Port forwarding 5060 and SIP ALG

[Mike_W]

Hi,

I work in IT, specifically Telecoms and networking, and WFH a few days a week. As part of my job, I need to use 3rd party SIP telephones, and register them to different customers' Cloud Based Telephone Servers to test functionality.

I was a Sky broadband customer until recently, when I left and joined Vodafone - I chose the Vodafone Pro 3 Fibre router (it uses WiFi 7, and includes a WiFi booster), however it didn't allow me to enter any Port Forwarding, or Port Triggering rules for 5060 UDP (error message stated it was reserved), and there was no option at all to disable SIP ALG, so long story short, I've managed to convince them that the early termination fee should be waived and I can now cancel my contract.

My previous Sky broadband package was 500mb Full fibre, using the standard, black hub, and I was able to both port forward 5060 and disable SIP ALG without any issues.

I'm now looking at rejoining Sky, however, the Vodafone WiFi signal is far superior throughout my house with the current setup, and the patchy WiFi was one of the main reasons for leaving Sky in the first place, so I was looking at adding the WiFi Max to the package.

I've read some forum posts on here stating that the WiFi Max (white) hub is locked down and doesn't allow these changes to be made, however some posts suggest that a software patch was underway to rectify this - or that a VPN form can be filled in to remove MAP-T.

Basically, my question is, for anyone who has the WiFi Max hub, are these options now available? And if so, did you need to do anything to get Sky to allow this, or was it just included in one of the recent software updates?

And Secondly, is WiFi Max actually worth it? Does it really make much difference to WiFi speeds and coverage?

Many thanks in advance 🙂

[JimM1]

@Mike_W Sign up and specifically say you want the SR203 hub, you are NOT interested in getting Max as you will not be able to adjust and do as you need!

[Chrisee · Accepted solution]

@Mike_W there are several issues with the Sky Max hub which is heavily locked down but given it is designed for domestic use these affect  few customers. Most VOIP systems do work and Sky can make adjustments for customers who hit issues but you are correct the SIP ALG is not user switchable. Ports can be forwarded using the My Sky app but can be problematic. One area that has alsocaused issues is Sky's default usage of MAP-T to share IP4 addresses between 8 customers. This can be switched off - most easily done by enabling UPnP 

Frankly a user like yourself would be far better advised to buy and use your own equipment Asus gear being a popular choice and avoid the issues you are likely to hit with any ISP supplied wifi router.

[GD1]

@Mike_W   I would agree with @Chrisee  regarding purchasing a 3rd party router as these would offer much more flexibility for your situation.

I don't use ISP provided hubs as would rather use draytek gear (personal choice) with seperate AP, the beauty of that is no matter who you switch to you never need to change the wifi SSID/passwords when switching providers.

[Mike_W]

Thank you, that info is much appreciated.

I was leaning towards that route, but wasn't sure how accomodating Sky were with the use of 3rd party routers.

Is there a specific way to go about this? Should I place an order for the broadband and then reach out to Sky to supply me with the connection credentials?

I've also seen somewhere in the forum that any 3rd party routers would need to support a specific DHCP option 61? As far as you're aware, is this the case? 

Thanks in advance.

[Mike_W]

@Chrisee 

Thank you, that info is much appreciated.

I was leaning towards that route, but wasn't sure how accomodating Sky were with the use of 3rd party routers.

Is there a specific way to go about this? Should I place an order for the broadband and then reach out to Sky to supply me with the connection credentials?

I've also seen somewhere in the forum that any 3rd party routers would need to support a specific DHCP option 61? As far as you're aware, is this the case? 

Thanks in advance.

[JimM1]

@Mike_W Connection all depends on the Home/Exchange fibre, my Asus connected router is NOT using the MER connection as have connected via the DhcpV6PD side and NO requirement needed for it credentials wise.

Router does have it in it, but some don't so it's aleged that the split is 80% dont require and if you wish to play 100% safe then your router is better to have both that way you can flip the settings if you need!

Mer option 60/61 if you need it username as anything@skydsl|anything

[Osmond]

You can do port forwarding through the My Sky app, but it’s quite limited in flexibility. For more control, using a third-party router is usually a better option. While you can access the Hub 6 admin interface, most features are restricted, and they typically direct you to use the app instead.

I chose a different approach by installing OPNSense as a VM on my Proxmox hypervisor, which serves as my firewall and router. It has a bit of a learning curve but offers enterprise-grade functionality. All you need is a spare bare metal machine.

[Mike_W]

@Osmond , thanks for your reply.

I don't have a spare machine, and to be honest, whilst my role is Hybrid re. WFH, I'd rather not go down that path.

I think I'll probably go for the regular Sky Router, which should still allow me to configure Port forwarding for 5060 and Diable SIP ALG, and I'll continue to monitor, as to whether a 3rd party router is the best bet for me at this stage.

@Chrisee , @JimM1 , please could you let me know what would be required for me to use my own 3rd party router?

The connection FTTP, so I'm assuming a router would just require a WAN Ethernet port, and would I just speak to Sky tech support to request the connection credentials to input into my router?

Funnily enough, we deal with this kind of this fairly often for work, however it always involves Businesses and sector-specific/enterprise ISPs - I'm quite unsure about how to go about it with domestic ISPs!

Thanks in advance.

[JimM1]

@Mike_W See post 7!

[Chrisee]

@Mike_W Sky do not identify users by a specific log in as the line id fulfills that role. I would try the DHCPv4 Option61 with the string @JimM1 posted above as all UK lines will work with that. Roughly 80% of lines also support DHCPv6 PD but 20% dont due to the manufacturer of the exchange kit. As I said Sky choose not support 3rd party routers but that doesn't mean they can't be used but if you hit a line issue you need the Sky hub online for Sky's diagnostics to work. 

[Osmond]

> I think I'll probably go for the regular Sky Router, which should still allow me to configure Port forwarding for 5060 and Diable SIP ALG, and I'll continue to monitor, as to whether a 3rd party router is the best bet for me at this stage.

I've definately seen the option to port forward in the My Sky app but have never fiddled with it, let us know how you get on

[TimmyBGood]

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@JimM1 wrote:

@Mike_W Sign up and specifically say you want the SR203 hub, you are NOT interested in getting Max as you will not be able to adjust and do as you need!

---

The Max Hub is standard hardware for all new subscribers whether or not they've opted to add the WiFi Max subscription supplement.

[JimM1]

@TimmyBGood Did see it for the FF500 and the FF900 with the lower just recently, when i returned March this year on the FF500 was asked if i wanted the sky Max, but point blank refused and got the SR203 sent, although was not a new one could tell just looking at it, recycled no doubt but was working fine the 10 weeks i kept it up to make sure everything was good! So is it for all now no matter what they get! Although with sky 20 years the 1 year EE did put me back to fresh start!

[Mr+Slant]

@Mike_W 

MikroTik routers are probably your best long-term bet for sanity IMHO.

Bit of a vertical learning curve in the past (better now) but as they're all ethernet routers then you can stick them behind the Sky router intially and have a play about without worrying too much if you break/expose something. Never really used their wireless side of things but RouterOS is pretty solid and has monthly updates.

Of course if its a proper router then all the ports are routable, not just a "WAN" port. Means you can subnet/VLAN ports on IPv4/v6 so its a lot more capable.

I have an ancient CCR1009 router which is still supported and I currently use on this Sky FTTP line, more out of lethargy than anything else 😄

When someone offers me 5/10Gbps or it breaks I'll switch it to this (which I already have and also configured ages ago*) :

https://mikrotik.com/product/rb5009upr_s_in PoE In/Out

https://mikrotik.com/product/rb5009ug_s_in 

*never got the chance to test properly in terms of failover to 5G due to wife aggro (her business)