Obviously you have had a number of technical answers to your post on how your block of static IPs will work.

However, I believe the whole reason you have a block of IPs could have been fundamentally flawed in the first place. Your VoIP calls are unlikely to change at all by going over to the static IPs except if there are specific ports that need to be forwarded and by using a static you completely bypass the firewall (and therefore all protection) of the router. This is generally not a great idea unless you were putting in a dedicated firewall to provide that protection.

It is likely that if the VoIP problem is being caused by the firewall that it is more due to the fact that the VoIP may need ports forwarded to it to allow unfettered communication.

What VoIP are you using and have you looked at the port forwarding requirements of the product?

To reiterate - placing most devices directly on the Internet without a firewall is generally a bad idea.

In reply to a post by jdowning640:

Ok guys so I'm not too techy with static IPs however this is what is happening and my questions.

I was told that by using static IPs, things get sent straight over the internet without going through any firewalls etc. I'm with Aquiss and today I purchased 8 static IP addresses (5 usable).

I use a Netgear modem and the reason I got the static IPs was due to there being a delay in some VoIP calls so wanted to get a direct connection to the internet.

So I had to change my subnet mask to 255.255.255.248 which then only allows me to allow 5 users for DHCP on my router. First of all, if I use all these static IPs myself, if someone pops on my connection, will they be assigned an IP address automatically? What would the IP address be for example, let's say the range of static IPs were 111.111.121-126. Will it not assign them anything?

Also, if my computer has been assigned an IP address automatically, if I go to http://whatismyipaddress.com, should it show that static IP address or should it show that of the routers?
It currently shows the routers even though I'm on a different IP than that.

Any advice guys?

Thanks Jack

Hi, you want the 3CRWDR300A-73-UK wireless router, the firmware is all made out for 8 Static IP addresses a real easy router to configure and this model has VPN tunnelling, its a gift with the USB wireless adapter.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150360?utm_source=goog...

http://www.dabs.com/products/3com-11n-adsl-router-bu...

http://www.trustedreviews.com/3Com-ADSL-Wireless-11n...

3Com is now part of Hewlett Packard networking
http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/support/converter/in...

HP Networking V110 ADSL-A Wireless-N Router � HP Part No: JE459A
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/SearchTools/item...

Edited by deleted (Fri 15-Apr-11 10:49:16)

In reply to a post by jdowning640:

I was told that by using static IPs, things get sent straight over the internet without going through any firewalls etc. I'm with Aquiss and today I purchased 8 static IP addresses (5 usable).

Not true. A static IP can be assigned to a node on a network (router, PC, printer etc.). A firewall filters network traffic based on IP address, protocol, port etc. One has nothing to do with the other in that perspective. If a static public IP is assigned to a node, such as a PC, and the node transmits to the Internet, the Internet will see said static IP address. The PC will be 'seen' by the Internet. If however, NAT (Network Address Translation) is used and the PC is assigned a private IP address, NAT will translate the IP at the router to the IP assigned public address, and although your private IP might be 192.168.7.2, the Internet will see the public assigned address. For the sake of simplicity, the difference to most users with a public dynamic IP is that when they reboot their router, there's a chance the IP will change. Getting a static IP is handy for lots of reasons, which I won't bother with, but you can see this.

NAT has the secondary purpose of being a firewall since the PC's IP is different to the IP used to access the Internet. The PC isn't 'seen' in the same sense, so unsolicited probes to the 'seen' IP stop at the router and don't progress to the PC.

In reply to a post by jdowning640:

I use a Netgear modem and the reason I got the static IPs was due to there being a delay in some VoIP calls so wanted to get a direct connection to the internet.

Dynamic IPs will work with VOIP, but static IPs make things easier in the long run. Perhaps some ISPs might insist on a static IP for this (I don't use VOIP so can't elaborate).

In reply to a post by jdowning640:

So I had to change my subnet mask to 255.255.255.248 which then only allows me to allow 5 users for DHCP on my router. First of all, if I use all these static IPs myself, if someone pops on my connection, will they be assigned an IP address automatically? What would the IP address be for example, let's say the range of static IPs were 111.111.121-126. Will it not assign them anything?

Not sure why you want to have static IPs assigned dynamically on your net. Surely the point is to have them assigned by you and not the router, then the IPs 'stick' to the nodes for VOIP purposes.

The 255.255.255.248 subnet mask is required for the static IP block assigned. Don't worry too much about it. Just accept that your static IP nodes should have the subnet mask of 255.255.255.248 set. The mask determines the number of addresses in the subnet (eight in total, six usable, one of which is assigned to the router).

Using my own example, but your eight IPs (otherwise known as the subnet) are utilised as follows:

x.x.x.0 - Network address
x.x.x.1 - Router address
x.x.x.2 - Usable address
x.x.x.3 - Usable address
x.x.x.4 - Usable address
x.x.x.5 - Usable address
x.x.x.6 - Usable address
x.x.x.7 - Broadcast address

While we're on the subject, your router uses a default of 192.168.1.1 for the local IP address. This is part of the private network addresses range, which is usually used with NAT to serve many nodes from one public IP address on a router. My guess with your router would would be to set that to x.x.x.1 (per the list of IPs above) and the mask should stay as 255.255.255.248.

Assign the four IP phones as x.x.x.2-5, 255.255.255.248. As for the laptop/DHCP, I would be guessing completely now, as you might want the spare IP for any other node attached (be it a laptop or PC). If you paln for more than the one extra device, then NAT/DHCP is the way to go. If not, just assign the remaining static IP to the laptop.

In reply to a post by jdowning640:

Also, if my computer has been assigned an IP address automatically, if I go to http://whatismyipaddress.com, should it show that static IP address or should it show that of the routers?
It currently shows the routers even though I'm on a different IP than that.

It would seem your 'router IP' setting is acting in the way a single IP setting for a router would in private addressing setup. NAT is enabled, and it looks like it might be working. See what happens when you disable NAT. Be aware that no NAT equals no 'firewall effect' from the router, unless it has a real firewall in operation. Very wise to have a firewalls on each of the other nodes of the network.

When you say that 'whatsmyip' sees the router IP, is it one of the static ones, or does it see 192.168.1.1 or something else?

There's a lot more description of the setup in and around this post in another thread.

He seems to be trying to provide free phone calls and internet access to guests in a small hotel. See the post at 14-Apr-11 20:48:40 in that thread.

Pffft. Not reading all that. My post took long enough. The application of the nodes shouldn't matter unless he's adding in static routing to other routers, in which case, it's a different ball game.

Thanks camie, very helpful.

Just some background information, we run a restaurant and accommodation and we have 4 VoIP phones (on this same line) going to the restaurant so we can answer calls and 5 cables coming from the modem to suites for guests.

Is it possible you guys could help me fill out what goes in here?

I would very much appreciate it as I'm a technophobe when it comes to static IP although I have learned lots from you guys. You don't know how much I appreciate it.

http://i52.tinypic.com/4u9pg6.png
http://i56.tinypic.com/2j4oyzd.png
http://i54.tinypic.com/2ch0so2.png

Frankly it might be better if your state exactly what you want to achieve.

You want 4 phones on static IPs?

The 5 cables are for the phones or for guest Internet access, seperate from the phones?

What is your ideal scenario?

That way we might be able to work out whether or not your kit is capable or even required.

Well I'd like the 4 IP phones on static IPs and for everything else to be assigned an internal IP.

Thanks camie,

Jack

You need a router that will do NON-NAT and NAT simultaneously

I'm thinking a draytek 2820 is more inline with this business type role, than the netgear range (which netgear router do you have?).

It is still not totally clear why you need the voip phones on public IP's.

If I was speccing this up as a job, I would suggest a Guest network via Wifi or specific ethernet sockets, with rate limiting to avoid one person grabbing the lions share of any capacity.

The VoIP being on a seperate network and connection to avoid congestion issues that will impact call quality. Also the voip network setup so that people cannot just plug a PC into that and get full internet access to the world.

Remember as the owner of the connection, when people do dodgy stuff it is you the solicitor/police come talking to.

In reply to a post by jdowning640:

Well I'd like the 4 IP phones on static IPs ...

Why?

I'm far from expert on this side of it, but more than one poster who seem to know what they are on about seem to me to have strongly recommended against it. You appear from your earlier threads to have an unresolved problem re latency which fixed IPs aren't going to solve. Was everything actually working before you went down the 8 static route?

... and for everything else to be assigned an internal IP.

That bit seems easy, again already explained by others?