Telo behind firewall

[Exxeter]

I had previously posted about an issue where incoming calls to my primary number wouldn't ring the phone attached to the Telo, but only my cell on multi-Ring. ( http://www.ooma.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15747 )

I had thought customer service had dealt with that issue until this morning, when it happened again (only twice). It occurred to me that my router has a stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewall and was wondering whether that might have anything to do with the problem. I have some specific questions.

1. What ports does the Telo require to function?

2. While my router shows every device connected to it, it does not show the Telo. I am assuming the Telo doesn't have a DHCP client, though it has a DHCP server for use when it is between the modem and router (rather than behind the router), but the MAC address of the Telo seems to be printed in a non-standard manner on the Telo and its IP address is unreachable when behind the router. So how do I ensure that everything the Telo requires, passes through the firewall to it?

I realize these are not typical questions for a forum such as this, but I figured I'd ask.

If there is no alternative, I'll go back to putting the Telo between the modem and router, where the problem didn't occur, but I'll be far from overjoyed. First, putting the non-gigbit capable Telo between a gigabit capable modem and a gigabit capable router, places limits on the network. second, putting the router behind the Telo, requires two DHCP server to accomplish a task that could have been accomplished by one. Not terribly efficient.

Sorry if I seem a bit grumpy.

[murphy]

The Telo has a DHCP client.
The MAC address for the "To Internet" port is one higher than the one on the label.
The MAC address on the label is for the Home port.

[lbmofo]

Exxeter, upgrade your router firmware to latest and see if that helps. If not, I would put Ooma ahead of router if you don't want to deviate from default router firewall settings.

[Exxeter]

murphy,

1. The actual MAC addresses are found on the Telo's setup page. I haven't a clue what is printed on the label on the bottom of the unit is.

2. If it has a DHCP client, it never makes a request of the router's DHCP server and is never assigned an IP by the server. I verified this in the router's logs.

lbmofo,

I gave up and put the Telo between the modem and router. I couldn't justify spending further time on it. It isn't the ideal configuration for a network, but as long as nothing falls apart, I'll have to live with it.

BTW, I couldn't find any documentation on the proces of upgrading the Telo's firmware. where might I find it.

[EX Bell]

murphy,

1. The actual MAC addresses are found on the Telo's setup page. I haven't a clue what is printed on the label on the bottom of the unit is.

2. If it has a DHCP client, it never makes a request of the router's DHCP server and is never assigned an IP by the server. I verified this in the router's logs.

lbmofo,

I gave up and put the Telo between the modem and router. I couldn't justify spending further time on it. It isn't the ideal configuration for a network, but as long as nothing falls apart, I'll have to live with it.

BTW, I couldn't find any documentation on the proces of upgrading the Telo's firmware. where might I find it.

You can't upgrade the Telo firmware, only Ooma can do that and it happens automatically when they push it out to everyone's Telo. Ibmofo is suggesting you upgrade your router firmware.

I use SPI firewall with Linksys routers and Telo and it's never caused an issue. What make and model router are you using? Not getting an IP address from the router I have seen happen when the Telo MAC Address is set to "Automatic". When I have set it to "Use Built-In", it has resolved the issue.

Sounds like you're OK now with the Telo in front of the router and if you're not wanting to mess with it any further, there's nothing wrong with having it setup that way. Just make sure you set your QoS upload setting in the Telo, which you may not have configured in the Telo previously when you had it after the router.

[Exxeter]

My router already has the most recent firmware. The router mfg. and model is shown in my sig. While it works normally between the modem and router, my preference is to have it behind the router, for a number of reasons.

However, what you mentioned as to possible reasons it didn't request an IP from the router's DHCP server, has given me something to look at. Also, I believe if change network detection from automatic to dynamic, it should force the request for an IP address. I'm even wondering if that is the cause of the problem I experienced. Maybe, if I have a few minutes, tomorrow, I will find out.

[EX Bell]

The router mfg. and model is shown in my sig.

Oops, didn't notice that before. No QoS from what I see in the manual unless they added it in a later firmware revision. If you are able to get the Telo working the way you want it to after the router, but later experience call quality issues, put the Telo back in front of the router again so you can instead rely on its built-in QoS functionality to keep call quality stable.

If switching the Telo MAC Address to "Use Built-In" alone doesn't do it, you can also try reserving an IP in your router by entering the Telo Internet Port MAC address. Setup is in DHCP → Address Reservation. This together with the Telo MAC Address set to use Built-In, should do the trick. I would actually always suggest you do this whenever the option is available.

Regardless of whether or not you reserve an IP for the Telo in your router, you will likely resolve the issue by setting the Telo MAC address to "Use Built-In".

Just a friendly reminder, not Telo related. If you don't need UPnP for other devices on your network, disable it in your router for security. Here's a quick test to see if you're exposed

[Exxeter]

Well, I set it to use its own MAC and the network as DHCP. The router detects it. I can ping it. What I can't do is access the setup page. Haven't wrapped my brain around that, yet. The Telo seems to be working fine, behind the router in this configuration and receives calls on both lines.

BTW, I've been using grc.com's tests for years. They're quite handy.

[EX Bell]

Well, I set it to use its own MAC and the network as DHCP. The router detects it. I can ping it. What I can't do is access the setup page. Haven't wrapped my brain around that, yet. The Telo seems to be working fine, behind the router in this configuration and receives calls on both lines.

BTW, I've been using grc.com's tests for years. They're quite handy.

Steve's a brilliant guy.

See this topic to access setup from the Internet side of the Telo

If you want to access your Telo this way, and you have not already done so, you should use the DHCP address reservation in the router to assign an IP to the Telo's MAC address. That way you will always know at what IP to find it without having to check what IP is currently assigned to it. I think http://setup.ooma.com/ doesn't work when you access from the Telo Internet port, but I'm not certain. I don't use that feature.

[Exxeter]

I'm still looking for a way to access it from the LAN side. I've bound its current IP to its MAC at the router, so I won't have to worry about its IP changing. It's getting late and I think my brain is shutting down, so I'll find some time, tomorrow. Even if I don't figure that out, if the Telo functions as I want it to, while behind the router, I'll be happy.