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Multicast For Singlewire Applications

Design Considerations and Troubleshooting

Version 1.1

January 1, 2019

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Copyright © 2009-19 Singlewire Software. All rights reserved. No part of this document may
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purpose, without written permission from Singlewire.
Contents
Executive Summary ....................................................................................................1
How Multicast Is Routed? ......................................................................................................1
What About Multicast On The WAN?....................................................................................... 1
How Do Phones Request Multicast Audio?...............................................................................2
Where Can I Get More Information? ....................................................................................... 2

Multicast ....................................................................................................................3
Design Recommendations .....................................................................................................3
Example Configurations, Guides, and Tools .............................................................................3
Assistance With Multicast Configuration ..................................................................................3
Understanding InformaCast Traffic Flow .................................................................................4

Troubleshooting .........................................................................................................5
Multicast Testing Tool ............................................................................................................5
Network Traffic Capture.........................................................................................................5
PIM Configured On All Layer 3 Interfaces ..............................................................................11
Audio Across WAN Links: GRE Tunnels/Paging Gateway .........................................................12
IGMP Snooping ...................................................................................................................14
IGMPv3 and Newer Phone Models ........................................................................................14
Multicast For Singlewire Applications Executive Summary

Executive Summary
Multicast is a technology that allows traffic to scale across a network. InformaCast puts a single
multicast audio stream on a network that any endpoint can request, which allows InformaCast to
scale a broadcast to thousands of devices quickly and efficiently.

How Multicast Is Routed?

InformaCast has no special requirements for how multicast is enabled on a network. Singlewire
recommends that you use your network vendor’s best practices and design considerations.
Multicast is typically routed with Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) that is deployed in either
sparse or dense mode:

▪ Dense Mode. Traffic is put out to the entire network distribution tree and pruned back
until it flows to only the segments of the tree that require it.
▪ Sparse Mode. A rendezvous point is configured in the network that is the root of all
multicast traffic to be sent. The multicast traffic is only sent to network segments that
request the traffic.
InformaCast will work with either mode.

What About Multicast On The WAN?

Many Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network providers will not route multicast traffic
on their networks. For WAN links where your circuit provider will not route your multicast, you
have two options:

▪ GRE tunnels
▪ Singlewire Paging Gateway
GRE Tunnels
Using your network, you can configure a GRE tunnel to carry your multicast traffic from the
location where the InformaCast server is located to the remote site(s). The only traffic that needs
to traverse these GRE tunnels is the multicast traffic you might want to route. The tunnels do
not need to create a full mesh between sites; they only need to be configured from the hub
location to the spoke location(s). Please see the following link for details: https://
www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/ip/ip-multicast/43584-mcast-over-gre.html

The advantages of using GRE tunnels to route multicast are:

▪ Administration. All configurations are done on network devices. This is a mature

technology that is well documented and supported by network vendors. Once the initial
configuration is completed, the ongoing administration is minimal.
▪ Cost. Because there will already be a router at both the hub and spoke locations, there is
no additional hardware or software costs.

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Multicast For Singlewire Applications Executive Summary

Singlewire Paging Gateway

The Singlewire Paging Gateway will allow a lower bit rate unicast audio stream to be sent from
an InformaCast server at one location to a Paging Gateway across a WAN that will not route
multicast. The Paging Gateway can then turn the unicast audio stream it received from the
InformaCast server at the other location into multicast on the local LAN segment. For more
information, please contact your Singlewire Territory Manager: sales@singlewire.com.

The advantages of using a Paging Gateway to get audio over a non-multicast-enabled WAN are:

▪ Bandwidth. The unicast audio stream that travels over the WAN is a lower bit rate codec.
At the remote site LAN, the traffic is turned back into G.711 µlaw multicast.
▪ Deployment. As long as the LAN(s) route multicast, there is no need to configure
multicast routing over the WAN.

How Do Phones Request Multicast Audio?

To get InformaCast audio to phones, the phones must request it. The phones use Internet
Group Management Protocol (IGMP) to request the audio stream from the network. While
most networks default to IGMPv2, the newer models of phones use IGMPv3. If newer phones
are being deployed, be sure to enable the newer protocol version on network devices.

Where Can I Get More Information?

For more information than the contents of this document provide, work directly with your
network vendor and consulting partner for detailed information.

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Multicast For Singlewire Applications Executive Summary

Multicast
InformaCast uses multicast to route the audio portion of a broadcast and requires that your
network route multicast traffic. Multicast routing allows a sender to put one packet on the wire
and route that packet across the network to many recipients.

Design Recommendations
Multicast is typically routed with Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM). InformaCast has no
requirements for how multicast routing is enabled on the network, except that it be routed on
the network from the source to the destinations that request it. Because of this, Singlewire
recommends configuring your network’s multicast routing based on your network vendor’s best
practices. If you have a Cisco network, use Cisco best practices.

Example Configurations, Guides, and Tools

The following table provides guides and resources for more information on configuring
multicast on your network.

RESOURCE DESCRIPTION

Quick Start Guide Cisco IP Multicast Quick Start Configuration that provides concise
configuration examples

Design Guides Cisco Design Zone for IP Multicast for access to the AVVID
SRND for Multicast Design

Multicast Troubleshooting Cisco IP Multicast Troubleshooting Guide

IGMP Snooping Cisco CGMP and IGMP Snooping documentation

GRE Tunnels Cisco Multicast over a GRE Tunnel (for when a WAN carrier will
not route multicast)

Singlewire Paging Gateway Singlewire solution for lower bit rate unicast over a WAN link (for
when a WAN carrier will not route multicast)

Testing Tool Singlewire tool to send and receive multicast traffic, which can be
used to verify and troubleshoot multicast routing

Protocol Analyzer Wireshark download link, which can be used to view network
traffic for troubleshooting

Assistance With Multicast Configuration

Network design and multicast configuration is outside the scope for which Singlewire can
provide support. It is recommended that you work with your network vendor or partner. If you

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have a Cisco network, you can work with the Cisco TAC or locate a local Cisco Partner. The
following table provides Cisco resources for configuration help.

RESOURCE DESCRIPTION

Support Home Cisco Troubleshooting Homepage

Phone or Email Cisco TAC Telephone Numbers

Open Case Online Cisco TAC Case Creation Tool

Partner Locator Locate a Cisco Partner to contract for network consulting

Understanding InformaCast Traffic Flow

It is important to note that the only piece of traffic that travels through the network via
multicast routing is the audio portion of a broadcast. All signaling traffic and the text portion of
a broadcast are done with unicast HTTP. The diagram below outlines the traffic that occurs
during an InformaCast broadcast that contains both text and audio.

"

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Troubleshooting
The following symptoms will occur during an InformaCast broadcast if multicast routing is not
enabled:

▪ Text displays on the phone’s screen, but no audio is heard through the phone
▪ A streaming icon displays on the phone’s screen
▪ A phone’s Speaker and Mute lights illuminate
▪ 7900 series phones makes a “bloop” noise
When troubleshooting multicast issues on your network, you have a few options available to you:

▪ Investigating multicast routing with Singlewire’s Multicast Testing Tool

▪ Obtaining and analyzing network traffic captures
▪ Ensuring that PIM is configured on all Layer 3 interfaces
▪ Using GRE tunnels or the Singlewire Paging Gateway to route audio across WAN links
that don’t support multicast
▪ Disabling IGMP snooping
▪ Ensuring that the network uses IGMPv3 if newer phones are deployed

Multicast Testing Tool

Singlewire offers a Multicast Testing Tool to help troubleshoot and isolate multicast routing
issues. It can be downloaded from the Singlewire Support website: https://
support.singlewire.com/s/software-downloads/a17C0000008Dg7AIAS/ictestermulticastzip

The Multicast Testing Tool allows you to act as a server sourcing a multicast stream from
different points on the network. It can also be run as a client to be placed on various points on
the network. By having the Multicast Testing Tool put multicast traffic on the network and
having clients look for that traffic, you can narrow down multicast routing configuration issues.

The Multicast Testing Tool can also be used to control two Cisco IP phones: one to source
multicast audio and one to receive it. For instance, you could use two phones on the same switch
to verify that multicast is working on the LAN, and phones on different network segments to
locate where multicast may not be routing.

Network Traffic Capture

Once you are familiar with the traffic flow created by InformaCast (see “Understanding
InformaCast Traffic Flow” on page 4), you can use a protocol analyzer to sniff the traffic on the
network to see that all communications happened as expected.

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Obtain a Network Traffic Capture

Use the following steps to obtain a network traffic capture from a phone to determine if
multicast traffic is routing to that network segment.

1. Download and install a protocol analyzer like Wireshark (http://www.wireshark.org/)

on a PC that’s attached to a phone on your network on which you want to obtain a
traffic capture.

2. Open and log into your Communications Manager’s administrative interface. The Cisco
Unified CM Administration page appears.

"
3. Go to Device | Phone. The Find and List Phone page appears.

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4. Use the dropdown menus and fields to locate the phone attached to the PC on which
you downloaded Wireshark. Your results will appear below the fields.

"

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5. Select the phone attached to your PC with Wireshark on it. The Phone Configuration
page for that phone appears.

"

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6. Scroll down to the Product Specific Configuration Layout area.

7. Make sure that both the Web Access and Span to PC Port dropdown menus have
Enabled selected.

8. Click the Reset button.

9. Start Wireshark.

10. Send an InformaCast broadcast to the phone attached to the PC with Wireshark on it.

11. Wait until the broadcast has finished and stop the network traffic capture.

Read a Network Traffic Capture

When analyzing a network traffic capture, look for the following:

▪ A unicast HTTP command from InformaCast to the phone to join the multicast group
▪ Successful authentication
▪ An IGMP join from the phone to the multicast group
▪ A multicast audio stream
When there is no multicast audio present, InformaCast audio will not play through a phone, and
you’ll notice the following things in your traffic capture (reference with the graphic on the
following page):

▪ Frame 106. InformaCast pushes the unicast HTTP command to a phone to listen to
audio and get text. In the middle pane, the multicast IP address to listen for is circled in
red.
▪ Frame 111. The phone makes a unicast HTTP authentication request. The protocol
doesn’t show as HTTP because the communication took place on port 8081. You can
view the contents of the packet for the actual data or decode as HTTP.
▪ Frame 112. InformaCast replies in unicast HTTP to the authentication request as OK.
▪ Frame 117. The phone makes an IGMP join request for a multicast audio stream.
▪ Frame 164. There is a timestamp nine seconds after the IGMP join, but no multicast
traffic is seen in the capture. Thus, multicast is not routing and no audio will be received at
the phone.

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Each of the things to look for are marked with red in the following graphic.

"
When there is multicast audio present, InformaCast audio plays through phone, and you’ll notice
the following things in your traffic capture (reference with the graphic on the following page):

▪ Frame 27. InformaCast pushes the unicast HTTP command to a phone to listen to audio
and get text. In the middle pane, the multicast IP address to listen for is circled in red.
▪ Frame 123. The phone makes a unicast HTTP authentication request. The protocol
doesn’t show as HTTP because the communication took place on port 8081. You can
view the contents of the packet for the actual data or decode as HTTP.
▪ Frame 124. InformaCast replies in unicast HTTP to the authentication request as OK.
▪ Frame 126. The phone makes an IGMP join request for a multicast audio stream.
▪ Frames 130 - 62 (plus more). The multicast UDP is present. Audio should have played
through the phone.

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Each of the things to look for are marked with red in the following graphic.

"

PIM Configured On All Layer 3 Interfaces

For audio broadcast traffic to route from a source (InformaCast) to a destination (IP phones)
every Layer 3 interface in between must have PIM configured. If the switches on the network
are also providing Layer 3, then PIM must be enabled on the VLANs configured on those
switches providing Layer 3 functionality. PIM is deployed in either sparse or dense mode, and
InformaCast will work with either.

The following graphic shows PIM enabled on all Layer 3 interfaces between the IP phones and
InformaCast.

"

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The following graphic shows an interface before PIM is properly configured and that same
interface applying PIM.

"

Audio Across WAN Links: GRE Tunnels/Paging Gateway

When InformaCast audio broadcasts are successful at the same location where the InformaCast
server is located, but remote locations do not receive the audio, that indicates that the multicast
audio traffic is not routing across the WAN link. Many circuit providers do not route multicast
traffic across their MPLS networks; please check with your circuit provider to see if they will
route your multicast.

When the circuit provider will not route multicast, there are two options to get the traffic to the
remote sites:

▪ Create GRE tunnels from the hub location to the spoke locations to carry the multicast
traffic
▪ Use the Singlewire Paging Gateway (sales@singlewire.com)
GRE Tunnels
Using your network, you can configure a GRE tunnel to carry your multicast traffic from the
location where the InformaCast server is located to the remote site(s). The only traffic that needs
to traverse these GRE tunnels is the multicast traffic you might want to route. The tunnels do

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not need to create a full mesh between sites, but only need to be configured from the hub to the
spoke. The following graphic shows hub and spoke GRE tunnels that will route InformaCast’s
audio traffic.

"
Cisco has detailed documentation to configure multicast over GRE tunnels: https://
www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/ip/ip-multicast/43584-mcast-over-gre.html

The advantages of using GRE tunnels to route multicast are:

▪ Administration. All configurations are done on network devices. This is a mature

technology that is well documented and supported by network vendors. Once the initial
configuration is completed, the ongoing administration is minimal.
▪ Cost. Because there will already be a router at both the hub and spoke locations, there is
no additional hardware or software costs.
▪ Additional Functionality. GRE tunnels can also be used to carry other multicast traffic
if desired, such as a centralized music on hold service.
The disadvantages of using GRE tunnels to route multicast are:

▪ Bandwidth. During an InformaCast broadcast, a G.711 µlaw audio stream will traverse
the WAN link over the GRE tunnel. Most network design best practices specify G729
should be used on WAN links.
▪ Network Gear Overhead. While minimal, the encapsulation and decapsulation does
require processing power from the network devices.

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Singlewire Paging Gateway

The Singlewire Paging Gateway will allow a lower bit rate unicast audio stream to be sent from
an InformaCast server at one location to a Paging Gateway across a WAN that isn’t routing
multicast. The Paging Gateway can then turn the unicast audio stream it received from the
InformaCast server at the other location into multicast on the local LAN segment.

For more information about the Paging Gateway, please contact your Singlewire Territory
Manager: sales@singlewire.com.

The advantage of using a Paging Gateway to get audio over a non multicast enabled WAN is that
the unicast audio stream travels over the WAN at a lower bit rate codec. At the remote site LAN,
it is turned back into G.711 µlaw multicast.

The disadvantages of using a Paging Gateway to get audio over a non multicast enabled WAN
are:

▪ Cost. The Paging Gateway will incur additional hardware and software costs.
▪ Ongoing Administration. Adding more devices and services around the network will
require someone to administer those devices and ensure they are functional and current.

IGMP Snooping
IGMP snooping has been seen to cause issues with varying revisions of IOS on some Cisco
switches. For this reason, if there are issues receiving the multicast audio stream at the phones, it
would be worth testing without IGMP snooping configured on the switches where phones are
connected. The following graphic illustrates where IGMP snooping should be turned off on the
network.

"

IGMPv3 and Newer Phone Models

Newer phone models are using IGMPv3 where earlier phone models used IGMPv2. This is
important because by default IOS uses IGMPv2. If your network segment has a combination of
older phones and newer phones, you may not perceive any issues. However, if a broadcast is sent
only to devices using IGMPv3 on a network segment and the network has not been
programmed for IGMPv3, the end result will be that multicast does not route to that network
segment. The following graphic illustrates how the differences between IGMPv3 and IGMPv2
can affect your multicast traffic.

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"
To verify if your phone(s) are using IGMPv3, you can take a network traffic capture using a
protocol analyzer like Wireshark (see “Network Traffic Capture” on page 6). In the capture, the
phone will issue an IGMP join to listen to the multicast audio.

The version of the IGMP join can be seen on the packet (circled in red in the following graphic).

"

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To ensure multicast audio will route to network segments where the phones are using IGMPv3,
the Layer 3 device must be programmed for IGMPv3. The following graphic shows an interface
before and after configuring IGMPv3.

"

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