Why does the Netgear WGT614 v8 cause problems for your VoIP service?

Unfortunately, Netgear has decided to ship their routers so that out of the box they rewrite SIP packets due to their stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewall. In this short tutorial I will show you how to disable the SPI firewall. Covering what SPI is and why it exists in the router is outside the scope of this document, instead I suggest reading this wikipedia article on SPI.

Upgrade your firmware

Before you begin this tutorial it is highly recommended that you upgrade your router to the latest and "greatest" firmware for your WGT614 v8. To do that, go to this Netgear webpage and download the latest firmware for the router. You may follow their instructions for upgrading. When you've completed that process then continue with this tutorial.

Disabling the stateful firewall

FW Version V1.1.11_6.0.36

After deciding whether or not disabling the firewall is for you and upgrading to the latest firmware, follow these simple steps to complete the process. At the time of this writing the latest firmware for the WGT614 v8 was Version V1.1.11_6.0.36, any other version of the firmware may change the steps required to complete this process.

1. Log in to the routers administration page through your web browser, by default the page should be located at http://192.168.1.1 and the username and password are admin/password.
2. On the left menu under "Advanced" click the "WAN Setup" link.
3. In the content area of the page under "WAN Setup" there should be a checkbox labeled "Disable SPI Firewall". Check that box and click the apply button.
4. Below that, you’ll want to do the same for “Disable SIP ALG”
5. NAT Filtering set to "Open" (image shows default setting as "Secured")
6. If present, DDoS set to disable/off
7. Important: After the router finishes its update, be sure that you force all of your SIP devices behind the firewall to reregister. Failing to do so will only complicate matters further!

Completing this process should fix the issues that your SIP phones face when behind a Netgear router.

NOTE: The information provided above is from another OnSIP customer offering these settings for other customers with a similar device. OnSIP does not sell nor monitor equipment and/or it’s firmware updates/etc. The settings of routers can change and are out of the control of OnSIP. For best results, reach out to the manufacturer directly.

Optimize your network for business VoIP with the right router