Remote workers VOIP Client VPN
-
I need some help on what to do with this situation. We have Avaya 9600 series phones and they support Client VPN and can tunnel back to our building so our remote workers can be part of the on prem SIP manager. The problem I am having is Cisco Meraki is saying they do not support Client VPN for SIP phones. Only Mobile devices and laptop/desktop. WTF!?!??! I am ignorant to all the ins and outs but this sounds like a bunch of BS. They are saying it has to be a Site to site vpn. Does Mangolassi world have any tips that are cost effective? At this point the only answer i know of is 12k in equipment and licensing..... It has always been a love hate relationship with Cisco with me. They can be sliced bread or a shit sandwich or both at the same time.
-
@popester said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
Only Mobile devices and laptop/desktop. ..... They are saying it has to be a Site to site vpn.
These two things don't jive. They either support client devices or they don't. Saying they support Mobile, then saying it has to be site to site is a contradiction.
I'm guessing if they do support mobile, the phone should work. Use the same credentials/configs for the phone as you do on a mobile phone.
Have you tried that yet?
-
@Dashrender That is what I am thinking too. Unfortunately, the config is being done by our 3rd party support.
I need to understand what the differences are between a Sip phone interface and a standard mobile device interface is. UGH! -
@popester said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
@Dashrender That is what I am thinking too. Unfortunately, the config is being done by our 3rd party support.
I need to understand what the differences are between a Sip phone interface and a standard mobile device interface is. UGH!Why do you need that? I'm assuming they tell you the settings needed for the mobile, just apply those same settings on the phone - at least I'm assuming that should work.
Hell - just lie - Hey I got a new phone, I need VPN access for it - what are the settings?
-
@Dashrender said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
These two things don't jive. They either support client devices or they don't. Saying they support Mobile, then saying it has to be site to site is a contradiction.
This is definitely correct. "Supports Mobile" is the same as saying "Doesn't Require Site to Site".
-
@popester said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
The problem I am having is Cisco Meraki is saying they do not support Client VPN for SIP phones.
So two basic IT rules violated here.
- Someone bought Cisco gear (this is a business, not a home, avoid consumer brands - and no one is less enterprise than Cisco, it's like DLink, TPLink, etc. Just a joke.)
- Never call Cisco for support. Same company that claimed you need 14Tb/s to stream YouTube at home. There is no company that I've ever dealt with whose support and engineering know less about networking.
The things that they are telling you are simply made up words that they heard somewhere. The person you are talking to is either a complete idiot themselves, or they are a scammer trying to pull a fast one thinking that you won't call their bluff.
-
@popester said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
The problem I am having is Cisco Meraki is saying they do not support Client VPN for SIP phones.
This is technically correct. The SIP Client is not the device that has the VPN. This is asking the wrong company the wrong information. Cisco and the VPN aren't part of that equation.
It's like asking if a tire is compatible with a carton of eggs. it doesn't conceptually make sense as a question. Yes a car with those tires can haul eggs, that's what you want to know, but the tires and the eggs don't have some direct support relationship.
Cisco VPNs support the platforms that SIP phones use. That's what you actually wanted to ask.
-
@popester said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
Does Mangolassi world have any tips that are cost effective?
Yes, at a practical level, just ignore them. They aren't there to support you and they don't know what they are doing. Asking Cisco questions here will just cause confusion.
Probably not helpful because your hands are likely tied but, if you really want to fix things, dump vendors like Cisco and Avaya and move to good solutions and all this clears right up.
-
@popester said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
At this point the only answer i know of is 12k in equipment and licensing..... It has always been a love hate relationship with Cisco with me. They can be sliced bread or a shit sandwich or both at the same time
I know of no situation where Cisco is anything but a shit sandwich. Ever. The best case scenario is that vastly overpriced equipment limps along. But never, ever, ever have I seen any Cisco deployment that came close to what a free solution would do. And since Cisco isn't free, it never gets out of the shit show category.
The best solution I can offer is... accept that money was wasted, don't give in to sunk cost, move to an enterprise free solution that actually "just works".
-
@Dashrender said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
I'm guessing if they do support mobile, the phone should work. Use the same credentials/configs for the phone as you do on a mobile phone.
It will, and Cisco will have way of knowing that there is SIP on the line.
-
@popester said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
@Dashrender That is what I am thinking too. Unfortunately, the config is being done by our 3rd party support.
Then drop that support. They are likely a Cisco VAR and that alone is a reason to never do business with them. Support shouldn't come from VARs because first, they are VARs and that's an ethics issue mostly, and second because they aren't IT and rarely have the scope to properly provide support as their support is actually an extension of their sales team.
-
@Dashrender said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
@popester said in Remote workers VOIP Client VPN:
@Dashrender That is what I am thinking too. Unfortunately, the config is being done by our 3rd party support.
I need to understand what the differences are between a Sip phone interface and a standard mobile device interface is. UGH!Why do you need that? I'm assuming they tell you the settings needed for the mobile, just apply those same settings on the phone - at least I'm assuming that should work.
Hell - just lie - Hey I got a new phone, I need VPN access for it - what are the settings?
Yeah, don't feed them info that they don't need. you have mobile devices, you need the VPN to work. If the VPN is working, VoIP / SIP will work, period. If it doesn't work, they didn't do their jobs.
-
Update: Sorry about it being so late. Meraki/Cisco does and will not support this format in client VPN. Which translates to, ended up being a little over 9000 in sales revenue for them. Oh well..... Big fish feed on the little fish. Disgustipated.
Thanks for all the input. Helped a bunch.
