Connecting Freepbx on a Hyper-v via RDP to non-host pc on same lan

[ecase]

I have a very modest system, but I believe there may be some value in how an inexperienced user put my pbx together. It is not a professional job, and I would appreciate any feedback.

I have Freepbx v16.0.40.4 100% stable. I am using just one extension, working in my home office. Hyper-V host (Windows 11 Pro) has a softphone connected to pbx as the extension. Want to connect my wife’s softphone on her pc to work as an extension as mine does.

The host has two network adapters, each connected to a different ISP. We have voip traffic going out on isp1 and the rest of our traffic going out through isp2. On Hyper-V host, the pbx nic has a virtual switch configured as an external network that the host does not share. Another virtual switch is configured from the pbx nic but is an internal switch that does not have internet.

On the host, I configured the internal nic through network connections to have an ip address with subnet but no gateway or dns. The external and internal switches have been added to pbx through freepbx gui, with the internal also having only an ip address and subnet. I have also created a Windows 10 VM that only has the internal switch as an active adapter, with ip address and subnet only. No internet.

So, the way it all works is the pbx runs on isp1, which my Hyper-V host does not have access to. To access the pbx gui, I RDP into the windows 10 vm, then use its browser to access the pbx gui on the special local ip (which does not have gateway or dns).

Lan ip example is 192.168.xx.x with subnet 255.255.255.0. So far there are 3 devices on the lan, they can all ping each other and all services are functional.

I am aware that I can access the pbx gui from a browser on the host, as well as Putty into it, but I think as long as I don’t, and use the vm that doesn’t have internet, then the only traffic coming from the pbx will be through the voip isp and be intended voip traffic, such as calls and pbx updates etc.

The Problem:

I am trying to add my wife’s pc, who also has two nics, one for each isp, with the voip isp nic configured to have its own ip address and subnet, similar to my host, the pbx, and the windows vm. But it doesn’t work. Cannot connect to vm through rdp, cannot ping any of the three machines. I’m out of ideas. Can anyone help?

[ecase]

Come on guys… any help?

[Stewart1 (Stewart)]

You are describing a complex system without supplying background info.

My first impression is “just use bridged networking everywhere and it will work”. You probably have good reasons for not doing that, but it is not clear what the constraints are.

I assume that the big picture (assuming that both connections are reasonably fast and don’t have huge usage-based charges) is that if either goes down, all devices will use the other. Or, if one connection is very slow and/or expensive to use, when the other goes down a planned subset of devices will function, e.g. you can still make an emergency call and the alarm system can report.

You don’t even mention how Wi-Fi is implemented. While phones and tablets can be configured to use SSID B when SSID A has no internet access, you probably have several devices, e.g. security cameras and IoT, that lack that ability.

In most dual WAN setups, there is little advantage putting VoIP on the slower connection. If download speed is sufficient, e.g. at least 100 Mbps, other traffic should not degrade inbound voice. It upload is slow, QoS on the router can prioritize voice to keep it clean. What are the upload and download speeds of your connections? What other limitations, e.g. long latency, usage-based billing, ISP does NAT, IPv4 or IPv6 issues, etc?