Troubleshooting guide

[ea3in]

Hi

After a few months I'm starting again with my RRC-Micro setup

It doesn't work for me

1) RRC to RRC works perfect inside my LAN or via internet
2) RRC-Micro to RRC-radio works perfect inside my LAN
3) If I try to connect from my laptop to the remote RRC-Radio, using my iPhone via USB as neinternete network adapter, SIP Connects but no audio. Commands are sent, I can send CW for instance. The green bar is off
4) If I try to connect from my PC from my work LAN, it doesn't connect at all. I use go through a firewall with NAT, but there is no any firewall policy that can block anything. Provider is Colt

It is obvious that something is blocking traffi, but How can I diagnose what?

BTW, I use the Mark I RRC's
Ports are  5060/11000/12000

Thanks

[ea3in]

Fixed!!

I changed the default ports and everything is ok now

[dj0qn]

Port 5060 is blocked in most consumer routers sold in Europe, you should always
change this port. This is clearly mentioned in my networking checklist that I can send
you or anyone wanting it by sending me a short e-mail to dj0qn (at) darc.de.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[roland]

Exactly. We are changing the default from 5060 to 13000 now.

[windymiller]

I am sure everyone has had a fair fill of connection problems being posted, and for that reason, I have done my damnest before posting yet more!

I am trying to set up a new install of both 1258 Mark II's and RRC PC Client.  The opening post on this thread looked familiar in that I can get everything to work inside the LAN, but so far, not outside.  I must add that at this point, I am still trying "out and in" again onto the Internet from the one place, before I go and try from another location.

Aside from getting the kit to work on the LAN, the key points are;

• The connection failure when going out to the internet and back again is a complete failure to establish the SIP connection
• I am using a fixed WAN IP address
• The ports being used are 13000 - 13002, and have been forwarded to the radio 1258's LAN IP address
• I work with networks and port forwards on a daily basis at work, and should be able to do this!

I have yet to try "out and in" with the control 1258, but thats next on the cards.  I suspect it will exhibit the same problem as the RRC PC client.

Like the OP on this thread, there must be something blocking the SIP connection.  Putting the Radio 1258 in the DMZ and/or disabling SIP ALG in the router do not help.

Is it worth heading out to the remote site and trying it from there, or if I cannot go "out and in" again at the same site, if I am wasting my time?

[dj0qn]

I would normally suggest that I send you my networking checklist to help you out.
However, in your case, it appears that you understand networking and probably
don't need my list. Your problem is therefore difficult to understand, except that it
is for sure related to your router.

Since you put the RRC in the DMZ, there can't be a mistake on the port numbers or
protocol, which happens often. If there is a firewall in the router, I suggest that you
completely turn it off (temporarily). What I have seen in the past were some routers that
just plain did not work properly with this setup. Sometimes a firmware update helped,
most often replacing the router was the only solution. This is rare, I suppose that in the
ca. 200 installations I have assisted with network problems, maybe 5 routers needed to
be replaced and maybe 3 were fixed by firmware upgrades.

Sometimes in very rare cases the problem is with the router on the control side, so you
wish to try it out first from another LAN. At least this way you can verify where the
problem lies for sure.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[windymiller]

Hmmm, thats not so good.   

I have tried it remotely today, and it is just the same as from home, even with the RRC in the DMZ back home.  So now its not clear if the problem is with the router at the radio end, or also with the router at the control end.  I have now tried it with both the control RRC as well as the PC Client, and neither are able to connect from WAN to LAN, even though both work OK when within the LAN.

The burning question then is, if you change the router(s), what do you change them to?  The router at home already has the most up to date firmware (sending it off to check results in it reporting "There are no newer updates available".  Randomly changing routers in the hope that the next one might work seems a bit hit or miss.  Is there a list of routers that are known to be good (or bad), that can guide the router buyer in what they should get?

[dj0qn]

So let me summarize the situation as I understand it:

- The RRC's have been tested and are working just fine within the remote location's local network.

- The radio RRC's internal IP address has been placed in the router's DMZ

- You can not connect to the radio RRC from your remote location after changing the "SIP contact"
field in the control RRC to the radio RRC's external IP address (or dynamic DNS address).

- You took the control RRC to another location and it still didn't work.

Assuming the above is correct, then you have a router problem at the radio location. The probability
of having network problems at two different control locations is highly unlikely, assuming these are
private networks (i.e. not within a company firewall).

As to which router to buy....that is not really easy to answer, especially since we have
different routers in Europe than you do. However, my experience helping people out in
the States is that cable/DSL provider supplied routers were usually the cause of the problem
and replacing them with more common routers (e.g. Netgear, Linksys, etc.) solved the
problem.

I hope this helps.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[windymiller]

It seems that the problem is more related to the outgoing traffic rather than the incoming.  At the remote location (my workplace), we have 2 routers in series.  The one closest to the internet is a Draytek Vigor, and the one behind that is a Belkin.  The Draytek provides Guest Internet without them being able to access the company network.  The Belkin acts simply as a firewall (inbound) and NAT device and seperates the guest accessible netwrk from the company network.  On both routers, outgoing services are unrestricted (allow all)

When I tried this morning, I was connected on the Belkin (inside the company).  No connection.  If I reconnect to the Draytek (Guest internet), it works.  The router at home is a Netgear, and it seems to be OK for incoming connections, but not for outgoing.  The Belkin also doesnt seem to be happy with outgoing connections.  The Draytek Vigor however is.  It seems like the outgoing connection is quite "fussy", and I am hoping that I do not run into the same issue if using other outgoing internet connections - For example, in a hotel or via 3G mobile service - I can readily control the conditions of my home internet connection, but not that of out and about connections.

With the radio RRC being in the DMZ back home, I can readily navigate to its web server set up page from both work networks.  So there is no issue with the TCP/IP connection to Port 80.  It just seems to be the SIP connection to port 13000 that is fussy.

So, I have it worked around, for test purposes at least.  The concern is that if I am somewhere that has as fussy an outward connection, then I will not be able to connect again.  I guess all I can do is try and see what happens!