Tuesday, September 11, 2018

VoIP phones and PCs connected to them (VLAN tagging?)

So, we switched to different internet provider and phone provider recently.

Configuration is:

Comcast Modem -> Cisco switch (2960) -> Ethernet ports are going to the offices. Each ethernet port in the offices is connected to -> Polycom VoIP phone. VoIP phone has two ethernet ports. One for incoming internet from POE switch, other one is connected to -> the computer in the office.

So, computer connects to VoIP phone, VoIP phone is connected to the switch, switch is connect to the modem.

Cisco switch is reset after the old provider. It's in default configuration.

The problem is:

- VoIP phone loses connection and says line not registered randomly 5-7 times in a day for 20 seconds.

Additional info:

- Comcast modem's Wi-Fi works fine meanwhile. Also, the computer connected to VoIP phone has an internet access as well.

- Comcast technician came over several times to tell that their service is working fine and there are no logs related to dropped connections. He said that something needs to be configured and they cannot do it. Also, they said there is an IP confliction issue. So, I thought maybe the phone and the computer share the same IP and they might be conflicting??! That's how I realized I have to do something to the switch.

I'm not an expert on this. So, I'm trying to learn how to fix the situation.

I read about VLAN and I concluded that I should order a RJ45 to USB console cable to connect to the Cisco Switch console to set up VLAN and run some commands.

Also, there were some information about VLAN tagging.

However, I don't know what I am doing exactly. I printed out the manuals and stuff. Trying to learn more about it.

It's not a big deal but it is a big deal. People are talking about those interruptions on a daily basis and the managers are frustrated even though it's for 15-20 seconds and it doesn't happen that often.

I was wondering If I'm on the right path. I'm mainly responsible for software related stuff but something happened and this thing stuck on me after couple guys messed it up and I have to figure it out somehow and fix it now because they trust me more even though I'm not an expert on this.



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