The ideal network involves your Internet Service Provider (ISP) connecting onsite to a stand-alone modem that connects to a router, preferably a router recommended to you from Nextiva. If you have more devices on your network than ports on your router, you can connect a switch to your router to expand the number of ports.
There are five main areas that you should be concerned with regarding your network. They are:
SIP ALG: Nextiva uses port 5062 to bypass SIP ALG, however, having this disabled is always recommended. SIP ALG inspects and modifies SIP traffic in unexpected ways causing one-way audio, deregistrations, random error messages when dialing and calls going to voicemail for no reason.
DNS Server Configuration: If the DNS server being used is not up to date and consistent, devices (Poly phones in particular) can become deregistered. Nextiva always recommends using the Google DNS servers of 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
Firewall Access Rules: The simplest way to ensure that traffic is not being blocked is to allow all traffic to and from 208.73.144.0/21 and 208.89.108.0/22. This range covers the IP addresses from 208.73.144.0 – 208.73.151.255, and 208.89.108.0 – 208.89.111.255.
Actiontec MI424 Series Routers may be unable to be bridged either by Actiontec, the ISP, or firmware. The ideal setup is to place the M1424 into “Bridge Mode” and connect to one of our recommended routers. Additionally, there have been a number of security concerns discovered for these routers. Included below are instructions to configure the router for Nextiva’s network. While this router is not recommended by Nextiva, the settings below may improve call quality and prevent dropped calls and one-way audio.
Prerequisites:
Ensure the M1424 has firmware version 40.21.18 or higher. If your router is not on this firmware, we recommend contacting your ISP for assistance in upgrading.
Click the Links Below to Jump to the Corresponding Section:
To Disable SIP ALG:
- Log in to the router by navigating to the Default Gateway IP address.
- Enter the default login credentials provided by your ISP. The credentials are usually located on a sticker on the router. The manufacturer’s default username is admin, and the default password is password.
- Select Advanced, click Yes to accept the warning, then click ALG’s.
- Ensure SIP ALG is disabled by removing the check.
- Click Apply.
- Select Advanced, click Yes to accept the warning, then click Remote Administration.
- Click the checkbox to Allow Incoming WAN ICMP Echo Requests (for traceroute and ping), then click Apply.
NOTE: Later versions of the firmware may not have this enabled by default.
To Configure DNS Servers (Primarily for Poly Devices to Prevent Deregistrations):
- Select My Network, then select Network Connections.
- Select Network (Home/Office).
- Select Settings.
- Enter the following required information:
- Primary DNS Server: 8.8.8.8
- Secondary DNS Server: 8.8.4.4
- Click Apply.