Using Mitel phones with 802.1x on Cisco network

[SpongeVoIP]

Using Mitel phones with 802.1x on a HP network, works fine. Know we have a customer wanting to use 802.1x for the Mitel phones on the Cisco switches (3750). Does anyone have the setup for the Cisco switches in order to have the 802.1x working? Any info appreciated.

 

[slapin]

I'd say this is a question for Cisco branch of this forum.

You can find lots of examples on

http://www.cisco.com

If your customer is using 802.1x in his environment it should not be a problem to add Mitel phones.

 

[ianuk1974]

Hi Sponge,

Setting up a cisco network for 802.1x is alot easier than an HP network to configure to be honest considering the mitel handsets use the same SEP protocol as cisco handsets.

you simply leave your ports as an access port then simply add your voice vlan to the access ports with this command

switchport voice vlan <VLAN ID>

doing this command also sets up basic QOS for you.
setting the ports in this way allows you to use your pc and phone on the same port.
Ian

 

[ianuk1974]

Setting up 802.1x on a cisco network is alot easier than on a HP network. Basically a Mitel phone is a cisco phone as they both use the same protocol SEP.

Simply leave your switch ports as access to your native/data VLAN then using the following command apply your voice vlan to your ports.

switchport voice vlan <VLAN ID>

Setting up your ports in this way also sets up basic QOS that is normally sufficient in most cases.

Ian

 

[TheMitelGuy]

HP/ProCurve command:

vlan XX voice


I'd say ProCurve is easier to setup.

 

[SpongeVoIP]

Thanks, I'll take this away and try. Indeed it's a Cisco question, but Mitel is the voice of choice for the IPT and the Cisco network is just there...the chicken and the egg..

 

[TheMitelGuy]

I should not be so "smart-ass" with my comments.

I just hate how people think Cisco is so great. Just because they charge huge dollars and use that money on marketing, does not mean they have the best product. It is no where near the quality of Mitel, Nortel or Avaya.

 

[SpongeVoIP]

MitelGuy, maybe not clear in my description. No doubt about Mitel IPT....if I would have to consider IPT myself, Mitel / Avaya / Alcatel / Nortel would come befoooooooore Cisco.....choosing Mitel ofcourse.

 

[whykap]

So do you guys think it's just a fluke that CISCO has sold more IP handsets that avaya, nortel or mitel the past few years and the number is rising?

And let's not talk about network gear. If you are trying to compare avaya, nortel or HP with the product and support that cisco provides, then this is not even worth discussing.
Who's Mitel's preffered switch gear these days anyway? They've gone from extreme to HP and back a few times if I recall correctly.

Don't mean to rattle any cages but you pay for what you get and that's the reason cisco is more expensive, not just because. People would not buy it if it was not worth the money.

Not to knock the rest of the products as they all work fine. But saying CISCO is not worth the money and not a good product is simply ignorance MitelGuy.

Cheers

 

[SpongeVoIP]

Probably it's region dependant.....but Cisco has had it's strong times in IPT, look at their growth in market share compared with the competitors lately. Although they are big, they don't grow their IPT as they did years ago. So Cisco will fit demands for enough customers, but they can't compete in a lot of situations if it comes to real telephony. Take migration as an example which becomes hot, as a lot of TDM switches are at the end of their lives. Try to do a proper DPNSS integration with Philips / Ericsson / Siemens with Cisco..no go! So Cisco can't be deployed in a lot of "telephony situations", whereas Avaya / Alcatel / Mitel / Nortel can.

Rest my case, I'm on Tek-Tips for knowledge soaking and transfer.

 

[whykap]

Since this was an HP switch question I assumed you were doing IPTEL and not TDM. It is correct that CISCO does not compete in the TDM world nor it is planning to.
As far as integration goes I have integrated with Avaya and MITEL and Siemens and Nortel and NEC with no issues. I am referring to full integration and not just calls back and forth.

As far as the comment I made for handsets sold it is not regional but worldwide. The only manufacturer close is Alcatel due to their ability to support and market mass deployments.

Mitel is also on the rise as their IP product has matured and so have their VAR's on that field. Nowhere close to CISCO and Alcatel however as their target market is a lot smaller than the other two (seat wise).

Avaya and Nortel are actually down as they are exhausting their existing customer base to convert from TDM to IP.

by the way watch out for Shoretel as they are exploding and their product is solid.

 

[TheMitelGuy]

Don't mean to rattle any cages but you pay for what you get and that's the reason cisco is more expensive, not just because. People would not buy it if it was not worth the money. "


mmmm, I'll tell that to our customer that just shelled out $305K for a Cisco System, only to have TAC cases open for 6+ months that are deemed "bugs" (Cisco's words, not mine) and still we have no fixes. Or how about having a min. of 5x phones a week that need to be rebooted. Ya, you get what you pay for with Mitel... a phone system that works in TDM OR IP!

Cisco's long ride on the up hill is starting to slow, and I would watch out if I were them. Then again, if your so pro-Cisco, solidify your complete business around them, that's a smart thing to do (HAHAHAHA!)