Standalone or virtual gateways may be placed anywhere in a network where translation is needed.

Gateway functions may also be defined, deployed, and controlled through software, and are increasingly being built into routers and other equipment.Ī gateway is typically used on the network layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, but it could theoretically be deployed on any of the OSI layers. How does a network gateway work?Ī physical network gateway includes network interface cards (NICs) and inputs and outputs-usually Ethernet-and software for translating network protocols. For example, the Wi-Fi routers commonly provided for home and small business internet service are both a router (delivering data) and a gateway (translating it so destination devices can use it). However, it's becoming more common for their functions to be combined and simply called a router. Historically, gateways and routers have been separate devices. If it can’t be disabled, that device cannot be used with our platform (or any other hosted VoIP system for that matter).How is a gateway different from a router?Ī gateway connects networks, while a router typically delivers data within a network. If it is running, ask them how that can be disabled. The only way to truly confirm if it is enabled or not would be to contact the vendor and have them verify if a SIP Application Layer Gateway is running on the device. If your firewall/router does not have an option to disable SIP ALG, that does not mean that it is not running it just means you cannot disable it. This function can have different names (SIP ALG, SIP Helper, SIP Inspection, SIP Transformations, etc.), but ultimately, they all perform a similar function - identifying SIP packets and manipulating them. Many routers and firewalls have SIP-specific settings that manipulate how SIP traffic is handled, with the intent to help alleviate traditional issues that applications with specific addressing requirements like SIP have with NAT traversal.

Any SIP Application Layer Gateway on your network must be disabled in your firewall, as it will always break SIP, which the phones use as their signaling protocol.

Application layer gateway service