Thinking about taking the Asterisk "Plunge"

jchuby · #1 (**permalink**) June 7th, 2006, 06:56 PM

I have an SPA-3k that is my main VOIP link for the house (have regular landlines, and a merlin phone system as well.).

I need some advice before I invest the time in configuring an Asterisk Box:

1) The main reason for my Asterisk box is the unreliability of certain VOIP providers.
I currently use Voxee and Plain VOIP to make my outgoing calls - when voxee goes down (happening more often) - I manually reprogram my SPA3K via dialplan to send out over plain voip - wait 24 hours and then reset and test.
I want to use the * box so that if call cannot go over voxee it will then be sent out over Plain Voip.
---!! Is this possible? If it is an easy (relatively) thing to set up I will continue with plans to do a * - if its not then the box wont solve my needs.

2) Is an old p3 700 + 256ram + 8gb HD + Fios 5/2 connection good enough for ONE, JUST ONE outgoing call at a time.
3) Is it good enough for 2?

4) Which Asterisk Is the easiest for someone who has never used it to start with?
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I will be using my SPA-3K to link the phone sytem to asterisk - which will be set as the DMZ on my D-Link Di-624 router.

Please let me know, any help is appreiciated.

Thanks
____________UPDATE_________

Just to let everyone who starts out reading this thread:
I did implement a Trixbox Asterisk Server at my Home.
Installation and Setup were relatively easy - You need to check out the VOIP Wiki
I would recomend that if you are considering implementing - then try it first with the VMware for windows.
____________

los · #2 (**permalink**) June 8th, 2006, 12:34 AM

hey jchuby,

yea asterisk should be able to do this for you pretty simple in the dialplan. and your hardware should be fine just make sure you install a stripped version on linux or what ever os you plan on using dont need all that junk.

jchuby · #3 (**permalink**) June 8th, 2006, 04:06 AM

would rapid asterisk do the trick?

mberlant · #4 (**permalink**) June 8th, 2006, 06:02 AM

jchuby,

Rapid Asterisk is the successor to Asterisk@Home, and should work just fine on your PC. Also, your setup is good for at least a dozen simultaneous calls. As you must have read in my previous postings, I run Asterisk on a Pentium MMX 200 with 96MB RAM and 3GB HDD. My ADSL is 8M/1Mbps and I have handled as many as a dozen simultaneous calls.

I am not comfortable enough with AMP to advise on how to configure your trunk groups to try Voxee first and roll over to Plain VoIP if Voxee fails, but I can guarantee that this can be done easily in a hand-rolled Asterisk configuration. In fact, while you are at it it is trivial to insert a voice tag in between to inform the caller that Voxee has failed and that Asterisk is trying Plain VoIP next.

jchuby · #5 (**permalink**) June 8th, 2006, 05:27 PM

cool,
im going to install rapid * on the computer tonight,
hopefully have basic calls going by tom.

IF anyone else reading this knows how, in AMP, to setup the automatic provider switch based on failed attempt. (if that phrase is unclear, read above) - please help.

thanks everyone

jchuby · #6 (**permalink**) June 8th, 2006, 06:00 PM

A@H has been renamed to Trixbox.

Which is better for a newbie Rapid or Trixbox (formerly A@H)

mberlant · #7 (**permalink**) June 9th, 2006, 05:49 AM

Sorry, I got confused. I don't know which would be better for you. Being still not comfortable with the name Trixbox, the words I saw on the Rapid Asterisk home page mistakenly made me to believe that this was the successor to Asterisk@Home.

jchuby · #8 (**permalink**) June 10th, 2006, 09:15 PM

installed trixbox... easy to do.
setup trunks... thanks to amp wiki chapter 6
setup extensions.... easy

im good to go

... thanks for help

TriRyche · #9 (**permalink**) June 14th, 2006, 08:18 PM

Something just occured to me while I was reading about the Digium IAXy.

I was trying to determine how many providers/calls the IAXy could handle...

While I have yet to get the answers about the IAXy,
I did realize I was in need of additional clarity on something quite fundamental
(perhaps I missed the forest through the trees on this one).

Certainly there are plenty of overlapping topics between 'straight VOIP' and Asterisk/TrixBox Forums and threads,
but it seems I have blurred the true needs and concerns (of each respective user group) when it comes to ATA/FXS solutions.

Does the 'number of calls' / 'number of providers' a SIP-based ATA/FXS device can handle (as a standalone)
become irrelevant once this interface is configured as a mere extension for an Asterisk/TrixBox system?

mberlant · #10 (**permalink**) June 15th, 2006, 01:05 AM

First of all, the general forums are intended to catch discussions that don't fit into any of the themed forums. So, you're in the right place.

Now, to the technical discussion. The IAXy is an ATA, just like any other, except that it communicates via IAX2 instead of SIP. Being an ATA, it has a physical side. It is this physical interface that has most of the constraints you talk about.

I don't own an IAXy, either, but I understand it is the IAX equivalent of a Sipura SPA-1000 or a Grandstream 286. It has one FXS interface that can handle one simultaneous simple call or two simultaneous voice channels in the case of Call Waiting or 3-way calling.

I believe that the IAXy can only Register with one IAX service at a time, but I could be wrong on that. Your comment, however, is true. This limitation, if there is one, becomes moot if your IAXy is configured as an extension of your Asterisk VoIP PABX.