IP Site Connect Over DSL network

[moztas]

Hi All,

I have been installing Mototrbo IP Site Connect system which has 4 repeaters in different cities. They are linked each others over ADSL network. Master's IP address is static and peer's IP addresses are dynamic. Communication between master to peers and peers to master are OK without any issues but there is no communication peer to peer.

Any ideas? anybody has experience?

Regards
moztas

[marcosorourke]

Let me see if I understand correctly... A call made on a peer repeater doesn't show up at other peer repeaters, but does at the Master?

[moztas]

Let me see if I understand correctly... A call made on a peer repeater doesn't show up at other peer repeaters, but does at the Master?

Yes, that's correct! Any idea?

[Wowbagger]

If the peers are dynamic, how are they discovering each other's IP address?
Could you have a firewall issue? Specifically, could the peers be behind a stateful firewall that is allowing the incoming traffic from the master as it is related to a traffic stream from the peer, but the peer-to-peer traffic is being blocked because it is NOT related to an existing stream?

[marcosorourke]

I was going to say the same thing as wowbagger. Perhaps you need to create a VPN network at the Master site, and have the Peer sites connect to the VPN network.

[alex]

The master must have a static IP addresses. The Master can have (and you can go over but the book says 16) as many peers as the slowest link in the network will support. The Master will send out the IP Table to the peers so if the master goes down the peers can continue to float the network and will continue to scan for the master. If during this time a node drops off the network while the Master is down the node will not reconnect to the other peers until such time as the master returns.

On MOL, you can download the Mototrbo System Planner. It is about 200 or so page PDF. It explains how the system works and how to calculate bandwidth out.

So for the sake of discussion, lets's say each repeater requires 100kbs of bandwidth. As you add more repeaters, you need to add that bandwidth to each site. Example:

5 site system: Each site needs 500kbps of bandwidth.
2 site system: Each site needs 200kbps of bandwidth.

(And someone here is going to correct me on my kbps I'm sure... but stick with the example).

If you are also running RDAC or other things such as a console system - each console may also add around 100kbps, I think RDAC needs another 32kbps per site.

So - 5 site system, 2 consoles, plus 1 RDAC.... you would need around 750kbps of guaranteed bandwidth at each site in order to support the network.

Bottom line - read the system planner and get to know the bandwidth calculator. It is all in the manual. I think your problem is the ADSL lines.

Alex

[moztas]

Thanks for the replies.

I guess Alex's idea is correct because peer sites have poor internet connection. Peer repeaters are installed on construction sites and their internet connection unstable (I remember below 1kbps). Master repeater is installed in the city center and has around 6 mbps.

I'm going to check system planner and calculate required bandwidth for the repeaters.

By the way, I installed "TRBOnet™ Watch for Technicians" to check sites. On diagnostic page only master site was shown up but peers were not. On the topology page there are master, RDAC application and two peers but peers were shown with red cross icon and they have no information on them.

I'm new for DMR systems and need some experience.

Best Regards,
moztas

[alex]

With the right internet connection you should be good. I think you mean that the sites are less than 1mpbs - probably 768k, which means you might only have 380k uplink speed, not enough to run a 4 site system.

You will also want to watch how many RDAC's you have, plus, with TrboNET you may need another 100k or so of bandwidth at each site. The key with this is to read, and read again, then check the math.

The stuff is as stable as the links between them are.

VPN would really put the icing on the cake and reduce troubleshooting - but the bandwidth has to be there. Don't forget to calculate in the VPN overhead.

Alex

[moztas]

Thanks for the suggestion Alex. I'll update.

[Bill_G]

I have zero experience with IP site connect, but do know it is best to have static ip's at all sites with vpn tunnels between them so you can write routing tables. Juniper and Cisco / Linksys sell internet firewall/vpn appliances that protect your system from attack, and give you remote maintenance access. There is a learning curve.

[com501]

Make sure your ISP provider doesn't block multicast on port 50000 too.

[FatBoy]

you need a few UT-3302 from DCB to setup a cheap vpn. It sounds like the repeaters cannot "see" each other. This is auuming that you have enough bandwidth and ports are not blocked. FB

[Tony Soprano]

Going to echo the opinions of others and say that a VPN is a good idea, if not critical, especially from a troubleshooting perspective. I have a couple of 5-site systems with some portions of it going over phone company DSL, and even with 60-second GPS updates on 30+ units, we've not had any bandwidth problems. We use Sonicwall appliances with remote access for packet sniffing.

Static IP's on every repeater are a must-have, I just don't know how you would ever get it to work over the Internet otherwise. Running static over VPNs ensure that the peers know about each other.

And God help you if you send in a repeater for repair that comes back with up-versioned firmware, especially if it's the Master. Yet another thing that Motorola won't tell you. Oh and while you're at it, don't duplicate the repeater ID's, that will keep them from talking too.