[muppetmaster]

Now this is a deal:

http://www.thevoiphq.com/sunshop/ind...item&id=23

I just ordered and am going to give it a try. I will let you know how it goes!

(BTW - I am in no way affiliated with this company.)

[PhoneBoy]

If you don't mind hacking the drivers, you can actually get compatible cards a little cheaper than this (I think I saw them for less than $10). Of course, for those who are not source code inclined, this is a great deal, assuming it works.

[dorian]

at least these jokers are being honest about what their "product" is, unlike some of the ppl selling for $50 on ebay.

in any case, digium already added the pci id for the generic ami-ia-92 to zaptel-cvs several months ago, so altering the source code yourself is no longer needed -- and as phoneboy said, you can definitely get this winmodem (and in an intel retail box, no less) for $7-10.

my philosophy is: if you're going to buy a card elsewhere than directly from digium, at least support them and the continued development of asterisk by buying one of these:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/asteriskpbx/asst20co.html

[dorian]

also, the fxo daughtercard for the tdm400 is due out rsn, and should definitely be an improvement over the x100.

let's hope that the devkit-tdm will include the new fxo module at that point...

[PhoneBoy]

Well yes, you should definately support Digium if you don't buy the cards from them.

[muppetmaster]

Originally Posted by PhoneBoy

Well yes, you should definately support Digium if you don't buy the cards from them.

I understand the concerns and do appreciate the efforts put forth by Digium and others into the great platform that is Asterisk. But, BUSINESS IS BUSINESS. And cost/value ratio, not altruism, is what drives people to put cash on the table (generally spoken that is). If one chooses opensource (which I applaud) then you must come up with a complimentary business plan that competes in the open market.

Having said this, I will contribute to Digium and the Asterisk effort as appropriate, but 'donations' are not a viable business model. For my own long term needs, cost and margin is everything.

I will let you know if I get stung by a generic card though... :wink:

[dorian]

well, I can never explain this very well (but there are some pretty eloquent people on their -users mailing list and irc channel, if you'd like to post your concerns there.)

you'll be happy to know that donations and consumer sales like the x100 have little, if anyhing, to do with digium's bottom line -- they make real money on real hardware, not to mention on services.

what donations, contributions, direct hardware purchases, etc. show to digium are: support and appreciation. asterisk is dual-licensed, i.e. there is a commercial license so that they can sell it, and there is a gpl so that people like us can use it -- guess which one they really don't need to provide?

'free as in speech' is not the same thing as 'free as in beer' -- I don't have to give any money at all to digium but I still do... not because I care a damn about their business model, but because I use their software every day and while it's not perfect, it sure is amazing and I want them to know that.

[PhoneBoy]

You might say the "donations" help fund the community-based resources around Asterisk, which may not directly affect Digiums bottom line, but it does help you in that it ensures that you will be able to get access to Asterisk in the first place. I don't actually know that for a fact, but it's a guess.

[muppetmaster]

Originally Posted by PhoneBoy

You might say the "donations" help fund the community-based resources around Asterisk, which may not directly affect Digiums bottom line, but it does help you in that it ensures that you will be able to get access to Asterisk in the first place. I don't actually know that for a fact, but it's a guess.

Agreed. And I am more than willing to fund that community directly through donations, as this is the clearest way to ensure that those funds are directly benefiting the community and on-going enhancement of Asterisk. No problem with that.

[MustardMan]

One thing nobody is mentioning is that those x100p's have a reputation for having a poor quality hybrid (regardless of whether it came from Digium or not). At least that is my impression from reading about the echo problems that come up with them. Probably because they are designed to be modems and not FXO's. Sounds like the FXO modules that go with the TDM400P are much better quality.

The quality and echo avoidance is a very important thing to me so I probably will never consider buying an X100P unless I just want to fart around with it.