Getting no support from Fongo

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Getting no support from Fongo

Postby kiekar » 07/25/2021

Hello,

I have an open ticket #539035 from July 19, 2021. I still haven't herd anything. I've had an account since Nov, 2019 and up to now haven't had any issues. It started last week when I noticed I wasn't receiving any incoming calls. I tested my self by calling with my mobile phone with no ring tone and after 15 seconds it would go to my mail box. Outgoing calls work fine. Unplugged my GrandStream device and rebooted my pfSense box and still no changes.

I noticed under Fongo Status that the support system has a status of degraded performance. I just got billed for a service that is not working.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Karl
kiekar
Just Passing Thru
 
Posts: 7
Joined: 10/17/2019
Router: pfSense

Re: Getting no support from Fongo

Postby Liptonbrisk » 07/26/2021

Is this problem only happening only with incoming Rogers (Fido) carrier calls? Or is it happening with incoming calls from all carriers?

This is pretty difficult situation for me to help troubleshoot because I don't use Fongo Home Phone and because setting changes for your ATA are tied to Fongo's provisioning server. I don't think there's a way for you to make changes by yourself.

1. However, you can check step 1b from viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20199. Ensure whatever modem/router combo, hub, or gateway you're using is in bridge mode.

2. And make sure you're not using Siproxd, which is similar to SIP ALG, in pfsense. It wouldn't make sense that you are using Siproxd, but you might want to double check to ensure it's not installed. Or make sure that it's disabled.

If that doesn't help, I'd be very much surprised if Fongo Home Phone doesn't offer an alternate server for Fongo Home Phone users to use (similar to voip4.freephoneline.ca:6060) who are experiencing SIP ALG issues. I strongly suspect that they do since Fongo Mobile users have access to an "Alternate Fongo Connection" setting in the smartphone app, which does the same thing. It wouldn't make any sense to offer alternate servers to FPL and Fongo Mobile users but not to Fongo Home Phone customers. If you are having SIP ALG related problems, respond to your ticket and ask if they can put you onto an alternate proxy server for customers with SIP ALG problems.

3. This is always proper device reboot order:

A.Turn off modem, router and ATA (or IP Phone or close SIP App).

B. Turn on modem. Wait for modem to be fully up and running.

C.Turn on router.
Wait for modem to be fully up and transmitting data before turning on router.

D. Turn on ATA (or IP Phone or open SIP app) only after the router is fully up and running.



If you are unable to get your issue addressed, here is the escalation process: https://support.fongo.com/hc/en-us/arti ... -Complaint.
Ticket responses, as you noted, are delayed due the pandemic.
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.
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Liptonbrisk
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Posts: 2764
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SIP Device Name: Obihai 202/2182, Groundwire
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Router: Asuswrt-Merlin & others

Re: Getting no support from Fongo

Postby kiekar » 07/26/2021

Thanks for your reply,

I believe it's not all carriers as I had some one just call me with a mobile (Bell) and he got through.

If it is Rogers(Fido) that's causing me grief, what should I do? Is it at my end or Fongo or Roger's?

Thanks,

Karl
kiekar
Just Passing Thru
 
Posts: 7
Joined: 10/17/2019
Router: pfSense

Re: Getting no support from Fongo

Postby Liptonbrisk » 07/26/2021

kiekar wrote:Thanks for your reply,

I believe it's not all carriers as I had some one just call me with a mobile (Bell) and he got through.

If it is Rogers(Fido) that's causing me grief, what should I do?


I suspect the steps I outlined previously should help address the problem, provided you are getting true bridge mode to your router.

What is the brand and model of the modem being used?
If it's a Bell or Virgin Hub, do PPPoE login using your router. This is called PPPoE passthrough.
You will need the PPPoE username and password from your ISP.
Some ISPs only allow one PPPoE login, but Bell, Virgin, Teksavvy, and Start allow multiple PPPoE logins. I avoid any ISP that only allows one PPPoE login.
Bottom line is that you need true bridge mode or PPPoE passthrough if a modem/router combo, hub, or gateway was provided by your ISP. These are not pure modems; they are combo devices that include built in routers, and the router features inside them can cause problems if they are not bypassed.

For Rogers, visit https://www.rogers.com/customer/support ... ridgemodem.
Shaw users will have to call Shaw to enable bridge mode at the time of this post.

And then make sure SIP ALG is off (Siproxd) in your own router.
To understand why SIP ALG often causes horrible problems, please visit
https://www.voip-info.org/routers-sip-alg/ (scroll down to the section on SIP ALG problems).

Also, don't use VLAN.

A number of people using Asus routers have had to disable SIP Passthrough, which is the setting for SIP ALG in Asus routers, to get incoming calls from Rogers working with Freephoneline:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20211#p79016
https://forum.fongo.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 182#p78916 (Fido is Rogers)
I believe this is the exact same issue caused by either SIP ALG (Siproxd in pfsense) or not getting true bridge mode (or using PPPoE passthrough) from the modem/router combo being used.

Fongo uses a third party vendor for its switches, and they appear to have made configuration changes at the switches.
Not using bridge mode (if a modem/router combo, hub, or gateway is being used in addition to another router) with SIP ALG enabled didn't matter as much before in some cases. It does now.


Rogers numbers have no issue calling me on my FPL accounts, but I'm not using pfSense. And the modem/router combo issued to me by my ISP is in bridge mode. SIP ALG is off in my router.
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: Getting no support from Fongo

Postby kiekar » 07/26/2021

I'm using Sagemcom f@st 2864 in bridge mode then to the pfSense box which does the PPPoe authentication. My IPS provider is TekSavvy.

The only changes I made was upgrading to pfSense 2.5.2. Then I reverted back to 2.5.0 when I found out I had an issue but still have a problem. I don't have siproxd installed in my pfSense.

Thanks for all the links, I will look into it further.

Karl
kiekar
Just Passing Thru
 
Posts: 7
Joined: 10/17/2019
Router: pfSense

Re: Getting no support from Fongo

Postby Liptonbrisk » 07/26/2021

Try briefly connecting the ATA directly to the modem just for testing.
The ATA will be unprotected, so only do this while testing.
I would be interested in the results.

If the problem disappears, the problem involves pfsense. Also, make sure that you drop VPNs when testing incoming calls with pfsense.


Anyway, this issue should really be worked through with Fongo Support.
If their service isn’t working while the modem is in bridge mode with the ATA connected directly to it, you’re not going to be the only one with a problem.
In my opinion, that would point to an issue that will affect more people. That would be a concern that should be brought to their attention.
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: Getting no support from Fongo

Postby kiekar » 07/26/2021

pfSense is the issue. I decided to reinstall a fresh version and not reinstall a backup of my config file. So in a nut shell it's just pfSense with a WAN interface and LAN interface and the default outbound NAT rule.
After this setup I was able to receive once again incoming calls.

My pfSense Box is complicated setup with multiple networks, 1:1 NAT, virtual IPs, port forwarding, vpn, pfBlocker and snort for my mail server and web server.
My config file could be corrupted some where. Going to have to rebuild from scratch and test through the rebuild.

Thank you for your input and time.

Karl
kiekar
Just Passing Thru
 
Posts: 7
Joined: 10/17/2019
Router: pfSense

Re: Getting no support from Fongo

Postby Liptonbrisk » 07/26/2021

I’m glad you have a starting point to work from, and thank you for updating me on your progress.
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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