Purchasing a router may sound like a pretty simple task. This however can become somewhat challenging when VOIP comes into play. There are a few core functions that your choice of router needs to perform. So as to simplify your configuration for use with 3CX.
Required Functionality for VoIP & 3CX
- Port Forwarding – The device must be able to handle port forwarding from WAN to LAN without changing the port numbers.
- Outbound Traffic Control – The PBX must be able to send outbound packets to ANY external location.
- Static Port forwarding – As inbound traffic reaches the router, the port forwarding rule functionality must have the ability to forward packets.
- Application Layer Gateway – An ALG or SIP ALG is also a common function on routers. However, such functionality is not always implemented in the same way across different brands and models. A SIP ALG will in any case modify the inbound and outbound traffic. Resulted in MOST cases break the SIP exchange. Therefore, it is STRONGLY recommended to look for a device without a SIP ALG. Otherwise, a device that allows you to fully disable such functionality. Note: even though most devices provide an interface control to disable the SIP ALG functionality, the functionality sometimes still runs in the background.
- IP based restrictions – For a proper and secure implementation, you should use a device that can allow or disallow traffic from specific IP addresses or ranges. This is to stop unwanted traffic from reaching your PBX and block these unwanted connections at the WAN side of the router.
- Optional Functionality – QOS Tagging – If the device has QOS functionality, this will allow you to tag VoIP traffic. It is to manage bandwidth utilization and ensure voice quality remains unaffected by other bandwidth intensive applications.
Links to known working routers
The following are links to guides for some routers known to work with 3CX. It is important to note that different hardware / firmware versions of the devices may generate different results. Please do not consider this an official list – lab testing and a familiarity with the device remains a pre-requisite.