure stable connectivity but don't want to get my account flagged.

Let me know. BTW, since setting the static IP in the ATA itself, I've had no connectivity issues.

[Mango]

That's great to hear. You're not the first person recently who has had DHCP issues. I wonder why that could be?

As long as your device registers every hour as per their policy, my opinion is it should be fine to configure a secondary SIP server.