[muppetmaster]

http://www.voip-info.org/tiki-index....erisk+at++Home

[PhoneBoy]

Sounds like it could be an interesting project. Probably better than what I did with Gentoo.

[Stevo]

This looks pretty slick indeed. Doesnt Asterisk require propietary hardware or could it be possible to use a bunch on antiquated 56k modems. I think I might have a showbox full of them somewhere.

[muppetmaster]

Originally Posted by Stevo

This looks pretty slick indeed. Doesnt Asterisk require propietary hardware or could it be possible to use a bunch on antiquated 56k modems. I think I might have a showbox full of them somewhere.

You may run Asterisk as a standalone software platform interconnecting to providers via SIP and IAX2. Or, you can put in your own hardware. Depends on what you want really.

[daryll]

Originally Posted by Stevo

This looks pretty slick indeed. Doesnt Asterisk require propietary hardware or could it be possible to use a bunch on antiquated 56k modems. I think I might have a showbox full of them somewhere.

No, most 56k modems don't have the capability to work with voice as Asterisk would need. But, the design for phone line interface (FXO) card is freely available. The X100p card from Digium is under $100. It's basically a cheap Intel modem, so you can find very similar clones for $10. (So your extra dollars go to getting a device that's known to work well, to support, and to pay Asterisk developers)

Interfaces to phone devices (FXS) is more difficult. I don't know of any really cheap solutions other than soft phones runnin on existing PCs.

You can use Asterisk with Free World Dialup and a soft phone. There's also services like IPKall that will route calls from the telephone network to a VOIP network. All that is for free.

You can also use asterisk to connect to several VOIP providers that will let you make long distance calls for a fee. You can avoid month fees and sign up for pay per use plans or pre-pay accounts that take pay-pal.

If you want to play with Asterisk at home, I'd suggest getting a Sipura-3000. Then you can connect that to Asterisk. It gets you an FXS and FXO so you can connect to a phone and the telco. If you want a VOIP number people can dial you need to buy monthly service from a VOIP provider, but you can do a lot without that.

I'm doing all those things on my home/business phone numbers. It works really well and gives me a ton of flexibility.

- |Daryll

[Stevo]

Thanks Daryl for the response, much appreciated. Im going to start scrapping together some hardware for asterisk. I think a Duron 900 might be a little overkill but its all I got avalible at the moment.

Will this type of setup be possible with FWD and Broadvoice and my Sipura 3k for Gateway (DISA) calling.

IP KALL >>> FWD >>> ASTERISK >> Broadvoice

[Stevo]

Ok, I ran thru a box of old modems. I have a bunch of "beefy" 14.4 PCI modems that are definatly hardware based - should be full duplex as well.

Found two Rockwell Generic 56k cards not sure of its capabilities though.

My buddy has a few External USR Serial Modems?? Hmmm..

As long as there full duplex I assume they should work? Speed isnt going to make much of a difference because were dealing with voice only.

Considering that CentOS is Redhat and as long as the OS picks the hardware Asterisk should make use of it. I know thats quite a few assumptions im making but the interface is the only component my new box is missing and I could barely afford my sipura 3k let alone the Digiums Cards. Plus it would really suck if I invested all this time/money/effort into asterisk and I end up nothing function that way I would like it to.

Thank Again Guys

[mberlant]

None of those modems will carry voice. What are you intending to do with them?

[Stevo]

I thought it was a matter of just using most compatible equipment for Asterisk. I figured a modem is a modem is a modem and just any one will do. I wonder what makes the intel chipset so special, the IA92 looks like every other winmodem out there, atleast to me.


Ultimatly I would like to call my ipkall number have that run into asterisk IVR, make an extention that would give DISA to my "modem" which would output to my sipura (PSTN) which has Broadvoice service and also have my cellsocket plugged into another "modem" on my asterisk box to use as an alternate extention.

Im not sure if any of that makes any sense whats so ever but when I wake up I will attempt to clarify myself as im half asleep right now.

[mberlant]

The modem must be a voice capable modem. An indicator of this is that they often have headphone jacks on their spines. These modems have an extra chipset for voice processing that an ordinary modem does not have.

As to what you want to do with te asterisk, building block-wise, that is exactly where asterisk shines. It allows you to connect up a few extensions and a few trunks and patch them together, dynamically, in whatever combination you wish.

Now, you talk about your asterisk giving DISA to your modem, which would output to your SIP-3000. In that particular scenario you would not need any "modem". You would program the BroadVoice service on your asterisk as a trunking extension. Calls would come in via VoIP from IPKall, hit the asterisk's IVR for authentication and be routed out via VoIP directly to Broadvoice.

Now, you would need the SPA3000 for your CellSocket. You would program your SPA's PSTN Line as a trunking extension on the asterisk and plug the CellSocket into this port.

That leaves you with the Line 1 port on the SPA. You would program this Line as an extension on your asterisk and plug the POTS phone of your choice into this port to use the services of your asterisk box while you are at home.

Other extensions around the house can be softphones like X-Lite on various PCs around the house.