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.

@tim_g said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@dustinb3403 said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@magicmarker The same thing that is happening to all people that aren't there to simply buy into the marketing, is forcing them out so only gullible people are left there or those that refuse to step on vendor toes.

Yeah is like a county fair. Vendor after vendor lining up to sell you junk you don't need. It's not an IT community, it's just a big marketing platform, pulling the old bait n switch maneuver... sucking you in by promising to solve your IT issues, then turning you into a client to marketers and vendors. It's really a disgusting platform when you think about it. ML is the way to go.

Ever since I found ML a couple years ago, I bet I looked at that site about 2-3 times. It's a shame too, since it used to be good back in the day. Now, I just don't have the time for all the marketing fluff and bogus conversations on there. I need real, meaningful, technical discussions that solve problems. ML has that, without all of the marketing jazz. That's why I stay. The discussions here on ML has done so much for me in regards to learning real stuff, and keeping up to date on the latest tech.

@DustinB3403 said in IT Would You Rather...:

I'd be fine working with the challenge, but not with cheapness.

If the cause of the not enough money is cheapness, I'd not want to work there.

SO much this. Working for a cheapskate is much different than working for someone who has a real grasp on value. I'd work for the company low on financial resources, as long as management understands the risk involved with being truly "cheap" in regards to IT.

Watching my favorite computer video. It's all text based, and its from the creators of Windows. Currently, I'm on the episode:

"Downloading updates...
Installing update.....
"

For the last freggin 30 minutes.

omg.

Is the submission for "Printer programming, the lost art" still available?

Well look at that. Vultr expanding again. This time, to Canada.

I've seen this so many times. It comes down to risk management. How much can the business tolerate in lost productivity or revenue if there is a problem due to X being cheap? Is the business willing to assume that risk?

Being in IT, I would always push towards the best solution for the company , even if it is more expensive. However, some business owners just don't see it that way. It's a shame, but as you know, it happens all the time.

Directly outside of my office, on street level, is a gas company jackhammering the road. The sound is deafening. I'm annoyed, but cant help but be thankful for my career in tech....as opposed to jack hammering. Nothing wrong with that...but just saying I'm thankful.

@scottalanmiller So since I posted the OP, I found out what the issue was. (or at least eliminated it by changing a setting.) On old versions of FreePBX, in Advanced SIP settings, in order to enable TCP connections, you had to manually type:

tcpenable =yes

In new versions, there is now a button to enable TCP. Having both settings enabled seems to cause these issues. Most likely, the config file for sip.conf gets messed up having these similar/identical settings. Removing the old entry eliminates the errors.

Great... so I'll check back tomorrow.

Network portion on the wall has been setup for a while now, but just installed the electric and ran a wire for the rack piece this weekend.

My rack is a full size rack, cut in half and welded back together with the help of a grinder, a welder, and a few drinks.