It is important for VoIP customers to know the SIP port numbers used by their provider. If things go wrong and you start troubleshooting, the ports used for SIP calls may be needed in order to configure your router correctly and get high quality audio.
In this guide we will be focusing on the ports used by some of the top residential and business VoIP companies.
SIP Traffic Ports
First let's briefly discuss network ports and then we will move on to the SIP traffic ports.
A network port is a virtual port number that is used by software applications. By having its own unique virtual port, the application can share the same physical port as another application without interference. It will transfer information via its virtual port number.
The port numbers vary between 0 and 65,535.
What is Port 5060?
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is the protocol that is used for VoIP and, as you likely are aware, this voice data is broken into digital packets and sent over the Internet. In order to control the SIP based call, communication is sent over the control channel and the most popular number for this is port 5060. Keep in mind this is just for the call control. The actual audio packets are sent using RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) and this uses different port numbers from the control channel. This is often referred to as SIP RTP ports and tends to be in the 10000 to 30000 range.
The popularity of using port 5060 for SIP has become rather problematic over the years. This is because hackers will likely try to break into your system at some point and guess what port they start with. That's right, good old port 5060. There are other ways that providers thwart these attempts but we will leave that for another day.
Providers are free to use whichever numbers they wish for their SIP traffic ports. For this reason, each provider tends to have a different set of ports. When your SIP calls are working normally, which is most of time, you really don't care what your SIP ports are. However, if you start having registration problems (e.g. Device not recognized type issues) or one way audio you will need to perform some troubleshooting to ensure your SIP traffic is getting to its intended destination. Your firewall/router is usually the first place to start and our guide to setting up VoIP on your router should help explain how to perform port forwarding.
With all of this in mind, the rest of this guide will highlight the SIP port number and RTP port used by the most popular VoIP companies in the U.S today. You can use this information in conjunction with the router guide stated above to create port forwarding rules to ensure your SIP calls run trouble-free.
Popular Residential Provider Ports
Vonage (and Basictalk)
Vonage is probably one of the most well known residential providers. The ports Vonage uses (and likely Basictalk too since it is a cut-down Vonage service) are as follows:
SIP Control: Port 5061 UDP
Audio (RTP): Ports 10000 to 20000 (random so make sure all ports are covered)
MagicJack
MagicJack is a very popular provider for home phone service. The MagicJack SIP ports used are as follows, though good luck finding in-depth information for this on their website:
SIP Control: Port 5060 and 5070 UDP
Audio (RTP): Ports 10000 to 65535 (random)
Ooma
Ooma is another low cost provider. The ports Ooma uses are as follows:
SIP Control: Port 53, 123, 514, 1194, 3386, 3480 UDP. Ports 53, 110, 443 TCP (provisioning).
Audio (RTP): Ports 10000 to 30000 (random so make sure all ports are covered)
Phonepower
The ports Phonepower uses are as follows:
SIP Control: Port 5000 to 5080 UDP. Port 4200 TCP.
Audio (RTP): Ports 10000 to 11000, 12060 to 12080, 16384 to 16472, 16600 to 16700 UDP.
VoIPo
The ports VoIPo uses are as follows:
SIP Control and RTP: Port 5004 to 65000 UDP.
Callcentric
SIP Control: Port 5060 to 5080 UDP/TCP.
Audio (RTP): Ports 10000 to 65535 UDP.
Popular Business Provider Ports
Quality of Service (QoS) is extremely important for businesses. After all, you need to present your business in a professional manner and poor audio quality or dropped calls can greatly affect your business. The most popular business providers are stated in this section and the ports they communicate on. Use this information with the router setup guide referenced earlier to configure QoS for your SIP traffic. This will ensure that highest priority is given to your SIP calls over any other Internet traffic.
Vonage Business
The Vonage business service differs from the residential service in terms of ports to forward. This is likely due to the history of Vonage on the business side since it acquired Vocalocity. The ports Vonage business uses are as follows:
SIP Control: Port 5060 UDP
Audio (RTP): Ports 10000 to 30000
Ringcentral
Ringcentral port range tends to vary based on the service you purchased but the basic ports for desk phones are as follows:
SIP Control: Port 5060 to 6000 UDP/TCP
Audio (RTP): Ports 16384 to 16482
8x8
8x8 ports are as follows:
SIP Control: Port 5060, 5196 to 5199 UDP
Audio (RTP): Ports 3478 to 3480, 15044, 2222 to 2269, 16384 to 16404
Nextiva
Nextiva ports are as follows:
SIP Control: Port 5062 UDP
Audio (RTP): Not stated surprisingly but forums indicate 10000 to 30000 UDP
OnSIP
Onsip ports are as follows:
SIP Control: Port 5060 UDP
Audio (RTP): 10000 to 20000 UDP
Conclusions
In this article we gave a brief overview on the reasons for needing network ports, specifically SIP ports, and also the port numbers used by some of the most popular companies. If you need help configuring port forwarding on your router so you can plug in the values from this page, consult our guide to port forwarding for VoIP guide.
If you have any comments or questions, please add them below. We are always very responsive to our visitors questions and comments.
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