EchoLink Tips

EchoLink uses two different types of internet packets, TCP and UDP.  The TCP packets are used for the transmission of the text information like the station lists, and the UDP packets are used for the Transmit and Received audio.  These packets use Ports 5198, 5199 and 5200, which need to be passed through your router for EchoLink to operate properly.  This is done by a process known as Port Forwarding or Port Triggering and absolutely must be done for Direct connection.  One issue that pops up regularily is that many cellular systems and satellite systems will not handle both TCP and UDP packets so that work around measures are needed.
 
One of these work arounds is the Relay mode used on the Android and Apple cellphone applications.  This mode uses a special limited group of Relay servers that convert the TCP packets that the cellular networks require to a mix of TCP and UDP packets that EchoLink requires.  See http://echolink.org/androidHelp.htm or https://echolink.org/faq_iphone.htm for more complete details.  Also please note the section on limitations of the Relay mode, which explains some of the reason
people can be bumped off when someone new signs on.  Also note that each of the special Relay servers has its own activity timer, which is often the cause of time outs.
So even though Relay is the default mode for cellphones, Relay is not always the best choice of modes.

Use of the Direct mode is the best choice, IF you can make it work, but NEVER try to use Direct over a cell network.  The following is a direct quote from Jonathan Taylor, K1RFD, the author of the EchoLink program, "The string of "Connected" announcements is a known issue. It happens when a remote station is trying to connect, but has improper network configuration, such as trying to run the mobile app in Direct mode over cellular. This causes a half-open connection situation in which the remote station doesn't receive any replies or acknowledgements from your node.  Sadly, there has been a lot of growth in semi-Internet services such as LTE and StarLink, which require work-arounds for any server-style application such as EL."

Other options include Public Proxy Servers, Special Proxy Servers including your own, and finally there is a Browser Web Based EchoLink application, webapp.echolink.org, which works with many Browsers, including Chrome and uses Public Proxies.