ISP's blocking ports, what to do

[pd0swl]

Hi,

I have been hopping ports the last few days to make my R2500 work.
Every time the connection works, but after a while drops.

I have a suspicion (and I read in forums) that Internet Service Providers are blocking certain ports.
Most of these are related to VOIP devices which they don't allow for "commercial" reasons.
Unfortunately Remoterig is such a device....

I realise this is the fault of those ISP's but is there any way Microbit devices can work around those limitations?
It seems like ISP's are becoming just unwilling to open up ports on request.
For the RRC the SIP port seems  to be the largest problem, as this is giving a "VOIP alarm" to your IPS.

Besides being angry at your internet provider, is there any other trick to consider?
My RRC will work for one(!) session at a given port configuration.
After that I have to reconfigure the whole system and hope for a working port...

Any other port configuration that might remain "undetected" by ISPs?

73
Paul
PD0PSB

[ON4AOI]

try to give it a number above 60000
you never know if they are smart enough .... ..

Guy ON4AOI
 

[pd0swl]

Also tried that Guy.
It initially slips through but after a while also that port is de-activated...

73
Paul
PD0PSB

[ON4AOI]

Then you have a real problem Paul,
maybe check with your isp if they can give an exception

Guy ON4AOI

MXMAS & HNY

[dj4mz]

Hi Paul,

just read your other post and the first thing that came in mind was: maybe the ISP is blocking SIP 

I don't know what routers you are using on both ends, but do they support VPN? When using VPN for the connection between control and remote site your ISP shouldn't be able to "see" what you are doing.

Even though my ISP is not blocking anything (at least as far as I know) I use VPN also because of security reasons.

vy 73 es merry xmas,
Simon, DJ4MZ

[pd0swl]

Hi Simon,

What you say is true.
I tried to forward several ports for just the webbrowser and they all keep working.
As soon as I try SIP over those ports, they close.

Than I thought: let's try some of the templates already available like netmeeting etc.
The ISP seems to allow these.

But still, as soon as SIP is detected, ports arer closed again.
It is maddening... 

73
Paul
PD0PSB

[pd0swl]

Still no luck.

Another strange phenomena:
On the [radio] side the SIP-out, AUDIO-out and CMD-out ports seem to change to random other ports.
So the SIP in/out become different ports;
The IN ports remain the ones I've configured in the RRC, but the OUT ports are randomly adjusted.

I'm no expert but could this have anything to do with the router at my remote radio being a NAT router?

73
Paul
PD0PSB

[ON4AOI]

This is very strange Paul,
because what you put in the RRC and save
should remain in it
this has nothing to do with your router

Guy ON4AOI

[pd0swl]

Correct,

What I save in the advanced settings remains,
But the status window of the [radio] RRC shows diferent ports for SIP in and out.

The [radio] RRC is behind a NAT router but has a static IP to the outside world.

Things going on out of my control....

73
Paul
PD0PSB

[pd0swl]

Guy, here's my status list (radio side with NAT router):
The OUT ports have all been changed somehow...

Name   Value
Radio   OFF
SIP status   Idle
Last SIP error   None
RTP Timeout   0
SIP Timeout   0
Rx Jitter buffer size   4
Rx Jitter delay   3
External IP   xx.xx.xx.xx
SIP Out port           55643
SIP In port                   60511
Audio Out port           55645
Audio In port           11511
Command Out port   55644
Command In port           11510
External SIP In port   60511
External Audio In port   11511
External Cmd In port   11510
Other party   xx.xx.xxx.xx
Input 1   High
Input 2   High
Output 0   Low
Output 1   Low
Output 2   Low
DynDns status   Unknown
Ping status (watchdog)   Off


73
Paul
PD0PSB

[ON4AOI]

what is the brand and number of the router

Guy

[pd0swl]

Hi Guy,

It's a quite new Arcadyan arv7519 NAT router I got from my ISP.

Pse take a look at:
http://www.smartvox.co.uk/sipfaq_natsolutions_explained.htm

I think that explains my problems...

73
Paul
PD0PSB

[dj4mz]

Hi Paul,

I don't really think that the changeing "OUT-Ports" are the root cause of your problem. As far as I know the out or source port of an TCP/IP connection does not have to be "constant". It depends on the client software (in this case the firmware of the RRCs) and can change from connection to connection!

vy 73
Simon, DJ4MZ

[pd0swl]

Tnx Simon,

Still SIP behind NAT seems to have trouble keeping all channels (ports) together.
http://www.smartvox.co.uk/sipfaq_natproblem_explained.htm

It seems that causes my problem with Remoterig behind NAT.. 

73
Paul
PD0PSB

[Jan (Microbit)]

It's a normal behaviour you see when the OUT ports are different. That is the way it works. The important thing is that the IN ports in the radio end always are the same, in order for the client side to be able to connect to the radio end.

To me it sounds like the ISP is doing "content sniffing", and when detecting SIP data they simply block that port from further communication. That is rather nasty I would say...

Seems one would either use a proprietary protocol instead of SIP or encrypt the data, with both of them being a bit tricky to implement.