So I have one of those customers who likes to read to much. They downloaded a manual to the 1140 IP phones we sold them. We put two of them on a BCM 50 and told them they needed to setup a VPN for the phones to work. Now they think they have read in the manual that the 1140E comes with its own built in VPN capabilites. It actually discusses it on page 34 of the user manual. Why would everyone tell me that the customer required a VPN setup if the phone already has one built in. Now their IT guys is getting involved and confusing everyone. Can the phone do its own VPN? is there a reason not to use it? I specifically told both the customer and the IT guy that they had to have a seperate VPN, so now I look somewhat foolish as well. What exactly is the Nortel Phone VPN configuration wizard? When I read it, it actually looks like this is what you need to run to get your phone up and running on the network initially. Just an FYI, prior to shipping these phones to the remote sites, we plugged them into the customers local network and they came up, updated, and then stared to work just fine.
I appreciate any insight that you might have.
Thanks
Basically VPN connection is implemented to inter-connect two private networks.
VPN does not come into picture if you are trying to connect an IP phone in the same network as that of the BCM main unit is connected to. You could just configure the IP phone by pressing the soft keys during its boot up when the Nortel logo prompts up on the phone display and proceed further.
If you would need the IP phones to be remotely connected to the pbx(BCM 50) then you need to set up a VPN tunnel between the BCM 50 at one end and a VPN supporting router(eg:BSR) at the other end and then plug the IP phone to that BSR.
I hope this might help you understand better.
I get the need for the VPN, my main question is what does the Nortel VPN Phone configuration wizard do?
well, i briefly read the manual and it looks like the phone can actually have its own vpn client built in. I did not know that. I wouldn't try loading this firmware myself. I would still go with a hardware vpn/router appliance. The added benefit of the hardware based vpn is that they can link multiple PCs and phones back to the home office. Also even if they load the VPN software on the phone, you will still need a VPN endpoint to link with the phone. This could be the BCM itself (with VPN capability) or a VPN appliance back at the home office. In my opinion, It's what you support that counts, not what the manuals say.
Where does this software get downloaded from? The BCM? I really wish I could give my customer a reason not to try to set it up this way. They already have a Cisco PIX at the home office.
I have an answer!!!
Well, sometimes the details get lost in the mix. Seems that the customer downloaded the manual for the CS1000. With the right firmware and license, the 1140E can act as its own VPN on a CS1000. This feature is not available on the BCM50. So we were only a little crazy afterall... LOL.....
That's good news! I wish I could help some more. I'm not a PIX expert but a PIX is capable, just need one at each end and setup the VPN.