Setting up Ekiga for VOIP Calls

[Texstar]

JohnBoy

This tutorial is essentially a picture walk through of the setup of a VOIP account in Ekiga.
As you will see there is no magic to this at all.

OK, the first pic is just a welcome screen so read and move Forward
1
                 

In the space provided enter two names by which you will be known at Ekiga
2
                 

On the following page you enter a username and password for your Ekiga Free account. Ckick on the link to go and register your free account with Ekiga. I registered as johnboy, so my number would be sip:johnboy@ekiga.net. You will be sent a confirmation email confirming the details of your account.
3
                 

In pic #3 you can see I did not wish to get a 'Call Out Account' and so ticked the box at the bottom of the page and did not enter any details.


As you can see from this page, at any time in the future you can subscribe to any of the services listed -- use Edit - Configuration Assistant to get to the choices.
4
                     

Here you must select the connection type that most resembles your connection in SPEED of UPLOAD. For instance I have a 3 MB connection but my upload is only 128Kb/s
5
                     

In pic #6 you select suitable hardware connected to your system. As can be seen I selected the Cam Mic because I did not have a separate Mic. I will hear everything through my desktop speakers.
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On this page you select whether to have your Cam display or an Ekiga Logo for privacy.
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This page shows all your selections. If you wish to make changes use the Back button and then repeat your entries as normal.
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Pic #9 shows that I have ticked the box to enable the account => I want it to register when Ekiga is launched.
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Ekiga main panel .... Edit Menu - Accounts .... my account is shown with the name Ekiga, so right click and edit it --- see next pic
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Editing account details .. changing Ekiga to JohnBoy so I know which account is which when I have multiple accounts entered. You will see my account with the new name in later pics.
11
                                 

A view of the email from Ekiga confirming my account details
12
           

Pic #13 is my account now that it has been registered with Ekiga. A word here about Registered .... that means that your Ekiga client has made contact with the Ekiga server and 'logged' on. From that moment all calls to your "number" will go to your PC. If your account does not register, then you cannot be contacted as the server does not know your location on the internet (IP address).
13
                       

The main Ekiga Dial out panel. Using the arrow keys either side of Dialpad you can display your contact list or call history. The "number" in the line at the top will call the Ekiga Echo Test line when the Green phone icon is pressed. To hang up, press the other phone which will turn red when you are on a call.
14
                                     

That's it.
You are now ready to call anyone with a SIP account anywhere in the world.
It doesn't matter if they have signed up with Ekiga, Gizmo or any of the other numerous providers, you can call them just by specifying their SIP account in the same manner as we called the echo test. So your contact might be  abcdefg@voipwise.com  or some other provider.

It will not connect to Skype users who are 'locked in' to their own proprietary system and Skype does not allow their users to call SIP VOIP accounts or allow SIP users to call Skype users. That is Skype's decision.

The great thing about Ekiga is that you can get VOIP "numbers" from many different providers and put the info into Ekiga and it will work for that account also. You are not limited to Ekiga accounts. Accounts can be added under Edit - Accounts, and you may have many accounts 'Registered' with different providers at the same time. A call to any one of them will cause your phone setup to ring and allow connection.

If questions arise about any part of the above I will make adjustments to clarify it.

Hopefully this will encourage more people to sign up for VOIP services.

Remember, VOIP providers give you a great deal on long distance calls when you sign up for that service, as only the end point costs are charged (plus a small margin) and generally works out at approximately 2 cents per minute for the more popular destinations.

Have fun!

[Ɗα√ϵς§]

I thought I'd have a go at this.

Once I had installed it and set up the account, I tried running Ekiga.

It did not connect to my network and I had to follow instructions to get it to do so. This involved disabling the firewall in my router! According to www.grc.com shields up test, I was now wide open, with ports open or closed but NONE in stealth mode.

Secondly, it would not recognise my sound card. No matter what setting I tried, it would not recognise it.

Skype may well be closed source, but how come it can work with my computer in Stealth mode, and ekiga cannot? Given the lack of security I decided not to bother. Apart from the fact that I could get no sound out of the system at all! Won't bother to cancel account, maybe there's other software that can make a better job of it.

Also I had to "name" the IP address that would be used. So presumably only available on my main computer OR my eeePC but not both.

Did JohnBoy have these problems? Or am I doing something wrong?

 

[Ɗα√ϵς§]

I take the sound bit back, the sound system had gone down for some reason, and logging out and in got it started again.

Any solution re the firewall, though?

[dixonpete]

I like Ekiga with the sole exception of the call quality and call volume. The latter may be a PCLOS issue. No matter what manipulation I try I can't get the receiving volume up high enough, and the mic volume isn't great either.

When I say the receiving volume may be a PCLOS issue, or perhaps native to this PC, on some video no matter how high I crank the volume the sound of conversation is barely audible. I'm assuming that this behavior is carrying over to Ekiga. I've just the Call Out feature so far. Purchased a Toronto number I haven't got working yet for incoming calls.

[Was_Just19]

I thought I'd have a go at this.

Once I had installed it and set up the account, I tried running Ekiga.

........

Did JohnBoy have these problems? Or am I doing something wrong?

 

Don't know about doing anything wrong, but I did not have any of those problems ..... I see the sound issue has been resolved.

It did not connect to my network and I had to follow instructions to get it to do so. This involved disabling the firewall in my router! According to www.grc.com shields up test, I was now wide open, with ports open or closed but NONE in stealth mode.

I do not understand what you mean by connecting to your network 

It is some time since I set up Ekiga from scratch, but I seem to remember there is a panel which indicates how it will behave if you are behind a firewall. IIRC it uses a stun server something like  stun.ekiga.net or something like that.
Essentially what this means is that Ekiga connects to its home base and that picks up the IP address from which the connection is made, and so it has no difficulty working through a firewall.
I don't know what instructions you refer to as having followed 

Regardless what softphone you use it will have the same requirements.
Skype must also use a similar scheme.

Skype may well be closed source, but how come it can work with my computer in Stealth mode, and ekiga cannot?

Maybe a configuration issue?

Also I had to "name" the IP address that would be used. So presumably only available on my main computer OR my eeePC but not both.

I have no idea where this came from either ..... there is no problem having the one account set up on multiple PCs. The 'naming' of the IP address appears to be connected with some instructions you mentioned above, so I have no idea what that is all about. 

I have been trying to think about what you mean about your network ..... is it that you are trying to use Ekiga to make calls netween PCs on a LAN ?
That can be done, but it is a different setup than using it for Internet calls ..... and there is no need to interfere with the routers firewall to use it in this manner, as the 'calls' never have to go through the firewall.

BTW, regarding Skype ..... yes it is proprietary and it is a closed 'community' of users who can neither dial out to, or receive calls from, VOIP users using other protocols ---- although I believe that lately there have been (paid for) services appearing which allow some of this functionality.


johnboy

[Ɗα√ϵς§]

I do not understand what you mean by connecting to your network  

Well I have two computers sharing an internet connection, I used the word network because that's the term that Ekiga used in its error window.

This is the error that Ekiga throws up every time I try to run it. This is the message I get:

=======================
Ekiga did not manage to configure your network settings automatically. You can still use it, but you need to configure your network settings manually.

Please see http://wiki.ekiga.org/index.php/Enable_port_forwarding_manually for instructions
=======================

And these instructions led to me having to fix the IP address for the computer that I was using to make the calls, and when I had carried out the instructions I did, I tried the Shields up test, and basically I was wide open.  :'(

[Ɗα√ϵς§]

This leads me to this page of instructions for setting up my router to allow Ekiga to work

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/ZyXEL/P-660HW-T1v2/Ekiga.htm

As you can see, no firewall!!

Skype works without any of this, from behind a firewall that is 100% stealthed according to www.grc.com

[Was_Just19]

This leads me to this page of instructions for setting up my router to allow Ekiga to work

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/ZyXEL/P-660HW-T1v2/Ekiga.htm

As you can see, no firewall!!

Skype works without any of this, from behind a firewall that is 100% stealthed according to www.grc.com

One of us is misreading the firewall setup on that page.
I do not have that router so cannot comment directly on it but it seems that what it is doing is bypassing the firewall for the LAN to LAN data; the WAN to LAN would still go through the firewall. I believe that is the normal setup for my router on the trusted LAN. The whole purpose of the page was to set up port forwarding, it appears, for those cases where the normal/automatic setup failed for some reason.

I suggest you try Edit - Configuration Assistant  again.
Set the connection up as an ADSL connection to the internet.
That should ensure it works through the router's firewall.

Skype works without any of this, from behind a firewall that is 100% stealthed according to www.grc.com

Yes it does, as does Ekiga, Linphone, Gizmo, Twinkle etc etc.
That Ekiga does not work for you implies that there is a configuration problem in your set up or you have an unusual situation.
Have you tried any of the other available VOIP soft phones?
Do they have similar problems?
You might have better luck setting up Linphone where the network settings have to be manually input (ie. stun server).

You can use your Ekiga account details in Linphone to see if that works for you.

regards,

johnboy

[Ɗα√ϵς§]

The ekiga setting nearly worked in Linphone, the echo test was so faint I could barely hear it. Maybe I should try something different.

[Was_Just19]

The ekiga setting nearly worked in Linphone, the echo test was so faint I could barely hear it. Maybe I should try something different.

Twinkle Phone is also in the repository if you want to give it a try.
I have my Ekiga account set up in that and the account registers OK.

On the subject of a faint echo test ..... did you check the controls for the Mic Volume ..... it may be turned down or you may need the Mic boost turned on .... or is the Ekiga Voice low too?

I just tried the Ekiga echo test from Twinkle and if anything it was too loud with whatever settings I have for my wireless headset (first time I tried the headset).

regards.

[Ɗα√ϵς§]

Strange! Is there video with Twinkle, I think I installed it.

The Ekiga software doesn't like my router, I've decided. Even taking the firewall completely off didn't help.

As for the volume in Linphone, it insists on using my Webcam mic irrespective of what I set, and it makes no difference where I put the slider  for that in KMix, it just seems to work at some standard fixed volume which is just right for Skype.

[Was_Just19]

Strange! Is there video with Twinkle, I think I installed it.

The Ekiga software doesn't like my router, I've decided. Even taking the firewall completely off didn't help.

As for the volume in Linphone, it insists on using my Webcam mic irrespective of what I set, and it makes no difference where I put the slider  for that in KMix, it just seems to work at some standard fixed volume which is just right for Skype.

I don't think there is video in Twinkle .....  it is in the road map of future additions.

Skype has a default setting that gives it control over the audio settings ... I usually untick it and take manual control.

Adjusting the slider here for the Mic in Kmix does affect how it behaves in Twinkle.

regards.