Do you really have to forward ports in your router for the OBi100 to work?

[abcd]

I've always just plugged it in and used it and it worked right away. Now I'm having problems with it and I just recently read in the FAQ that you need to forward ports in your router. Is that true? If so, why did it work before with no problems?

[Rick]

I've always just plugged it in and used it and it worked right away. Now I'm having problems with it and I just recently read in the FAQ that you need to forward ports in your router. Is that true? If so, why did it work before with no problems?

Can you provide a link to where you read that you need to forward ports on your router?  I'd like to read that.

I've been using the OBi 110 for 15 months and I have no ports forwarded.

[QBZappy]

I think the need for port forwarding is on a case by case basis. Generally speaking no port forwarding is ever need inside the lan. On the wan side it may or may not depending on your specifics.

[abcd]

I think the need for port forwarding is on a case by case basis. Generally speaking no port forwarding is ever need inside the lan. On the wan side it may or may not depending on your specifics.

Thanks so much.

Could you please tell me what you mean when you say "on the wan side"?? How do you forward ports on the wan side??

I've always just plugged it in and used it and it worked right away. Now I'm having problems with it and I just recently read in the FAQ that you need to forward ports in your router. Is that true? If so, why did it work before with no problems?

Can you provide a link to where you read that you need to forward ports on your router?  I'd like to read that.

I've been using the OBi 110 for 15 months and I have no ports forwarded.

http://www.obihai.com/FAQ.html#ports-to-keep-open-on-my-router

[QBZappy]

Could you please tell me what you mean when you say "on the wan side"?? How do you forward ports on the wan side??

I'll give you an example:
GV service can reach your OBI because it can find your public ip address (outside) and then your modem/router can redirect it to the OBi (inside). The connection allowing you to consume services which are in the "cloud" such as GV are connections using the wan ports of your modem/router.

Printing a document to a network printer attached the modem/router in your home is traveling on the lan side (inside).

This is a simple explanation.

Port forwarding information can be found here:
http://portforward.com/

[abcd]

What does this mean for me? What do I need to do?

[Shale]

What does this mean for me? What do I need to do?

1. You do not need to worry about port forwarding etc. I didn't either, because it just worked. Sometimes it doesn't work, and that is often (but not always) because the user already made some non-default settings to his router.

2. LAN stands for Local Area Network (the side of the router that your OBi and computer hook to). WAN stands for Wide Area Network -- the Internet.

3. Separating the "What do I need to do?" from the context, let me say you should be proactive in preventing SIP scanners, even though you have not yet had a problem. I suggest you see http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=5467.0
Please comment on any unusually confusing parts. Unfortunately the solution will need some use of the OBiTalk expert mode until these get done by default during setup. I don't want to scare you. Nothing bad is going to happen if you ignore this besides some bogus rings with bogus caller ID values.

[Mango]

http://www.obihai.com/FAQ.html#ports-to-keep-open-on-my-router

That doesn't say you need to forward ports.  That says you need to allow outgoing traffic on certain ports and allow incoming traffic on UDP 1000.  Almost all consumer routers will already be configured this way.

As for forwarding ports, it depends on your router.  If you use a VoIP service provider like OBiTALK, Anveo, VoIP.ms, Callcentric, etc, most routers will correctly route inbound traffic from those services to your ATA.  However there is the occasional router that is not VoIP-friendly, so port forwarding is required.  If you didn't require port forwarding before, and you haven't changed your router, your problem is probably caused by something other than port forwarding.

What symptoms are you having?

[Rick]

I just recently read in the FAQ that you need to forward ports in your router. Is that true? If so, why did it work before with no problems?

Can you provide a link to where you read that you need to forward ports on your router?  I'd like to read that.

I've been using the OBi 110 for 15 months and I have no ports forwarded.

http://www.obihai.com/FAQ.html#ports-to-keep-open-on-my-router

As someone else pointed out, that does not say you NEED To forward ports.  People misread things and make statements that then get others trying to fix what isn't broken. 

The reality is that if you're using a factory configured router without any changes, you likely have to change nothing.  Changes need to be made if, and only if, you're not having success using the device.

[abcd]

http://www.obihai.com/FAQ.html#ports-to-keep-open-on-my-router

That doesn't say you need to forward ports.  That says you need to allow outgoing traffic on certain ports and allow incoming traffic on UDP 1000.  Almost all consumer routers will already be configured this way.

As for forwarding ports, it depends on your router.  If you use a VoIP service provider like OBiTALK, Anveo, VoIP.ms, Callcentric, etc, most routers will correctly route inbound traffic from those services to your ATA.  However there is the occasional router that is not VoIP-friendly, so port forwarding is required.  If you didn't require port forwarding before, and you haven't changed your router, your problem is probably caused by something other than port forwarding.

What symptoms are you having?

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=5506.0

[Mango]

Your problem is probably not related to port forwarding.  If you were having a NAT issue that could be solved by port forwarding, the most common symptoms would be your phone not ringing, phone ringing but no audio, or audio in one direction only.  It wouldn't cause already-established audio to be choppy.

I'm sorry I don't know what is causing your problem though

[Rick]

Go to www.obihai.com and click on the Support tab and fill out a ticket.  You bought an OBi device, get them to help you.   

[sailing]

Whether or not you need port forwarding is dependent on how your router's firewall is set. I have a dsl modem/router so I will talk about this. Other routers will have similar settings but I cannot generalize about the exact settings. Most router's firewall is set to minimum. This means the firewall will block all incoming attempts to access your network. The next level on the firewall will block all outgoing attempts unless the ports can be opened. This is where port forwarding comes in.

So if the firewall on the minimum setting blocks all incoming attempts, how does something like a voip adapter get through? The voip adapter initiates access to the server from your network. Once this happens, there is a port open for the voip server to access the adapter.

If the firewall is set to a higher level, then you must tell the firewall which port to open for a given device. I doubt your firewall is set above minimum so you shouldn't need port forwarding. If your email software works, then I would say the firewall is definitely at minimum.