Cali 2 NL

This post is not really related to study abroad. I’m just putting this up here in the hopes that someone who has a similar problem can find the answer.

So I finally got internet access (a neighbor was nice enough to let me install a wireless access point), but I found that I could not use my Vonage Softphone to make calls back to the states. This is the third network I’ve been on here where it would not work.

The thing they all have in common is that KPN (dutch telco) is their ISP. Looks like KPN doesn’t like their users using VOIP to make cheap/free long distance calls, so they block SIP. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that they’re idiots. The block configured on the DSL modem/router which is not password protected. The option is pretty hidden though, you have to telnet into the modem to change it (it’s not in the web-interface).

So, if you have KPN and a Speed Touch 500-series DSL modem (Thomson or Alcatel), here’s how to hack it (mine says it’s a 546, but this should work for 510 or 530 models too):

• Telnet to 10.0.0.138 (modem’s address)
• Login as “root” or “Administrator” (both work on mine). It should not prompt you for a password.
• At the => prompt, type “nat unbind application=SIP port=5060″
• type “config save” to make the changes permanent
• type “system reboot” to restart the modem.

This worked great and allowed me to use Vonage with KPN. It took me forever to figure out how to get it working, but after I did I searched for that command and found that this seems to be the fix for a whole lot of providers who block this same way (BT, Telstra, and others).

Blocking SIP may kill iChat and other video/voice/chat programs as well, so it’s not a very nice thing to do.  Bad KPN!