Call quality issues with Verizon VCE voip provider.
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We use a Netgate SG-5100 on version 2.4.5 release p1. We have 25 users and frequently experience VOIP call quality issues, which may or may not be related to pfSense. The call quality issues are usually 'one way audio' or 'dead air' calls where a customer calls and no one is there. It is driving our customer service reps crazy being that they are on the phone all day every day.
I don't assume that the problem is caused by the Netgate, but I haven't done any kind of optimization for voip traffic, etc. Is there a standard pfSense 'playbook' or best practices to have a better voip experience? What would be the best way to eliminate the pfSense in terms of troubleshooting this issue?
Regarding other network equipment, the phones connect to a Cisco SG200 switch, and our ISP here is Frontier business fiber 75 mbps up/down. Thanks, I appreciate it!
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@bfost said in Call quality issues with Verizon VCE voip provider.:
I don't assume that the problem is caused by the Netgate,
Hi,
Nope Netgate itself not, that's a joke, but true
The modern VOIP devices work seamlessly with pfSense without any rules, so if you still need to configure the firewall this is a good starting point:
https://www.3cx.com/docs/pfsense-firewall/
+++edit:
it helps a lot if you're monitoring your VOIP device(s) say, so that each port(s) is corresponding to this, f.e.:
SIP 5060-.........(VOIP SIP registration) + SIP TLS 5061 !!!! (pay attention to this)
RTP whatever you want (voice - audio - tatatatatata)
BTW:
and you should know the UDP properties / behaviour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Datagram_Protocol
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@daddygo Very helpful, thanks, I appreciate it!
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@bfost said in Call quality issues with Verizon VCE voip provider.:
I appreciate it!
OK, come back, if you need anything else
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Picking one of my desk phones, it is UDP traffic to 128.177.36.10 port 8933.
I was looking at changing the Firewall Optimization Options from 'Normal' to 'Conservative', which "can aid in environments that require long-lived but mostly idle UDP connections, such as VoIP." https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/config/advanced-firewall-nat.html
This is at System / Advanced / Firewall & NAT.
Has anyone seen a benefit from this for VOIP call quality issues?
For anyone else having VOIP issues here is a good Netgate video "Firewall Best Practices for VOIP": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0JgrzxXIBY&t=1895s
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@bfost said in Call quality issues with Verizon VCE voip provider.:
Has anyone seen a benefit from this for VOIP call quality issues?
A cone NAT is the best thing you can do with the VOIP.
I don't think pfSense will affect the voice quality(?), if you are running SIP and RTP W/O problem, then a Wireshark investigation may tell you more about your RTP problems.Be careful, if you have multiple VOIP units in your network, manually configure the SIP and RTP ports per unit, such as here:
and the cone NAT (static port):
by the way, all serious VOIP providers can detect voice problems on registered devices (SIP OK), you need to open a ticket with them
+++edit:
changing this parameter "iLBC Frame Size" can often help in a PCMA setup (in EU!)
(this is 30ms in most devices)
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@daddygo Thanks, I appreciate it.
