av-calls: sip vs. upnp

[anders thoresson]

Hi,

I have a webcam that I want to use together with Messenger to make audio-
video calls. So far, I thought that the solution was to get a firewall that
supports UPnP. But I've just understood that UPnP is already being replaced
by SIP.

If I buy a firewall that supports SIP, will I still be able to make audio-
video connections to friends who are using "the other way to connect" (what
ever that technology is), or would I only be able to communicate with other
who also use SIP?

 

[Jonathan Kay [MVP]]

Greetings Anders,

SIP and UPnP are two different things, neither is replacing the other -- assuming you mean a
firewall NAT/router (just a normal software firewall doesn't need to support either of these
things, unless it does some sort of NAT/internet sharing duties). SIP is just a protocol,
and UPnP is just a standard, compatibility really remains with the program.

Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger need UPnP enabled NATs for voice/video to be
successful -- and using that, you can connect to anyone connected directly, behind their own
UPnP NAT, etc.

This of course, ignores the enterprise level SIP based proxy type hardware/software from
Radivision or VCon, but I don't assume that's what you're referring to.
____________________________________________
Jonathan Kay
Windows MVP, Messenger
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/
Messenger Resources - http://messenger.jonathankay.com

 

[anders thoresson]

Hi Jonathan,

Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger need UPnP enabled NATs for
voice/video to be
successful -- and using that, you can connect to anyone connected
directly, behind their own
UPnP NAT, etc.

I'm aware of that UPnP is a way letting software on a client control the
firewall and SIP is a protocol to initate sessions. But I've been led to
believe that choosing a SIP-enabled firewall, like a Cisco PIX 501 or an
Intertex IX66, would remove the need for a UPnP-enabled firewall. Isn't
that correct?

This is one of the resources I've read:
http://www.intertex.se/index2.asp?iMenuID=283&iItemID=227.