Hi everyone.

Attached is what I am assuming it will take to solve my problem.



Problem:
ISP B in another country is blocking VOIP traffic now. I assume if I can setup a site-to-site VPN connection, VOIP (Vonage/SIP) should work again through the VPN using ISP A.

Setup:
Site-to-site VPN setup. Location A will be the VPN server. Location B will be the remote location. VPN Router 2 will connect to VPN Router 1 and stay connected 24/7. The Vonage service and both laptops will operate through the VPN and essentially use ISP A as its outside world connection.

Questions:
1. Are my above comments correct as far as VPN being a solution to enabling VOIP again?
2. Trying to keep costs down and simple, what VPN routers would be suggested? Site B already has a wireless router...so VPN Router B can be wired keeping costs down. I am looking at the Linksys BEFVP41 . Tech support said it should handle SIP traffic.
3. Do any other architectures provide a better solution? At the moment, location B needs to keep that Vonage service, so other VOIP suggestions are not needed.

Thanks in advance.

tooooo much latency in this setup for quality voip. are you sure the isp is blocking? Put a sniffer on there and see what you get.

i was worried about latency, but i think having the calling option still outweights the cost.

vonage was working until about a month ago.

yes, i am sure they are actively blocking it now.

if both locations are running at least 350k up each, do you think it will work (even with some slight but bearable delay or echo) ?

I would still put a sniffer on there and see what traffic you are seeing. It's very uncommon for service provider to block VoIP. But to answer your question, yes it would probably work. I've never set it up like this before.

i have never used a sniffer, and wouldnt know what to look for. i am googling right now.

without getting into detail, i know the isp is blocking it. (only isp in country and also protecting local telecom industry.)

if that were the case, would you suggest a different tech or architecture?

i do appreciate the responses.

get ethereal... www.ethereal.com... install it... and run it. Filter in on your IP address or the IP address of the VONAGE server. Watch for traffic. If your traffic is leaving your network and the Vonage server is not responding, than it's either block or the server is not at that address anymore or you didn't pay your bill and they de-provisioned you.

you got pm.

thx

You are going to need some good high power VPN routers to handle your setup. Make sure your VPN has a seperate cpu for handling the 3DES.

would this work?

Linksys WRV54G

any other suggestions if not? would like to stay under 200 per router.

Linksys does not publish the cpu(s) or ram used in this unit. Which generally means it is minimun.

Take a look at Netgear FVS538 it is design with the serious VPN throughput. Comes with 5 VPN client software. You will notice that it has a 533mhz Intel X-scale cpu with lots of ram. I have it little brother FVS338. They have a chart on the website some where that compairs all of there models. I could not find it.

Netgear has a Wireless unit but the specs are not very good. on 9 mbps(?) on wan. They do have a new one being release that is pretty nice gigabit lan w/wireless.

VPN requires alot of hp to handle the encryption. The 538 can handle 256bit.

whoa! this is getting into serious hardware.

it is just one vonage line, which needs 90k. the laptops are not very high use....home users.

i am assuming the horsepower is needed for the speed in encoding and decoding. i think minimum encryption would work just to get around the isp block....dont you think?

I have the FVS 338 which can be had for around $200. My under standing the FVS 318 will ony do around 9k with 3des on vpn, so I would avoid it. If you are going to be doing file transfers between sites, I would not go any lower than the FVS328. The 328 only has 60 mbps on the wan. The 338 has 92 like the 538, but only has 1 wan and no gig port.

One thing that comes into play, which alot of people over look is the uplink speed. If you have low uplinks speed, it will be you govering factor. I alwas allow for expansion.

i appreciate the help you are giving on this.

i still feel it may be a lot more then we need, or have knowledge for.

a few statements that may help clear up the situation and make it simpler.

1. family working abroad for 1 year and was using vonage to stay in touch with the states/canada.
2. isp has actively started blocking voip (i am assuming by port or protocol.
3. the VPN is simply a way to get vonage to work again. my assumption is VPN would allow this.
4. a cable connection is being installed here in canada (5mbps down, about 620k up). this will strictly be used for family abroad, and be their "gateway".
5. Their connection is dsl with 1.5mps down, and about 350k up.
6. data security is not critical. i am assuming 3des is the best encryption and most power hungry. couldnt we get by with the basic, IKE I assume, and reduce the load on the routers?
7. there will be no additional network requirements abroad, so expansion is not an issue.

thanks

I do not know if voniage will work through vpn, have not tried or heard of any one else doing so. I have heard a lot of people that bought the low end VPN were not satisfied with the performance. It had dialup speeds, real slow. The reason for the units with some horse power.

Your uplink are about average for dsl/broadband, see no problem there.

In theory, once a VPN is setup, its like you are at the remote location. If ports are opened it should work.

Steve Gibson at grc.com has some audios on vpn. He always talks about doing port forwarding to clear up some issues with VOIP.

Most low in routers do port forwarding only. These will give you connection speeds of around 9k, this is like dialup, which may not be fast enough for your VOIP.

I'm not sure what else I can advise you on. Someone else may beable to answer your questions. Or hire a consultant and see what they says.

VPN is nat easy to setup, even with Client software.

thanks blue. will defintely check out grc.