Work IP softphone not working when on VPN using TGP broadband

[Ahra_G]

Hi @nmendoza, 

As advised by @Shane, were you able to confirm this with your softphone provider? 

"What are the requirements need to set up your Work IP softphone? In the event that Static IP address is needed unfortunately all our NBN residential plan comes with Dynamic IP address. I highly recommend to confirm this with the softphone provider."

Otherwise, let us have your Customer ID  via PM so we can assist you accordingly. 

Regards,

Ahra_G

[nmendoza]

Hi @Ahra_G and @Shane 

The Work IP Softphone does not require a static IP and works fine with Dynamic IPs.

I have tested the softphone with the following environments:

• Optus NBN Dynamic IP
• Vodafone cellular hotspot
• Optus cellular hotspot

And these all work fine.

It is just my TPG NBN home environment that is not working.

I spoke with one of my colleagues who had a similar problem with Aussie Broadband NBN and they said that the ISP was blocking non-standard ports. It started working after Aussie Broadband allowed this through.

Regards,

Nathanael

[Ahra_G]

Thanks for providing more information, @nmendoza. 

Let us have your Customer ID or username via private message in order for us to raise this issue to our Engineering Team. 

We'll wait to hear from you. 

-Ahra_G

[Ahra_G]

Hi @chawa,

We appreciate all the information provided. 

We have since raised the issue to our Engineering Team for further investigation.

Please ensure to leave the modem connected and turned on for remote testing purposes. Updates willl be provided via phone call or SMS. 

Feel free to reach out to us again should you require further assistance. 

Regards,

Ahra_G

[coreyferrera20]

Hi @Ahra_G 

What was the outcome/resolution for this issue?

I am currently experiencing this EXACT same problem and have raised multiple tickets with zero end outcome. Clearly i am not the only one coming to you with this issue.

At this moment the only resolution i am being pointed towards is changing ISP, however i would prefer not to as i have enjoyed great service from TPG right uptil this point. Which has been frustrating to say the least.

Any help appreciated

Kind Regards,

[chawa]

Thanks. I have also found another work colleague who is on TPG and experiencing the same issue. He tried it yesterday.

[coreyferrera20]

Hey @chawa 

Yes i also have a work colleague with the same problem.

He ended up changing from TPG to Optus and now no longer has any problem.

[coreyferrera20]

Hi @Ahra_G 

I am having the same problem that @chawa and @nmendoza   mentioned above.

The same problem that these people also seem to be having also - https://community.tpg.com.au/t5/Broadband-Internet/VPN-IP-Phone-One-Way-Audio-on-TPG-NBN/td-p/23133

Can you please post a publicly accessible resolution or somekind of end outcome or statement? There are many people experiencing this issue with zero help from TPG. I am starting to beleive there is something known within TPG but they will not make this information public.

At this point i think it is safe to say that TPG should not be looked at as a reliable option to work from home, especially if you are using an IP softphone such as cisco jabber/finesse and a VPN connection.

To anyone reading this, if working from home is your main priority, connect yourself with a different ISP and save yourself from the headache and absolute run around you will get from TPG. Optus seems to be a viable option to have this problem resolved as some colleagues of mine have made the switch and are now working with no problems.

[nmendoza]

TPG Engineer contacted me and told me that they won't look into this issue because they are convinced it is due to the third party softphone app.

Doesn't matter how many times I tell them that it works fine with other ISP's.

I have had to contact my softphone provider to setup twinning on my softphone and personal mobile so that at least I can work using my personal mobile phone to receive calls, I still can't call out from my work extension. (Not a solution, but a viable workaround for me at least)

Summary of troubleshooting on my end:

• Tested with Optus Cellular - Working
• Tested with Vodafone Cellular - Working
• Tested with Optus NBN HCF 50/20 plan - Working
• TPG Home NBN HCF 50/20 - NOT working
• Swapped modems with TPG internet connected - Still not working
• Used Vodafone SIM card in 4G modem and it is working
• Disabled SIP ALG on Router Firewall - Still not working
• Tested on Dell Laptop and Microsoft Surface - both not working with TPG connected
• Changed local subnet to match work subnet to rule out NAT issues - Still not working

Hope this helps someone from TPG if they have another chance to look into it.

[coreyferrera20]

Final update @chawa  @nmendoza  @Ahra_G  @Joseph_D 

Just switched over to OPTUS this morning. Everything is working fine, can make and receive calls with the cisco softphone with 2 way audio. I am even still using the same TPLINK C1200 router supplied by TPG. I just reconfiged it to suit the Optus connection. 

Definitely something up with TPG's service. Goodluck trying to get them to admit it though.