Bridge (bvi) media-gateway not available in CLI

[voicisity]

We have a Total Access 908(e) 2nd Gen w/ firmware R12.3.4.E.  This device is Internet Facing with the two ethernet ports bridged to allow data traffic to traverse to the data network using a different public IP address (within the same assigned public subnet).

Using the Web Interface, we have the Media-Gateway defined as the "Primary" interface within the bvi 1 interface definition.  In the configuration file, this shows as the command "media-gateway ip primary" within the bvi 1 interface.

However, the command line interface (cli) does NOT offer "media gateway" as a configuration option for interface bvi 1.  Therefore, anytime the device reboots, the cli will see this as an "invalid command" error and we need to get onto the Web interface and re-enable the Media Gateway setting in order to get voice traffic to work.  Obviously, this is not an acceptable option.

Am I missing something as to why the CLI is not offering this command for a bridge interface - especially since it is an option on the web interface?

[jayh]

It sounds like a bug, or possibly that BVI isn't supposed to work at all. Much of the bridging capability was removed from the TA900 firmware a long time ago as we had several units break during an upgrade.

Probably best to open a support case. You might be better off front-ending it with a small switch and not using IRB. The Netvanta 1531 is a nice switch and relatively inexpensive.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

See this post regarding the same question Re: media-gateway ip primary on interface bvi 1​

Unfortunately, I cannot speak to how the feature is functioning. However, I can confirm that, at the time of this post, the fact that you are able to set this option in the GUI is an errata and that "media-gateway ip primary" is not a supported setting on the BVI interface.

See also this thread on why the BVI is a bad idea for VoIP since you can't apply any QoS to it Re: 3448 ARP issue with Cox

Layer 3 QoS maps are assigned to the layer 3 interface of an AOS device (an interface that contains an IP address). Once you enable bridging and add the ethernet interface to the bridge-group, this interface no longer has layer 3 functionality. All interfaces that are included in the bridge-group are unable to do QoS.