How to make different networks appear as one network?

[Mahmoud Alharazeen]

So I have a client who has different branches of his shop and wants to install IP telephones and want them to be able to dial each other?

 

how to make them appear as if they are on the same network also do I need another router in each branch to create a virtual LAN?


also another question?
what is a SIP account what does it affect? because some phones have 2,4,6 etc sip accounts
also do I need a pbx ?


I didn't install IP telephones before but I troubleshooted some 


Thanks,

[Lurick]

I would really look at getting a proper consultant firm for this that can handle your questions and provide proper evaluations and input along with support when things go south. This is far outside the realm of a couple random network questions on a forum and likely requires design and ongoing support work, even simple, to get what you want.

[HanZie82]

Virtual
Private
Network


But mostly also what @Lurick said.

[LIGISTX]

2 hours ago, Mahmoud Alharazeen said:

So I have a client who has different branches of his shop and wants to install IP telephones and want them to be able to dial each other?

 

how to make them appear as if they are on the same network also do I need another router in each branch to create a virtual LAN?


also another question?
what is a SIP account what does it affect? because some phones have 2,4,6 etc sip accounts
also do I need a pbx ?


I didn't install IP telephones before but I troubleshooted some 


Thanks,

As said above, I wouldn’t advertise your services to companies if you have never actually done the service before. Imagine if you hired a car mechanic to fix your car who had never done it before, and you found out there were just asking questions on a forum hoping to get told the correct answers.

 

Learning is important, and you have to start somewhere… but I would hire a consultant to get it done correctly, and learn from them. Learning from the internet on a paid job is not the way to do it. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

4 hours ago, HanZie82 said:

Virtual
Private
Network


But mostly also what @Lurick said.

Obviously a VPN could achieve it, but connecting all the networks together seems overkill and more likely to incur problems if your only goal is to have the VoIP on the same network but not everything else.

 

5 hours ago, Mahmoud Alharazeen said:

So I have a client who has different branches of his shop and wants to install IP telephones and want them to be able to dial each other?

 

how to make them appear as if they are on the same network also do I need another router in each branch to create a virtual LAN?

 

I would think having all shops connect to the same PBX that handles the telephone numbers for all shops centrally would make more sense for this.  But as @Lurick said you really want to be contacting a professional who knows the best way to achieve this and to set it up.

 

Basically every phone would have a SIP account into that PBX and the PBX would be configured to route the calls according to which branch that phone is located at.  A VPN would likely add more latency and connection problems, plus more complexity on the network configuration at each shop.

[TubsAlwaysWins]

7 hours ago, Mahmoud Alharazeen said:

So I have a client who has different branches of his shop and wants to install IP telephones and want them to be able to dial each other?

 

how to make them appear as if they are on the same network also do I need another router in each branch to create a virtual LAN?


also another question?
what is a SIP account what does it affect? because some phones have 2,4,6 etc sip accounts
also do I need a pbx ?


I didn't install IP telephones before but I troubleshooted some 


Thanks,

One building or multiple? If one, you just need a router that can make VLANs and a switch you can configure VLAN's in. If its multiple site, get a router for each site and make a IPSec tunnel between them or something. 

 

Think of SIP accounts as extensions. You can have multiple extensions on one phone. 

Look into 3cx. You can host it yourself or have 3cx host it. No VLANs required unless you want the phones on a different subnet compared to the rest of the network. Licensing cost depends on number of extensions, simultaneous calls, etc. You could set up a Hosted 3cx instance, install a SBC (Session Border Controller) at each location, and the provision your phones to the SBC and they can dial each other. This is what we do at work. 

 

If you self-host I think you can user Direct SIP-STUN provisioning and you dont need to install a SBC at each location. Just give 3cx the MAC address and it will provision the phone (Depending on model). Id suggest using Yealink phones as ive had the most luck with them.

 

Then you buy or port your numbers to a SIP provider like Flowroute, and tell flowroute to route to your 3cx instance. If you self host you will need a Static WAN IP to assign to the PBX. If you host through 3cx, they will give you one. 

 

Yes you need a PBX, this would be something like 3cx. Grandstream also has some but I dont like them. 

 

Happy to help with any 3cx questions you have