EE Mobile does not support VOIP

[gavingwatson]

Have seen a few posts about EE users not supporting VOIP devices on their mobile network.

I can confirm that this is indeed the case.

Despite calls to EE business and them saying that VOIP devices are not blocked (after the typical "try turning it off and on again, try a different devices, etc", after changing the EE SIM to a Three SIM, all of a sudden VOIP phones started working correctly.

In case anyone comes looking for information about EE mobile network supporting VOIP devices or the devices not connecting, I can confirm that EE does NOT support this (despite what they claim when you call them).

[TPTeledotcom]

You need to do the following:

a) Get your VoIP provider to enable TLS encryption. Many do not offer this

b) Reprovision your handset(s). Your VoIP provider should auto-provision or provide instructions

c) Configure your router firewall inline with your VoIP providers instructions

You may find that just doing a) and rebooting your handest(s) will get you up and running but you must do item a).

[pt44]

Andrews & Arnold are telling me that TLS would open up an encryption tunnel - and they don't support that. 

I'm tempted to turn it on anyways - DNS over TLS - just to see what happens. 

[TPTeledotcom]

I don't think it will work since the ports and encryption are agreed between the VoIP provider and handset when each call is made/received.

We provide TLS encryption on our VoIP accounts if you are interested.

[pt44]

I have found a potential solution - using a SIP Phone app on the iPhone. I'm using Zioper app.

When I set up the account on there, Andrews & Arnold is listed as AAISP. The user name is your international phone number and the Password is the special SIP password you set up. 

At first it didn't work. But the help suggested allowing Push Notifications. I tried the top option, free to try - then 99p per month if I wanted to continue using it or £9.99 a year I think. Set Proxy Protocol to SIP + RTP

It works - I can successfully make a call from the mobile (acting as the landline) and when someone calls the landline, the mobile also rings and I can accept the call. Feels very odd - but it working. 

Now I can decide whether I keep the landline (we use it for our business - not to call out on, but to receive calls - though people rarely do call nowadays) or ditch it and just rely on mobile. At least now I can set an answer machine message on it too, to tell people to call the mobile. Before I couldn't do that - as it wouldn't have heard me. 

Hope this might help others in this situation. 

Below the "Use Push notifications" option, you will find two additional settings:

1. "Proxy Protocols" - Here, you can select whether you want to use the proxy service only for the signalling or for both the signalling and the audio (SIP + RTP).

Note: The Push service works only with SIP.

2. "Push Transport" - This is transport type for the proxy service.

Many NAT related issues are caused by "SIP ALG" running on the routers, this option allows you to select "TLS" for the transport of the communication between you (the client) and our proxy server. This will make the traffic "invisible" for such services and may prevent some issues.

Before continuing with the troubleshooting steps below, try using the Push Proxy service.

It has 7 days free trial period, during which you can decide whether you like it or not.

After enabling the PUSH service, enable from

"Push Protocols" the "SIP + RTP" option, then try to make a call. If you still have one-way or missing audio issues, try to also enable the

"TLS" under "Push transport". Restart Zoiper.

Eventually everything should work just fine.

[mod edit: external links removed]

[TPTeledotcom]

Glad you found a potential solution but if you only want it for inbound calls to your mobile, I would suggest using the softphone that your VoIP provider supply. Ours is provided for free.  The other option is to use a Number Translation Service (NTS), that directs calls to your mobiles. The solution we provide will tell you its a business call, with the option to accept the call or send it to a business voicemail.  Both options will probably be cheaper.