Providing End-to-End Connectivity to SIP User Agents Behind NATs

The widespread diffusion of private networks in SOHO scenarios is fostering an increased deployment of network address translators (NATs). The presence of NATs seriously limits end-to-end connectivity and prevents protocols like the session initiation protocol (SIP) from working properly. This document shows how the address list extension (ALEX), which was originally developed to provide dual-stack and multi-homing support to SIP, can be used, with minor modifications, to ensure end-to-end connectivity for both media and signaling flows, without relying on intermediate relay nodes whenever it is possible.