In a previous article we reviewed how to configure a Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 5520 using ADAC/LLDP (802.1ab) so a Nortel Internet Telephone could discover the voice VLAN ID automatically without manually configuration of the phone.
If you don’t have a switch that supports ADAC/LLDP you can still utilize automatic VLAN assignment using DHCP. I’ve actually used this method (before Nortel supported LLDP) and it works well but can sometimes be difficult to troubleshoot.
You’ll need to configure DHCP option 191 (string) with the following syntax;
VLAN-A:vvvv.
Where: “VLAN-A” Option 191 begins with this string for all Nortel IP phones.
“vvvv” The VLAN ID for the voice VLAN in decimal
Here’s an example if I were trying to assign the phones with a voice VLAN of 31;
VLAN-A:31.
There must be a colon (:) seperating the VLAN-A from the VLAN ID. The string must also end in a period. It may be necessary, depending on your DHCP server, to enclose the enter string in quotation marks.
How does it actually work?
With the phone and DHCP server configured properly here’s how it will work.
- The phone will boot up and make a DHCP request for option 191 in the Default VLAN of the port connecting the phone.
- If the phone receives a response to it’s request it will issue a DHCP Release of the address it received in Step 1.
- The phone will make a second DHCP request in the VLAN that was returned in option 191. The phone will be requesting DHCP option 128 from the DHCP server, this will include the Call Server information. (Note: if you use a sniffer you will see that the DHCP packets will have an 802.1q header with the appropriate VLAN ID)
- The phone will connect to the Call Server specified in DHCP option 128 and will prompt the user for the Node ID and TN information.
With all that said we did leave out one very important piece of the pie… the network switch configuration. You’ll need to configure the VLAN and QoS settings manually depending on the switch vendor.
Cheers!
I’m currently doing such a setup for a client using PP8610, edge ERS55xx switches and Nortel i2004 phones. I have been struggling with the ADAC/mac issues but hopefully the latest SW 5.1.0.0.1.4 will help. This series you have done are really appreciated. I think you mention somewhere that the PassPort need further configuration. Is that correct ?
Thx.
Kenneth
I am curious. The manual for the 1140e does talk about this technique for dhcp configuration. However, it says that you can pick from a list of option numbers including 128 for the first dhcp request. Can you use option 128 on the default vlan and still have it work?
Hi Kenneth,
You would need to have a core switch (such as an ERS 8600 or 5500) setup for Layer 3 switching (routing). ADAC is broken in anything less than 5.0.6.26. In v5.1 software we supposedly no longer need to maintain the MAC address list within ADAC, since the switch now uses LLDP to determine if there is a Nortel IP phone attached to the port.
Cheers!
Hi Prophet001,
You can use DHCP option 128 without using DHCP option 191. They are independent of each other. So you could most definitely just use DHCP option 128 to assign the phone an IP address and the proper CS1000 information while keeping everything in the default VLAN.
Cheers!
Can you push out TN and node information to the handset so the user doesn not have to enter that in?
I’ve got lldp-med and dhcp pushing everything else, thanks to your helpful blog… :)
I don’t believe you can automate disseminating the node number and/or TN information with any of Nortel’s Internet Telephones.
The information must be programmed manually the first time the phone is installed. The Nortel phones will store (NVRAM) the Node and TN information so that the end-users will not need to enter anything on subsequent reboots.
This isn’t as big a problem as it might appear and/or sound. I’ve staged up to 250 Nortel i2002/i2004 phones prior to their final physical installation. I used the staging process to upgrade the phones to 0604DBG (required for LLDP-MED), to configure the phone settings (enable LLDP, enable Voice VLAN, enable LLDP-MED) and to program the node and TN information. I was then able to label each box (phone) and leave it’s placement and installation to a non-technical team.
Cheers!
Hi Micheal
I work at a company where we have muliple Gateways on mutiple sites.
For some reason the users love to move between sites and with the full DHCP option on, its frustrating because you have to go out and change the users Node ID on the phone to the specific site they moved to.
Is there a script you can write for when a phone changes from site on a HA system that it can automatically assing the site’s Node to the phone also?
Hi Renier,
We configure those folks that wish to be mobile with partial DHCP and hard set the Call Server IP address, node number and TN in their phones. Then they can roam to any campus where DHCP will assign them a local IP address and local 2245 gateway but the phone will connect to their “home” Call Server across the wide area network.
We’ve actually been very successful in our deployments. The early firmware for the 221x wireless phones didn’t have the partial DHCP option available so we pushed Nortel hard to get that feature set into the phone firmware.
It sounds like your physically moving folks between Call Servers? If you’re doing that you’ll need re-configure the wireless phone. I’m not sure if Nortel is looking to deploy the Nortel-i2004-B DHCP option string on the wireless phones which might give you the ability to remotely reconfigure the device.
Good Luck!
Hello, we are trying to use a BCM 400, BES 1020’s, and 1140e phones. The BES’s have some limitations and we are trying to find workarounds to automate the phone setup process. We can only do egress tagging on the ports. We have a voice and data vlan. We have tried to use option 191 to assign the vvlan but it does not seem to work. Option 128 does work. The issue is with both vlan’s on a port the BES will not allow a phone to pull dhcp so we use lldp and it works. Can you use lldp and option 191 at the same time? or is it negated. Thanks.
Hi,
I don’t believe the BES switch supports LLDP-MED, which is what you actually need for the switch to “inform” the phone which VLAN ID to use for the voice VLAN. At this time the only switch that supports this feature is the Ethernet Routing Switch 5520. The upcoming release of v5.1 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Series will also support LLDP-MED.
So to answer your question you really shouldn’t need to use both LLDP-MED and DHCP Option 191 at the same time. If you actually configure the IP phone for LLDP-MED it will ignore DHCP Option 191.
Cheers!
The Nortel 1100 series phones via TFTP can assign the node and TN automatically in the lastest firmware UniStim 3.0. In fact, all parameters can be including all phone settings, volume, backlight, etc.
Hello,
You are correct. Every since release 2.3 (latest release that just hit the streets is 3.0) you can configure “almost all” the options via DHCP. There are obviously a few options you can’t still configure via DHCP because the phone wouldn’t be able to get a DHCP response.
You can read my post entitled “Nortel IP Phones – UNIStim release v2.3” for a list of all the DHCP options.
Thanks for the comment!
In this post you mention:
“In a previous article we reviewed how to configure a Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 5520 using ADAC/LLDP (802.1ab) so a Nortel Internet Telephone could discover the voice VLAN ID automatically without manually configuration of the phone.”
Where is this article? i see only an article where you teach to configure via DHCP option 128: http://blog.michaelfmcnamara.com/2007/10/dhcp-options-voip/
Would love to read your article on that, since i’m configuring 1120’s + 5520/4526 + bcm450
Dan.-
Hi Dan,
Here’s the post in question, http://blog.michaelfmcnamara.com/2007/10/nortel-ers-5520-pwr-switch/. This document is still applicable for the most part. If you are running software v5.1 or later on the ERS5520 then you don’t need to work about the MAC address ranges.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Good Luck!
Thank you very much! I’m planning to upgrade the 5520 to version 6 (after learning from here that was already out). Already downloaded it. Let’s hope everything goes according to plan! Let’s hope BCM450 behaves as well as CS when it comes to ADAC.
Dan.-
The whole LLDP/ADAC thing is really between the IP phone and the switch, it actually has no interaction with the CS/BCM/SRG until the phone actually registers.
Just be aware of the following post I made recently, http://blog.michaelfmcnamara.com/2008/08/adac-and-vlan-configurations/. If you make VLAN changes after you enable ADAC you can run into issues later on.
Good Luck!
to voip and enabling with dhcp – we have dhcp for pc’s at many offices and all doing IPhelper to individual scopes on a common dhcp server. can the phones use a similar design or must have a dhcp local to them?
Hi Radman,
You can use a DHCP relay (IP helper) for the IP phones just as you do with any other DHCP capable device.
Good Luck!