(OT) Need Some Expert Network Advice

Fri Jan 28 12:54:16 MST 2011

I recently went from a WRT54G to a wireless 802.11n access point plugged
into an SME Server... what a difference between 802.11g and 802.11n!
I picked up several of these so I could hook up the DVR and a few other
things I didn't feel like running wires for:
http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-WNCE2001-Universal-Internet-Adapter/dp/B003KPBRRW
<http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-WNCE2001-Universal-Internet-Adapter/dp/B003KPBRRW>The
reason I went with an access point over a router was so that I don't have
double nat-ting issues.

JD

On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 12:46, Mark Phillips <mark at phillipsmarketing.biz>wrote:

> Thanks to everyone for their help on this problem. After replacing my
> phone, learning some of wireshark's features (way cool stuff), I have been
> able to get wifi calling working from my office network. I have to change
> some settings in both my wireless access point and my router.....I need some
> feedback if these changes are opening my network up for problems.
>
> To recap, my network has a Motorola cable modem connected to a Linksys
> BEFSX-41 router, and then I have a Linksys WRT54G Wireless router configured
> as a WiFi access point. Lots of switches to connect the LAN to various
> computers.
>
> 1. On the WRT54G access point, I had to disable MAC filtering. I had it
> setup as only permitting certain devices based on MAC address. When enabled,
> I can't connect to the T-Mobile network for WiFi calls.
>
> 2. On the BEFSX-41 router I had to disable the 'firewall protection, which
> means I have disabled SPI. If this is enabled, then my phone can't connect
> to T-Mobile for WiFi calls. I still have these setting enabled:
> Block Anonymous Internet Requests
> Filter Multicast
> Filter IDENT (Port 113)
>
> I don't think #1 is a big issue, but #2 scares me. If either one is a major
> security problem, can you suggest any way I can isolate the phone in someway
> to shore up the security for the rest of the network.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Mark
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 8:13 PM, Joseph Sinclair <
> plug-discussion at stcaz.net> wrote:
>
>> Something like Wireshark (or other similar tool) on the local network
>> might help you diagnose the root of the problem you have with T-Mobile WiFi
>> calling at home.
>> You'll be "drinking from the firehose" when you monitor the detail traffic
>> for your network, but if you can filter down to just the packets to/from
>> your phone you may be able to see what kind of network issues it's having
>> and figure out how to make it work more reliably.
>>
>> Mark Phillips wrote:
>> > The Gizmo5 service is gone...Google acquired them in Thursday, November
>> 12,
>> > 2009. It is being rolled into google voice; not yet released.
>> >
>> > I am trying to understand how google voice can help me make calls over
>> WiFi.
>> > I don't really want another phone number. Is that the only way to
>> connect my
>> > phone for WiFi calling? Is there no way to diagnose why my network setup
>> > won't allow WiFi calling from my phone?
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > Mark
>> >
>> > On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 9:44 AM, Lisa Kachold <lisakachold at obnosis.com
>> >wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi Mark and Jordan,
>> >>
>> >> On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 9:33 AM, Jordan Aberle <
>> jordan.aberle at gmail.com>wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> Have you tried this?
>> >>>
>> >>> http://tinyurl.com/luwroy
>> >>>
>> >> This is HOT!
>> >>
>> >> Excerpt:
>> >>
>> >> The one big thing Google Voice doesn't offer, besides automated
>> >> telemarketer taunting, is free voice-over-internet phone calling
>> through
>> >> your cellphone. On an Android phone, however, you can use the Gizmo5
>> >> service <http://gizmo5.com/>, Google Voice, and a free application to
>> call
>> >> anyone for free.
>> >>
>> >> A free, open-source, and unofficial Android app, Guava<
>> http://gizmo5.com/guava.html?loc=guava>,
>> >> gives any Android phone the ability to make and take calls over
>> Gizmo5's
>> >> VoIP service, connected through a Google Voice phone number. It works
>> over
>> >> Wi-Fi, 3G, or, for the daring, EDGE. You probably won't want to use
>> Guava as
>> >> your primary phone call manager, as the call quality varies with your
>> >> connection and really works best over Wi-Fi. That said, if you're
>> running up
>> >> against your minute allotment, or find yourself in a basement-like spot
>> with
>> >> decent Wi-Fi but really bad cell coverage, Guava is a great little tool
>> to
>> >> have at your disposal.
>> >>
>> >> It's also worth noting that, depending on who your carrier is, making a
>> >> VoIP call over an EDGE or 3G network may violate your contract's terms
>> of
>> >> service. A little "hard" data use now and then likely won't be noticed,
>> but
>> >> if you plan on using Guava heavily with your cellular data plan, you
>> should
>> >> check and read into what's tolerated and what's not before embarking on
>> your
>> >> bold data-only adventure.
>> >> Mark, will you let us know how it goes?
>> >>
>> >>> On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 9:01 AM, Mark Phillips
>> >>> <mark at phillipsmarketing.biz> wrote:
>> >>>> This is not totally off topic.....Android is based on Linux....;-)
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I need some advice from an expert in networks to give me some advice
>> on
>> >>>> getting my phone to make WiFi calls....
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Anyway, I have a T-Mobile MyTouch 4g phone. It is supposed to be able
>> to
>> >>>> make calls over WiFi, which do not use an plan minutes...ie "free"
>> >>> calls. I
>> >>>> depend on this phone for my business, and I have a wireless network
>> at
>> >>> the
>> >>>> office, so I don't have to pay for gillions of minutes. This worked
>> >>> great
>> >>>> when I had my Blackberrys - I could talk all day in the office and
>> not
>> >>> use
>> >>>> any minutes. All of this is above board with T-Mobile - I actually
>> pay a
>> >>> low
>> >>>> monthly fee for unlimited WiFi calling.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Anyway, much to my chagrin, I discovered yesterday that I had gone
>> way
>> >>> over
>> >>>> my plan minutes. I checked with T-Mobile, and none of my calls had
>> gone
>> >>> over
>> >>>> WiFi. The agent refunded all the charges for the over-plan minutes
>> and
>> >>> gave
>> >>>> me extra minutes to get through the rest of the month. She sent me to
>> >>>> technical support, and we could not get my phone to make calls over
>> my
>> >>> WiFi
>> >>>> network. Even though the phone says I am connected to WiFi. So, I
>> went
>> >>> to
>> >>>> the T-Mobile corporate store in Fashion Square, and the manager (she
>> has
>> >>> the
>> >>>> same phone) and I tried to connect to the mall WiFi, and we could
>> >>> connect to
>> >>>> the mall WiFi, but could not make WiFi calls. Same error - could not
>> >>> connect
>> >>>> to T-Mobile network.  I then tried to make a WiFi call at Starbucks,
>> and
>> >>> it
>> >>>> worked! It also worked at Barnes and Noble after I agreed to the free
>> >>>> Internet terms and services (didn't work before then).
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I googled for issues with WiFi calls with this phone, and found a lot
>> of
>> >>>> them. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The error message
>> >>> that
>> >>>> pops up says the phone cannot connect to the T-Mobile network.
>> T-Mobile
>> >>> is
>> >>>> aware of the issue, but does not have a fix or ETA for one.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> One posting had this to say about the WiFi calling.....
>> >>>>
>> >>>> The WiFi Calling app is Kineto's WiFi Calling app branded for
>> T-Mobile.
>> >>>  The
>> >>>> WiFi Calling app is an implementation of 3GPP GAN, which allows
>> >>> something on
>> >>>> the Internet to get into a cellular network and do stuff (in this
>> case,
>> >>> make
>> >>>> and receive calls).If you care to pull up the most recent version of
>> the
>> >>>> spec, linked above, you'll find that "registering" (ie, logging into
>> >>> home
>> >>>> base) involves these steps (get a glass of warm milk and see 8.4.1.6)
>> >>> ...
>> >>>> 1) Performing a DNS query to get the address of thing it's trying to
>> >>> connect
>> >>>> to (if necessary)
>> >>>>
>> >>>> 2) Setting up an IPSec tunnel to thing resolved in step 1 (called a
>> >>> SEGW)
>> >>>>  3) Resolving and connecting to (using TCP over the tunnel setup in
>> step
>> >>> 2)
>> >>>> yet another thing called a GANC
>> >>>>
>> >>>> 4) Sending the GANC a "register request", which includes your phone's
>> >>> IMSI,
>> >>>> information about the cell you're currently connected to, or last
>> >>> connected
>> >>>> to if no longer connected, and other stuff
>> >> This is a capacity and QoS issue on the other side.  Get another app.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>>> 5) Getting back a response that the GANC is happy with you and all is
>> >>> well
>> >>>> I started to think that perhaps I have a router issue on my network.
>> I
>> >>> have
>> >>>> a Linksys WRT54G wireless access point going through a BEFSX-41
>> Linksys
>> >>>> router to my cable modem. I checked the routers, and IPsec is enabled
>> >>> for
>> >>>> both. The WRT54G uses MAC filter to allow only certain devices to
>> >>> connect,
>> >>>> and WPA Personal, AES algorithm, and a shared key of 64 characters in
>> >>> it.
>> >>>> The WRT54G says I am connected to the phone when I enable WiFi on the
>> >>> phone.
>> >>>> This is a long way to get to my question...thanks for staying with
>> me.
>> >>> is
>> >>>> there a way to look at what the phone is doing when I try to enable
>> WiFi
>> >>>> calling to see where it fails? A wireless sniffer?? Does any of the
>> >>> above
>> >>>> give you network gurus an idea of what may be wrong and if it could
>> be
>> >>> in
>> >>>> issue with my router?
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Thanks for any help you can provide....I would hate to go back to a
>> >>>> Blackberry as I really like Android now!
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Mark
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >>
>> >> (503) 754-4452
>> >> (623) 688-3392
>> >>
>> >>  http://www.obnosis.com
>> >>
>> >>
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