Topic: Network config advice?

[haymann]

Hello,
I accidentally found SME Server on Friday and had the chance to set it up last night. I was up and running pretty quickly (once I figured out the the formating was not freezing, just stayed at 92% for awhile...) and I am in the process setting up the rest of my network.

I was wondering if I could get some advice from those of you that have played w/ SME before? I am just trying this on my home network (for now), I have a cable modem, a D-Link DVG-1402S/L (Lingo phone adapter/router), and a D-Link DI-624 (for wireless). Before I setup my SME Server (7.0pre4) I had the cable modem connected to the VoIP router, and the VoIP router connected to the wireless router, and the wireless router was connected to the rest of my network. So my entire network was behind 2 routers.

I don't want to connect my SME Server behind the wireless router and the rest of the wired network to it (SME Server) because any wireless clients would be infront of the SME Server, and I would loose some of the features that come w/ SME if it (wireless router) is connected as the first device (dyndns, etc...). Lingo of course recommends putting the Lingo device as the first device on the network so it can mange call quality, but I would really like the SME machine to be the first device...

So in short, does anyone have any advice on how to set things up so that I can take full advantage of SME Server, keep my Lingo service online and of acceptable quality, and be able to have my wireless clients be able to connect to the SME Server?

Thanks!
Ryan

[sonoracomm]

Two routers (and two NATs) is a problematic configuration.  I never recommend double-NAT.

Just use your wireless router as a wireless access point...don't use the Internet or WAN port on the wirelessrouter and it becomes a WAP (and maybe switch).


..........................................................................WAP - notebook
......................................................................../
Internet -> cbl mod -> router -> switch ->   -    Server
........................................................................\
...........................................................................PCs

HTH,

G

p.s. You should set SME box to server-only mode.  (#su admin)

[haymann]

Just use your wireless router as a wireless access point...

Uhh, right... I guess I was so excited about SME that I overlooked something obvious... Thanks.

You should set SME box to server-only mode

I thought about that, and it would probably be the easiest, but I think that SME Server would be a much more powerful NAT & firewall than my router. Am I mistaken in my assumption here? Would setting my SME Server as a DMZ machine on my router help? But then again, there are still 2 NATs...
Thanks,
Ryan

[sonoracomm]

I certainly wouldn't complicate this if I were you.

G

[dmac]

Use the SME server as the gateway and router.  This is what is was designed for.  Needs two NICS, one for the Internet Conection and the other for the local LAN.
                                                                 
Internet -> CBL Modem -> SME Server -> Switch

This is the setup I have been using successfully for 5 Years.

Regards,

Darin

[haymann]

Internet -> CBL Modem -> SME Server -> Switch

Thanks Darin, That is what I am doing now, I was just wondering if anyone else had some advice for connecting a VoIP phone adapter/router like mine w/out limiting SME's functionality, and still maintaining good call quality. I am now using my wireless router as an access point only (thanks sonoracomm) and I have my VoIP router plugged into the same switch as the rest of the network, and I have no devices behind it. It is working well so far, but I haven't really tested the call quality while having high network traffic.
Thanks again,
Ryan

[dmac]

Does your ISP allow you more than one IP Address?

You could try

Internet -> CBL Modem -> Hub -> SME Server -> Switch
________________________\
________________________ Voip Box


Darin.

[haymann]

No, I have 1 address. I could probably get another, but 1 is expensive enough!! Maybe w/ SME I can shape my bandwidth? Then I could make sure that the traffic from VoIP router is priority traffic.
Ryan

[gippsweb]

We have an Asterisk@home box running quite nicely behind our SME box at work.
The call quality has always been great, the only thing I have on the to-do list is some sort of QOS as voice quality does deteriate when the network is heavily used.

[smeghead]

.. hmm, unlike sonoracomm I ALWAYS use double NAT and never have a problem with it (50 plus installs so far).

I have one client that runs Internet-VOIP-Router-SME-LAN-Wireless A/P and it all works well.

Admittedly the setup is a little more complex but trivial in the scheme of things.

I use the router to limit availability of various services on the SME to certain IP's only.

This system uses PPtP VPN, RDP, Bittorrent, Azuarus, etc

There are a few on this board that recommend not to put a router in front of SME but I must disagree (the nly setup I ever use) with the statement that is causes problems as it only increases difficulty (and then only slightly).

HTH

[haymann]

Thanks gippsweb and smeghead,
Things are working alright right now, so I think I'll just keep an eye on things and move that router if I am having some problems.
I would eventually like to have some sort of pbx system like Asterisk or SipX, but figuring out what it would take to set it up for my POTS line (that I have to keep for a local number...) and my VoIP provider, is beyond me at this point.
Thanks again,
Ryan