IAX2 connecting two asterisk@home systems

[bbbeavis]

First off, my above settings I put in the trunks peer setting under AAH. Asterisk 2 has a register entry of asterisk2:stillasecret@jimworld.home.ip. This seams to get it done

[rotary500]

Is the hostname of the Asterisk machines critical to make this work? On asterisk1 I have it as default with a local IP DMZ'd to the public static IP. On machine 2 I have it set as asterisk2 at the public ip, no nat or dmz. I can call the extensions on asterisk2 from asterisk1 but cannot access it's fxo port. There is no way I can call any extension on asterisk1 from asterisk2. This leads me to believe that the asterisk1@(public ip) somehow can't resolve the fact that a local ip is associated with the localhost. Is this a good assumption or am I way offline here?

[bbbeavis]

I had similar issues because in my trial and error period I somehow erased "context=from-internal". I could reach Asterisk 2 extensions from Asterisk1, but not vice-verse until I made the correction. If this isn't the issue please look at these corrected (and functional) settings:

Asterisk 1

Trunk name: asterisk2

Incoming:

context=from-internal
delayreject=no
host=192.168.1.x
secret=stillasecret
trunk=yes
type=friend
username=asterisk1

Outgoing: blank
Register string: blank

Asterisk 2

Trunk name: asterisk1

Incoming:

context=from-internal
delayreject=no
host=jimworld.mydyndnsaccount
secret=stillasecret
trunk=yes
type=friend
username=asterisk2

Outgoing: blank
Register string: asterisk2:stillasecret@mydyndnsaccount.homeip.net

Please note that my Asterisk 1 has a Dyndns account and a dynamic IP. Asterisk 2 has a dynamic IP, too, that I just haven't gotten around to assigning a Dyndns account to and I'm using the IP from my provider until it gets changed (kind of a random thing). I didn't bother to create seperate contexts for outgoing and incoming as I didn't see a need and I'm inherently lazy.

[bbbeavis]

Also note the "delayreject=no" entry. I'm not sure what the default is but here is a bug in Asterisk 1.21 and 1.22 that won't work with "trunk=yes". This has been corrected with 1.23 (which is not in AAH, yet).

[rotary500]

Interestingly after following this advice no extensions work anymore. Today I was trying to get the the internet telephony conference and see if anything new could be learned but my transmission has failed in the process of getting there. The saga continues!

[bbbeavis]

Ignore my configs; my two boxes are not staying registered (they work until I turn my back). I even tried my best Windows technique to fix it (do the same thing over and over again until it magically works).

[bbbeavis]

OK, I finally got a stable connection. There are two ways, depending on your routers' capabilities. I used dyndns.org to give me an up-to-date connection at all times (no register statement required). After I did that I read the following on the Asterisk wiki:

"The "register" statement only works if you want to hook up a server with a dynamic IP to a server with a static (public) IP, i.e. on the user you must add "host=dynamic" in the iax.conf for that peer."

Probably would have helped to have read that sooner (at least I would have gotten to bed before 2am).

Here is a link to the full article:

http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/index....dual%20servers

OK, I just lost connectivity from my remote to main (shouldn't have turned my back). I just downloaded Asterisk@Home 2.4 (currently running 2.2). 2.3 was blown through in a matter of hours so I trust there were major issues. I will install and report back.

[mberlant]

With regard to dyndns, I have found that I must reload sip.conf following an address change. This is because Asterisk only resolves the IP address when sip.conf loads. I do this by running my DDNS client every ten minutes ("on the zeroes") and using a cron job to issue a "sip reload" command every ten minutes one minute after that ("on the ones"). Since there is no similar "iax2 reload", you may find that you need to use "sip reload" to get your IAX2 connection back in synch following an IP address change.

[bbbeavis]

I did a quick manual sip reload and no joy. I'm going to do the chron job anyway just so I don't have future issues, but I do have success reaching the remote server from the main consistently. The main server has been upgraded to AAH 2.4 while the remote is using 2.2. I'm going to upgrade the remote to AAH 2.4 today to see if the issues go away.

[bbbeavis]

Success! I'm connected at both servers and they have stayed connected. Seems that the problem was not so much the configs as my testing method. I have one Asterisk server at home and one at the office. I was using an IAX softphone located at home to connect to the office AAH box; I then sent the call back to the home AAH box for outbound routing. What I failed to think of was that when the IAX softphone connected, the home router saw port 4569 working with the office AAH box and IAX softphone; the home router ignored the port forwarding settings and the attempts of the office AAH box to reach the home AAH box through the same port. Calls could go from the home to the office, but not vice verse. I read somewhere that something like this wouldn't work, but I didn't put it together with my current situation until my softphone registered the trunking attempt of the office AAH box.

Home AAH box:

Trunk name: asterisk

Peer Settings
host=officeDynDNSaccount
notransfer=yes
qualify=no
secret=stillasecret
trunk=yes
type=peer
username=asterisk

User Settings
User Context: asterisk1
context=from-internal
delayreject=yes
secret=stillasecret
trunk=yes
type=user

Office AAH Box:

Trunk name: asterisk

Peer Settings
host=homeDynDNSaccount
notransfer=yes
qualify=no
secret=stillasecret
trunk=yes
type=peer
username=asterisk1

User Settings
User Context: asterisk
context=from-internal
delayreject=yes
notransfer=yes
secret=stillasecret
trunk=yes
type=user

NOTE: do not use "trunk=yes" with "delayreject=yes" in AAH 2.2. Only use with AAH 2.4 (AAH 2.3 is broken for other reasons). Also note that I don't use a registration entry as my routers support DYNdns accounts.