[PLUG] Vonage...

[Ian Burrell]

On 3/7/06, plug_0 at robinson-west.com <plug_0 at robinson-west.com> wrote:
> Recently, my friend has switched to Vonage and she uses it over
> cable.  It works well now that she has a local number.  Question,
> how different are the regulations considering that Vonage is
> VoIP based compared to a telephone line from the local bell?
> Specifically, is privacy a problem with VoIP service?  A VoIP
> phone doesn't require a specific phoneline, so how do
> the line tapping rules apply?  Major plus of Vonage, it's
> cheaper than CenturyTel's service out here in Scappoose.
>

The privacy is worse with Vonage.  The audio traffic can be captured
while travelling over the Internet since it is not encrypted.  Vonage
is subject to the new Internet wiretap rules.  It can also be
wiretapped where it enters the POTS.

> Can Linux establish a dial-up ppp connection over Vonage?
> Why does Vonage offer add on fax service?
>

Modem connections aren't supported.  The adapters have special support
for fax pass-through.  They offer add-on fax service because people
want to continue to use their fax machines.

> One problem with her Vonage router, it's hiding her global ip
> address from her.  Uge!  If she doesn't know it, she can't send
> it to me over the Internet.  I offer limited access, her ip
> address only, to certain services in an effort to keep those
> services private.
>

You don't have to use the Vonage adapter in NAT mode.  I put mine
behind my Linksys router.  I use a script which gets the outside IP
address from the Linksys' admin website and uses that to setup a
DynDNS name.  I am pretty sure there is an admin site for the Vonage
adapter which does provide the external IP address.

> I wish Comcast would tell people what ip block their dynamically
> assigned ip addresses are going to come from.  I also wish that
> Comcast would stop arguing that dynamic assignment of ip addresses
> makes managing their network easier.  I have a static subnet on
> DSL, why is this so hard to get for cable?  Static assignment can
> be done by dhcp.  If I could get her on a static ip,
> I wouldn't have to monkey around to determine her current address
> dynamically.
>

The dynamic IP address assignment from Comcast is pretty static.  My
cable modem has has had the same IP address for at least a year. 
Comcast wants to make it harder for people to host servers over their
connections.  I bet it is also much easier to confgiure dynamic IP
addresses for DHCP instead of static ones.

> In a nutshell, I can either find a new way for my friend to determine
> her global ip address from her end or I can focus on securely receiving
> a message on my end so I can determine her global ip address.  Both
> approaches allow me to ip limit entry to a specific service.
>

Since this is a pretty common problem, I bet there are Windows
programs which do the job of either accessing the router admin site or
going to website to find the external IP address.  Getting you the
address is probably the issue.  You might want to setup a dyndns.org
domain name and use that.

> If anyone knows how to serve a simple web page that tells you the
> ip address that is connecting to it, that would be a good start.
>

That is pretty trivial.  The CGI environment variable REMOTE_IP holds
the remote IP address.

 - Ian