Is Verizon Blocking CallVantage? Or Is CallVantage The Issue?

I sure hope this isn't true....or that it gets solved FAST!

A reader of mine sent me a note about having FIOS installed by Verizon and how it has affected his VoIP service, from AT&T. He's been a long time user of AT&T's CallVantage but following the installation of FIOS, it stopped working.

It seems his ActionTec router, which connects to the FIOS Coax won't allow him to use AT&T's CallVantage.

The reader writes:

So - now I find out it's AT&T policy not to support their TA behind the Actiontec router that comes with FiOS. According to the tech I spoke to last night, VZ kept issueing a firmware upgrades for their Actiontec router that would break whatever workaround AT&T found to get their TAs to work.

Since the Actiontec router's input is COAX, there's really no way to get the TA in front of the Actiontec router. I am probably going to have to cancel my CallVantage service, along with every new FiOS customer on the East Coast.

-Harrison

Jeff Pulver, who also has FIOS tells me that FreeWorldDialup worked fine over the new high speed service, which makes me wonder just what's up?

I'd be interesting to hear if others are having the same issues with their analog telephone adapters from Vonage, Earthlink, Broadvoice, SunRocket, Primus, etc. to see if this is an isolated problem or one that is really going to be similar to the case of the cable company blocking Vonage a few years back.

I have placed a call to Verizon PR. To make it easier on my friends in the media, the PR contact according to Verizon's web site is available here

Stay tuned.

UPDATE-BroadVoice's CEO, Les Berry reports happy customers using their award winning service.

Update # 2-I found this about SunRocket and others on DSL Reports.

Update #3-Verizon's PR representative has called and they are looking into it but doesn't believe that the technical incompatibility is intentional or designed to block any VoIP provider.

Update # 4--Steve Howe, Sr. VP of Earthlink reports that Earthlink's TrueVoice is working fine with FIOS based on some Friday investigation with Earthlink employees who are on FIOS from Verizon. This is looking more and more like an AT&T vs. ActionTec/Verizon issue, likely tied to MGCP not SIP.

Comments

[Frank]

It's not unusual for broadband routers to break SIP-based voice services.

The coax that is coming out of the router is using the home networking standard, HPNA. Of course, by that time's already been NATted.

We need ICE, which is as close to Skype as the SIP vendors have now, to resolve these NAT traversal issues.

Frank

[Eric]

Just posted this on another site:

I just got Fios 2 weeks ago with the Actiontec MI424WR and I can confirm similar VoIP problems. I connect to my corporate voice pbx and since the switch we have had little or no service when running through the Actiontec. Interestingly, when we change the configuration to act as a bridge to our linksys router, everything runs fine.

In troubleshooting the Actiontec, we encountered several SIP errors in the log. We chose not troubleshoot it since we didn’t want to deal with an unresponsive tech support. I’d love to be in touch with your verizon contacts and sort this out. It seems to be isolated to an Actiontec problem.

[Andrew Mitry]

My in laws had the same issues when they installed FIOS and ended up having to switch to Verizon's VoiceWing.