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Linphone <--> Linphone connection over AREDN?

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KK6NAN
KK6NAN's picture
Linphone <--> Linphone connection over AREDN?
If I have only a two node setup (presuming for now no other AREDN nodes in range), will I need a VoIP server in the mix to make the following connection?:
 
  • home: rocket M2/omni node on rooftop mast, attached to AirRouter HP node. smartphone A on AirRouter wifi with Linphone.

  • car: nanoStation M2 on telescoping mast, attached to AirRouter node. smartphone B on AirRouter wifi with Linphone.
assuming the home and car nodes connect via RF (and that i have power for everything), will I be able to dial smartphone A from my smartphone B?

Frank KK6NAN
 
N2MH
N2MH's picture
Yes, but there's fine print

Frank,

What you want to do is usually called direct ip dialing.  This is where you dial the ip address of the phone that you are trying to call. In your case, you will need to know the ip address of your other smartphone. However, as you move from one ip network to another, your ip addresses will change. This will make it difficult to know the ip address of your other smartphone. The syntax is sip:10.b.c.d

I just installed Linphone for android and tested it on my system here. It successfully placed a call via ip address and sounded good. There was one gotcha however. In the Audio Settings configuration, you can select which codec(s) you would like to use. If you select one of the higher speed ones such as PCMu or PCMa, there is another setting that has to be adjusted upwards. This setting (also in Audio Settings) is called "Codec bitrate limit" and has to be set high enough for the codec in use. In my case, right out of the box, it was set to 36 kbits/s.  Bumping this up to 64 kbits/s did the trick. Before I upspeeded, the call would go through after I dialed it but there was no audio at the other phone. After the upspeed, the audio appeared.

If you want to call your other phone by an extension number rather than an ip address then you will need a sip server in the middle. You will need to configure an account on each phone to register with the sip server but the sip server will always know the ip address of your other phone. (This is part of the phone's registration process.) Note an that account is not necessary on either phone for direct-ip dialing.

73, Mark, N2MH


 

AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
One clarification on the IP
One clarification on the IP address of the voip phone.   As Mark indicated, If you plug (or wifi connect) the voip phone into different mesh nodes, a different IP address will be obtained on each mesh node.  

if you reserve the IP address on a given mesh node, then when that mesh node and voip phone combination connects to any other mesh network, it always retains the same IP address for the voip phone across the mesh network.   Locally, we typically demo a voip go-kit that includes a voip phone and AirRouter in a low cost plastic toolbox.    Power the kit up, then the AirRouter connects to anyone's mesh network (has to be close by for 2Ghz link or network DtDlink cable), and the VOIP phone retains the IP address where ever it goes in the world on the mesh network.

When we do events, and setup various adhoc stations along the road or tail, our direct IP dial plan is always the same. Memory dial 1, 2, and 3.

Joe AE6XE 
KK6NAN
KK6NAN's picture
trouble connecting iPhone to mesh node

my iPhone sees my air router node, and shows an odd warning (given that I do have my air router successfully connected to my home router)

        

when i "join anyway", my iphone is assigned an IP address, but not from one of the 5 in the node's 10.b.c.d series:

        


I also tried to wifi connect my laptop to the mesh air router node, but same issue, so it seems to be a node config problem.

thanks in advance for any insights!
Frank KK6NAN

KG6JEI
Only mesh nodes can connect
Only mesh nodes can connect directly to an AREDN node.  The wifi signal put out by mesh nodes is not designed to handle non mesh devices.

You need to attach a seperate access point to the Lan port of the mesh node if you wish to allow a device (like an iPhone) to connect wirelessly to the mesh.
KK6NAN
KK6NAN's picture
thank you
that explains it.  i plugged an airport express access point into a LAN port and after some configuring my iPhone now connects.
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
The AP is probably using a
The AP is probably using a NAT or 192.168.x.x address space your iPhone will receive.   Careful, VOIP apps don't work well across the NAT (address translation).  If you put the AP in 'bridge' mode,  then it doesn't issue the IP addresses, rather your wifi devices receive a 10.x.x.x from the mesh node instead (of the 1, 5, or 13 addresses it will issue).

Joe AE6XE
KG6JEI
IP Calling Inbound is
IP Calling Inbound is generally the only issue.. Pretty much every reputable router that has been created for at least the past 5+ years should be able to handle SIP sessions transparently across a nat barrier when registered to a central PBX or making an outbound call.
KD2EVR
KD2EVR's picture
One gotcha for direct IP
One gotcha for direct IP dialing:
On linphone for android I found I had to go to Settings>Network and uncheck "use random port" and set "SIP port to use" to "5060"
This was already the default on the linux version. 

On a different note, is there an easy solution for devices that "roam" from node to node?  Can I create a DHCP reservation on each node manually assigning the same IP address to the device of interest?  Will a node in, say, 5 host direct mode allow me to manually set an ip address that is not one of the 5 allocated to that node? 
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
Sorry, 'no', the IP address
Sorry, 'no', the IP address has to be in the assigned range, otherwise there is no routing definition across the mesh to get traffic to the voip phone.   
KK6NAN
KK6NAN's picture
Thank you for all the info!
this is great:)  Thank you for the investigations and Linphone gotcha alerts!

So, given that my use case involves each smartphone always connecting to the same node (an AirRouter HP), i will reserve an IP address for each, and presumably i can configure the alternate smartphone IPs into the directory of each Linphone app. thus it seems i won't have to set up a SIP on one of my nodes.

then once i get my mast up safely and the nanobridge M3 connection to Plesants Peak set up, is there s a SIP server sitting somewhere that my Linphones could use?

also from my reading thus far, it seems that setting up a redundant SIP on a rasberry pi attached to my home node is a do-able project.

Frank KK6NAN
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
and... I think you are
and... I think you are starting run into the value of a PBX.  Since phone IP's may change, they will register to a PBX with the same phone EXTENSION number, thus, making the phone globally available at a fixed number.  (just not a fixed IP address)
N2MH
N2MH's picture
Any node will work

With a PBX you can plug your phone into any node that is on the network. You are not married to a node (to give you a predictable ip address) which may or may not be the best solution for where you are located in an operation. In fact, you don't even have to advertise the phone on a node for it to work and have people reach you.

kg5eiu
kg5eiu's picture
LinPhone setup videos for Mac and iPhone
K9UXW
K9UXW's picture
voip phone and AirRouter HP
can I use a AR150 mini?

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