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We follow a lot of really smart geeks on Twitter. As you might imagine, there’s a good bit of chatter about the world’s best cellphones. About half are die-hard iPhone users, and the rest are all over the map. Our iPhone is now a glorified iPod and, when you finish reading today, you’ll understand why.
What always has set Macs apart from PCs in our humble opinion is flexibility. So why is it that Apple has gone out of its way to strip that feature from the iPhone? Well, we all know the answer. AT&T and the iTunes Store. Or in a word, money. So what’s missing? For openers, there’s no tethering, the ability to connect your PC to your cellphone when the power goes out so you can send an emergency message or check on your servers at work. And then there’s free calling: the ability to place free SIP calls or Google Voice calls using your cellphone from almost anywhere. And then there’s the money thing. If you’ve traveled to foreign countries with an AT&T-powered iPhone, we don’t have to finish this story. For everyone else, let’s just say the cost of using your iPhone in a foreign country or on a cruise ship is stratospheric.
We’ve watched our friends and colleagues purchase all sorts of add-on gizmos to make up for the shortcomings in the iPhone. These have included secondary cellphones and more recently the MiFi devices which let you pay one of the companies in the American cellphone oligopoly another $60++ per month to tether your notebook and netbook to the cellular data network. Let’s get this straight. We pay a cellphone provider for an unlimited data plan as part of our service, but to transmit data to or from our PC through the plan, add another $60 a month for another data plan with a bandwidth cap. Huh? This is for a service that most of us use intermittently and would prefer to never use because of the lousy performance. Here’s our #1 traveling rule. Never stay in a hotel that doesn’t have WiFi, period. Why would you? The one next door has it!
So let’s go about this by the book… with a requirements analysis first! We want a cellphone that makes cellular calls from most locations, and we want the ability to decide which cell provider we use depending upon where we are. We want the option to make phone calls through our own SIP provider, or Asterisk® server, or Google Voice whenever we feel like it with or without a Wi-Fi connection. And, of course, we want VoIP Prioritization. This means we want our cell phone to prioritize incoming and outgoing calls by attempting to use VoIP services first, cellphone carrier second. Good luck with that one! We also want to be able to check our email using POP3 or IMAP servers. And, when we need to send or receive something on our notebook computer and there’s no WiFi around, we want our cellphone to provide data connectivity. We’re not going to be downloading movies and 1,000-page books all day long. We just want to get an important file attachment from the office so we can read it on a normal screen. And, finally, we’d like a QWERTY keyboard for messaging, and we want to be able to change our own battery, add a memory chip, and swap out SIM cards whenever we’d like. And the music, camera, and GPS functionality would be nice-to-haves on a phone.
Is this so hard? Well, if you’re in the United States and you’re planning to purchase a phone through Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon to get one of those sign-away-your-life phone discounts, the answer is IMPOSSIBLE! And, to those that are chomping at the bit to tell us how they’ve accomplished some of these miracles with their hacked iPhone, let me just remind you that Apple considers it a national security threat to hack your iPhone thus explaining why Apple also considers it honorable to brick your hacked iPhone at any time despite the fact that you paid for it. Ask yourself if you really want to invest your cellphone dollars with a company spewing forth this kind of bullshit stuff.
And the answer is…
The unlocked U.S. version of the Nokia E71 costs $289.99 at NewEgg, and it’s worth every penny. We’ve been using ours all day, every day for the better part of a year. We’re not going to do a full review of the phone when there’s already an excellent one out there. Start with the allaboutsymbian review and then pick up again here. What isn’t covered in that review is the critical component that we believe sets this phone apart from everything else out there: incredibly simple SIP connectivity and VoIP setup with an Asterisk server because of the native SIP stack and SIP client which is built into the E71’s firmware. And, as you will soon discover, this transforms the E71 into the perfect traveling companion because it makes the E71 just another telephone extension on your home office Asterisk PBX. If secure communications matters, there’s VPN support as well.
Implementing Incoming VoIP Prioritization. Here’s how we’ve set up connectivity to our E71. First, create an extension on your Asterisk server that will be dedicated to remote SIP access from your E71. Let’s use extension 371 in this example. Give it a very secure password because the IP address of your E71 will change as you move from place to place so we can’t really lock down the extension with anything other than a secure password, or you won’t be able to connect. Next, create another extension (372) and forward all incoming calls to that extension to the regular phone number of your E71, i.e. the one provided by your cellphone provider. Then create a Ring Group on your Asterisk server (373) and set up 371 as the only number in the ring group extension list. For the destination if no answer, choose extension 372. Finally, set up your Google Voice number with a destination extension that forwards calls to ring group 373. So the way this will work is that incoming calls to your Google Voice number will ring the SIP connection on your E71 (371) if your E71 is registered to your Asterisk server via SIP. And, when it’s not registered, the calls will be forwarded to the regular phone number of your E71 (372) without any delay since extension 371 isn’t registered with your server. If you get in the habit of searching for WiFi wherever you happen to light and connecting back to your Asterisk server, (as you’ll see, this is a one-click operation), then you’ll have dirt-cheap remote cellphone service on your E71 almost all of the time. And, if you travel to foreign countries, it means that any time your E71 is registered with a WiFi HotSpot, all incoming calls will be free instead of costing an arm-and-a-leg in per minute international roaming fees.
SIP Setup for Nokia E71. John Rogers over at geek.com has written an excellent piece with lots of pretty pictures to show you how to configure your E71 with Asterisk. Rather than reinvent the wheel, here’s the link. It only takes a couple of minutes. We do have a few tips to get you started on the right foot. Make certain that the IP address you enter for your Asterisk server is the public IP address or fully-qualified domain name for your server, not the private IP address inside your firewall. As you roam from one WiFi network to the next, the E71 will automatically configure the phone for the new networks as soon as you choose WLAN Scanning, select a WiFi network, and choose to Connect to your Asterisk server. This is performed from the default screen on your phone so there’s no wading through layer upon layer of menus. After linking and unlinking to different networks about a dozen times, we have found it’s a good idea to shut down the phone, remove the battery momentarily, and then restart the phone. It keeps awkward connect problems from ever occurring. To enable VoIP Prioritization for outbound calling, all you have to do is change one default setting on the Nokia E71: Menu, Tools, Settings, Phone, Call, Default Call Type: Internet Call.
Depending upon your choice of router, using the public IP address of your Asterisk server may cause connectivity issues when you attempt to make a connection through the same WiFi network on which your Asterisk server resides. You can solve this by investing in one of dLink’s Gaming Routers which also provide the necessary tools to prioritize VoIP traffic on your network. Second, make sure you load the latest Nokia firmware for the E71 before you begin configuring your phone. You can check which firmware is installed on your phone by pressing *#0000#. If it’s less than 200.21.118, you need to upgrade, and you’ll need a Windows machine to do it. Here’s the link to Nokia’s upgrade site.
Where To Go From Here. Once you have your E71 performing as a remote Asterisk extension, there are some other must-have’s for your phone. First, you’ll want to purchase JoikuSpot Premium for 15.00€ (about $20). It turns your phone into a WiFi HotSpot whenever you need tethering. Next you’ll want to load Nokia’s OVI store which includes a number of free downloads including Internet Radio, Fring, Nimbuzz, and Web Server. With the web server, you can actually create a blog and let visitors share photos and take pictures using your E71. Try ours to get a taste of what’s available. We think you’ll also find Google Latitude to be a fascinating addition. It lets you produce a free, GPS-enabled map with your current location just like Where In the World Is Nerd Uno. In fact, that map is produced from GPS data generated on our Nokia E71.
A Word of Caution. Finally, we’ll close on a cautionary note. Tempting as it may be to buy Nokia’s latest and greatest cellphone, DON’T! Nokia quietly has dropped the native SIP stack and SIP client on almost all of its newest cellphones presumably to win the love and affection of companies like AT&T. These are the same companies that continue to claim in FCC filings that they have nothing against VoIP on cellphones. The list of VoIP-impaired Nokia cellphones includes the N97 as well as the AT&T-branded E71x. Nokia also has been less than clear about the new N900. Historically, this has meant that SIP functionality has disappeared. So beware of shiny new things… that may not work worth a damn. It’s too bad. Nokia was one of our favorite companies, but it looks like they’re ceding the VoIP technology business to Google’s Android which happens to be next on the Nerd Vittles Radar. Here’s a complete list of Nokia’s SIP-compatible phones. Enjoy!
Enhanced Google Maps. In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve added yet another Google Map to Nerd Vittles. Now, in addition to showing our location with Google Latitude, we also are displaying your location based upon your IP address. We’ll show you how to add something similar to any LAMP-based Linux system in coming weeks. It’s a powerful technology that has enormous potential. If you’re unfamiliar with Google Maps, click on the Hybrid and Satellite buttons and then check out the scaling and navigation options. Double-click to zoom. Incredible!
whos.amung.us If you’re wondering what your fellow man is reading on Nerd Vittles these days, wonder no more. Visit our new whos.amung.us statistical web site and check out what’s happening. It’s a terrific resource both for us and for you.
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damn, phone wont work with verizon 🙁
[WM: Yeah, you’ll need T-Mobile or AT&T service in the U.S. unless you want to use a prepaid card from AirVoice or O2 Wireless.]
After reading your E71 article last year, I started working on doing the same for myself. Just after Christmas, I received a Nokia E65. My setup ended up slightly different though.
I bought $100 (1,000 minutes) worth of credit on a T-Mobile prepaid SIM, which they allow to last up to a year. A year of cell phone service for less than $9 a month? Yes, please!
On the server-side, I set up an extension for the phone’s VoIP capability and routed my DIDs to it. Then, instead of setting up separate extensions for ringing the SIM card, I added Follow Me settings for the first extension. I told the server to begin calling my cell number when my extension received calls. I measured the amount of time for an incoming call to begin ringing the SIM, added a few seconds and set that as the ring time of my extension. Now I have a paging system at no extra charge! Neither my outgoing VoIP provider nor T-Mobile charge for a phone ringing. For the off-chance that my phone had no signal or was turned off, I activated the "Confirm Calls" option in the Follow Me settings so the server wouldn’t start leaving costly three-minute messages anytime someone called.
Thanks for the inspiration, Ward! This phone setup has been working great for me all this year. I figured I almost always have WiFi access and when I don’t, I’m probably somewhere I don’t want to be taking calls anyhow. But if I do happen to care, I can see that I missed a call, simple as that. New telephony: it’s so… beautiful!
I’ve configured different Nokia phones to work with Asterisk for quite some time.
However there is the issue of NAT traversal i.e. media transfer. Since, in older Nokia phones STUN configuration was not an option, I preferred using Fring instead. Is there a STUN option in E71?
[WM: With regard to STUN, see the comment below. We’ve never had a NAT or one-way audio issue with either the original phone firmware or the newer release… at least using dLink gaming routers. YMMV!]
"After linking and unlinking to different networks about a dozen times, we have found it’s a good idea to shut down the phone, remove the battery momentarily, and then restart the phone. It keeps awkward connect problems from ever occurring."
Uhm…this seems like a big problem and headache. With the prevalence of wifi, especially in dense urban areas, I could probably encounter this issue just driving to work through my large city’s downtown.
[WM: Not a problem if you don’t reset it. We go through WiFi-infested areas all the time. 🙂 ]
I’m not following you. What do you mean by ‘network’ in the quote — wifi network or cell phone network? I assumed wifi network, which means to me that after driving by (and connecting) to a dozen wifi networks, I have to remove and re-insert the battery.
[WM: The phone connects to WiFi networks that you choose, not every WiFi network that sends out a signal. We were suggesting a method for keeping your phone at optimum performance. It’s not going to crash after you pass by a dozen WiFi networks. 🙄 ]
Have you looked at or tried a HTC Dream / Tmobile G1?
I rooted mine and put sipdroid on there. It works fantastically – plus with the wifi tether app, i get a mobile 3g hotspot for no extra cost.
Some e71 specs:
http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-e71/specifications
Symbian OS.
Keyboard looks great 🙂 I need Windows Mobile for my wiki though 🙁
Looks like the E63 may be a good choice as well, and it’s way cheaper – until I save up enough for a Hero!!
Any compelling reason to go with the E71 over the E63, besides color??
Thanks as always for your inspiring blog entries, Ward!!
[WM: I think I’ve read that there’s no GPS in the E63, slower processor, less RAM, etc.]
I have the Nokia e63-2 ( aka e63 NAM ). It’s got nearly identical software stack and the VoIP prioritization really works. It doesn’t have GPS and it’s slightly thicker. It’s plastic rather than metal case ( better reception from reports ). 3.5mm headphone/headset jack on the e63 vs 2.5mm jack on the e71. Some would argue the keyboard is better as well since they added a few more characters like @ and / at the expense of a wider spacebar.
Honestly if you are cost sensitive it’s a great alternative to the e71 since it’s a good $100 savings. Some recent, but expired, deals had the e63 priced into the $160 range is a real steal for these VoIP features.
I can justify $180 ( actually less if you get a deal ) for a phone, but close to $300 just seems like too much for my taste. It’s really just unfortunate the android phones have not really developed.
STUN can be fixed ( if needed ) on the e63/e71 with the utility named ( SIP_VoIP_Settings_v1_2_en.SIS ) which allows you to configure the hidden settings. Many providers don’t need the fix because they presume that the user is behind NAT. I find that configuring STUN helps in some of the edge cases like double NAT-ing.
I have paired up the VoIP with T-Mobile TOGO, but I think I’m going to try AT&T as well since the coverage for T-Mo is just too poor, even as a backup. For the VoIP side my setup includes SipGate/Sipsorcery/Google Voice as my primary and several other backup VoIP provider that I can turn on and off as needed.
AT&T have a "E71X" – I am guessing that’s got the VOIP disabled?
[WM: Correct. VoIP is non-existent… but AT&T has nothing against VoIP. 🙂 ]
well there are other options now too
I have htc dream (t mobile -g1) which runs android
I have sipdroid loaded on it and I can prioritize
after rooting it and loading a nice custom rom
from cyanogen I have a free wifi/bluetooth tether
I can store my apps on my sd card and even with out
rooting it I was able to place calls on voip servers
I have tried various setup on my piaf server but I in the end just put my android in my main ring group and now I hardly ever use my phone at home
For the really cost conscious there is also the Nokia e51 on the used market. Not qwerty, but a nice candybar with the same WiFi/VoIP features as the e71 and e63.
I’ve seen it in the $100-$140 range at howard forums ( when you can find it ). Quite a bargain for the VoIP inclined since that’s cheaper than a lot of less featured sip devices.
I’ve been into the Nokia SIP scene since the very beginning. Couple points… STUN was implemented/fixed in the Nokia E61 with a firmware upgrade years ago. The E71 works fine out of the box but VoIP 2.x Settings app can be downloaded if more config options are needed.
There is no need to upgrade to the latest 300 series firmware as it prevents rooting your telephone to allow homebrew applications to be installed. The 200 series is fine. Also Nokia no longer allows rolling back to an earlier update so be very careful.
A list of Nokia phones confirmed to work with the built-in SIP client include: E51, E60, E61, E61i, E63, E65, E66, E70, E71, E90, N82, N95. There may be more. I’d also double check those phones work because non-unlocked branded phones may have the SIP features disabled. There is a way to change the product code and reflash Nokia phones to remove the restrictions but I’ve only documented how to do this on my blog with the E61. Your mileage may vary with other models.
Lastly, I reviewed the E71x (available through AT&T) on my blog through the Nokia WOMWorld program and I would definitely avoid it at all costs if you want to do VoIP without an app like Fring. If you don’t mind using Fring then you can do everything in this article.
I still use the Nokia E51 and I must say that it works quite well. For the Nokia E71, it has been one of the best VoIP tool (SIP) that surfaced the mobile phone industry and I don`t see reason why Nokia will drop support for it. Great Article by the Uncle Ward!.
I was about to go out and purchase a new phone. since my old one broke. tried a friends E71. works great. now thinking if i should just get the E71 or wait a few weeks and get the E72.
Do you know if the E72 will have the same voip client built in . it seems to say it supports voip over wifi on the phone specs.
Any help will be appreciated ..
[WM: Not sure. Suffice it to say Nokia hasn’t released a new phone with SIP stack and SIP client in more than a year so I wouldn’t hold my breath. They appear to have killed that functionality permanently in order to gain favor with some of the cellphone providers (such as AT&T).]
Thanks for the very fast response.
the Nokia website – http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-e72/specifications – says
# Add-on solutions enable integration into enterprise private branch exchange (PBX) infrastructure
# SIP VoIP 3.0
# Voice call continuity (VoIP cell/WLAN handover)
# S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 (S60 3.2.3)
# Symbian OS version 9.3
Thus i believe it should handle. but if not i would be able to use fring . correct me if im wrong
[WM: No SIP client is listed. You could use Fring but it’s not as flexible.]
Thank you very much! Good job 🙂
After reading your article, I ordered the E71 from Newegg. (Now I see they’ve raised the price to $299.)
I’ve only had it for a couple of days, but it seems like a nice phone.
Since I don’t have my asterisk box running at the moment I tried to get the phone to register directly with one of my VoIP providers, so far without success. I’ll be out of country for awhile beginning this week and I was hoping to be able to make SIP calls while away.
Thanks for the article.
I went out and bought an E71 and a data only plan. After a few hours of testing I now have the E71 connected to my PIAF. It uses WiFi if available and then the 3G. Works like a charm!
I have been reading this site for a couple of years now. Thanks for all the great info. Ward.
in older Nokia phones STUN configuration was not an option, I preferred using Fring instead. Is there a STUN option in E71?
I like so much this phone (E71). However i have to constantly rebooting because it shows is connected to the voip server when really is not. Or simply it doesnt want to connect at all until it is repowered on. To keep things easy i had to install a litle reboot program. On tipical day i have to run it like 4 times. Also the battery doesnt hold a half day.. i have to keep it plugged to the power .. Ok i admit i use the voip client (connected to sipphone and googlevoice also to my asterisk when i at home), bluetooth streaming, wifi, almost every feature the phone have at the same time.
I’ve been trying to create a gizmo5 account but i cant because accounts are on hold. Any idea when accounts can be created again?
i love this site, it help me finish be BSc project. Thanks
No need to upgrade to the latest firmware series, as it will prevent root penetration, that your telephone to allow homebrew applications installed. The 200 series is in order. Nokia also does not have the opportunity to update a previous rolling to be very careful.
I have been uing the Nokia E71 for years and it’s still in good condition. But I have to agree that I constantly need to reboot it when it’s not connected to the voip server.