Don’t judge me dog, it’s been one of those days.

Speaking for all of these SAMIT videos...

If you would literally rip the audio from these videos, and put these on a podcast, my drive to the office could be more educational...

Setting one of these up for an office.

Hi Mangolassi! I've been stalking this site for a while and thought it's time for my first post here.

I'm currently hosting a FreeBPX box on a VPS. Lately, the performance has been subpar to say the least. Lots of jitter, and drops. The VPS provider is looking into it, but I'm looking for plan B. Does anyone here have any experience with FreePBX on a VPS? If so, which provider would be best? I am located in Pennsylvania, so NY, NJ, or better still, Ashburn, VA would be the best location for us.

I've been reading up on Linode, Backspace, Vultr, and DO. Ideally, the ability to upload my own ISO (the FreePBX distro ISO) would be the easiest, but I am open to other options as well.

I'll be using the VPS exclusively for FreePBX systems, so obviously, the main requirement is voice quality. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

2 things: First, Unifi makes some pretty nice looking phones. Android based) Second, Mangolassi displays just fine on this phone.

That is all...

th

I recently setup my EdgeRouter X as a L2TP server with local user authentication. We've been using this for the past few days without any issues. Connecting from various platforms/OS's works perfectly. Let me know if anyone has an alternative method or if this guide should be tweaked at all.

Assumes outside WAN interface is eth0

configure

set vpn ipsec ipsec-interfaces interface eth0
set vpn ipsec nat-traversal enable
set vpn ipsec nat-networks allowed-network 0.0.0.0/0
set vpn l2tp remote-access ipsec-settings ike-lifetime 3600

If you have a static IP from your ISP, issue the following command, where x.x.x.x is your IP:

set vpn l2tp remote-access outside-address x.x.x.x

Gateway/next hop for public IP above:

set vpn l2tp remote-access outside-nexthop x.x.x.x

set vpn l2tp remote-access client-ip-pool start 10.0.1.10
set vpn l2tp remote-access client-ip-pool stop 10.0.1.20

set vpn l2tp remote-access ipsec-settings authentication mode pre-shared-secret

set vpn l2tp remote-access ipsec-settings authentication pre-shared-secret horsebatterystaple

set vpn l2tp remote-access authentication mode local

set vpn l2tp remote-access authentication local-users username adam password adampassword

set vpn l2tp remote-access mtu 1492

set vpn l2tp remote-access dns-servers server-1 8.8.8.8
set vpn l2tp remote-access dns-servers server-2 8.8.4.4

commit 

To verify the server is setup, the following command can be used.

show vpn l2tp remote-access

Save to keep changes on reboot

save

Set firewall rules for VPN traffic:
This can be done via the GUI as well, but I used CLI. Just make sure to pay attention to your rule numbers and order.

set firewall name WAN_LOCAL rule 20 action accept
set firewall name WAN_LOCAL rule 20 description Allow_L2TP
set firewall name WAN_LOCAL rule 20 destination port 500,1701,4500
set firewall name WAN_LOCAL rule 20 log disable
set firewall name WAN_LOCAL rule 20 protocol udp
set firewall name WAN_LOCAL rule 30 action accept
set firewall name WAN_LOCAL rule 30 description Allow_ESP
set firewall name WAN_LOCAL rule 30 log disable
set firewall name WAN_LOCAL rule 30 protocol 50

That's it! Now setup the built in client on your OS of choice and you should be good to go.

Actual video of me programming my coffee pot to brew coffee...

Coffee Programming

@DustinB3403 said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@Dominica said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

I'm about to throw my effing laptop across the room if wordpress doesn't let me start customizing my damn website template. Argh!

Isn't this a Wordpress issue, and not a laptop one?

Yeah, but she cant physically throw wordpress. The laptop is the closest accomplice.

Thought I would circle back on this one and give a review of OrangeComputers.

I purchased an R710 from OrangeComputers a few months ago. They were very willing to work with me on price and upgrade components for a very reasonable price. I believe they even upgraded the controller from a Perc6i to an H710 for little to no cost. The server arrived within about 2-3 days, very well packaged, and all firmware up to date. The condition of the server was great, and it has been running 24/7 ever since I booted it with 4-5 VMs on it.

In summary, after 3 months of usage, I would recommend this company for refurb servers, as long as warranty is not a huge issue for you. Their warranty is 90 days standard, but you can pay a little extra and get a 1 year warranty. If you want a 3 year warranty, then these are not the guys to go with. For home use, or even small business, I'd buy from them again. Their pricing is excellent.

Do we have a date and location for this yet? For planning purposes.

@WrCombs Thanks!

Does anyone know where there is stock of the Ubiquiti Edge Router 4? I have checked so many places and they are all out of stock, back ordered until July/August.

Is there a comparable brand/model that we would recommend as an alternative to the ER-4?

@wrcombs said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Cybera

What do you use for the modem and service for 4G? I want to get T-mobile 5G, but it is not available in my area. So I have to go with 4G T-mobile with a data cap. So now, I have also setup outdoing firewall rules to block the non-essential devices from going out that failover connection.

Just setup a 4G failover connection on my ER-4 at my office. The auto failover/watchdog capabilities built into the EdgeOS is pretty slick!

@jt1001001 said in Reboot on ping loss:

@adamf If you get it be sure to bench test before deployment. It took a bit to get the timers set up such that the unit would NOT keep power cycling if no Internet (in case the carrier has a legit outage or needs to service the unit). I dont remember the exact setting but I had to set it for only 2 cycles and I think a 24 hour expiration.

Good to know. Thanks!

@pete-s thanks, I was just looking at that one before you sent it.

@jt1001001
I was looking at that one. Thanks!

@pete-s said in Reboot on ping loss:

@adamf said in Reboot on ping loss:

@pete-s

I would also do that, but have other requirements that require us to use the Comcast provided modem.

It is what it is. Unfortunately I don't know any products that does what you want.

I would want to have some control over the automatic reboot process though and would be reluctant to have another consumer grade gadget controlling it.

If I had the choice I would go for a standard PDU that can switch outlets on/off and run a script on some server controlling when to power cycle the modem. Have it write some log files and such.

Exactly. I’m looking for something pro grade. Not consumer grade.

@pete-s

I would also do that, but have other requirements that require us to use the Comcast provided modem.

@pete-s said in Reboot on ping loss:

@adamf said in Reboot on ping loss:

@pete-s said in Reboot on ping loss:

Doesn't sound like a great solution to a problem.

Have you ruled out problems with the actual modem, it's power supply, high ambient temperature, main power fluctuations and such?

Or tried replacing the modem with something higher grade - if that is a possibility?

Yes.

Had the modem replaced twice already. Power is fine, environment is also fine. It’s just Comcast in my area.

That's good. But even if Comcast goes down temporarily, it's odd that the modem doesn't establish the link automatically again.

Agreed. If I had other GOOD options, I would switch ISPs. But for now , oh well.