Fonality Knowledge Base - Welcome! > Status > How do I verify ports for remote operations?

How do I verify ports for remote operations?

  

Run the test (Available in version 4.1)

  1. Click on Status --> diagnostics
  2. Wait for the tests to complete
What does this page test?

ALL of the following ports MUST be open to your PBXtra in order to use IP Phones or HUD remotely!!!  The Status --> diagnostics page tests all of the following functionality:

  1. Remote SIP Registration (UDP 5060)
  2. Remote SIP Audio (UDP 10000-20000)
  3. Remote IAX2 Registration and Audio (UDP 4569)
  4. Remote HUD2 (Uses IRC - TCP 6600)
  5. Remote HUD3 (Uses Jabber - TCP 5222)
  6. Internal SIP Registration and Audio (checks potential port blocking within the network)
  7. Internal IAX2 Registration and Audio (same as above)
  8. Linked Server connectivity (via IAX2)
Why is this information useful?

Until now, customers had only a single resource for information regarding remote phone and HUD issues: Fonality Support.

With the new Status --> diagnostics page, customers can now automatically detect and view steps to resolve remote phone registration/audio issues and remote HUD issues.  Even without any experience configuring network equipment, using the information provided by the Status --> diagnostics page, any customer should be able to port-forward the correct ports for remote workers.

Can I still contact Fonality Support for help?

Of course!  However, Fonality's mission as a company is to make technology easy.  Fonality believes that phone systems should not be complicated or take years of training and multiple certifications to administrate. 

What is 'port forwarding'?

Imagine you have a business operating out of your own home.  The law in most places states that you must have an entrance separate from the front door for customers visiting your home office.  It helps to keep your personal and professional lives separate and protects your privacy.  Within your network, port-forwarding accomplishes a very similar function: pass all traffic destined for the PBXtra directly without mixing in any other traffic.  By explicitly defining a rule within your router that forwards all information on a certain port (or ports) to your PBXtra you are essentially creating that entirely separate entrance as in the home office example.

How do I forward a port?

It varies.  Most SOHO routers have an administrative interface accessible from any computer on the Local Area Network.  Please consult your manufacturer's documentation as Fonality does not provide support for customer-provided networking equipment.

What are "SIP ALG" "SIP FIXUP" and other SIP-Services on my Router/Firewall?

All of these things typically do more harm than good.  Ask the customer to disable any of these settings within their router or firewall.  Read this article for in-depth information.  See the malformed-packet section below for detailed information on what this is and how to fix it.

Malformed SIP packets will cause problems.


FONcore expects to see uniform SIP packets.  If the SIP packet has been modified in any way the packet may be discarded leading to dropped calls or the inability to connect a call. Usually this occurs when features on firewalls/NATs try to help SIP communication by altering SIP packets but it actually ends up interfering with FONcore built in method of traversing NATs. Common names for some of these features are "SIP Fixup", "SIP Debug", "SIP NAT Traversal" or "SIP ALG", but there are many other names as well.

Packets may also be processed by FONcall but the call can experience lost audio due to dropped packets or one-way audio if FONcall does not know where to send RTP packets because of a malformed source port.