[eric]

The Linksys SPA400 product review is available on voxilla.com.

The direct link is: Voxilla - Linksys SPA400 (4-port FXO gateway).

[humba3]

Here's a short list of what's not so great about this product:

Annoying:
Requires a reboot when making configuration changes (even something as simple as adding another voicebox)
The wizard, well, often fails
No direct way for SPA9xx phones to set a callforward to voicemail by pressing cfwd, then the envelope button or some softkey feature (like pressing cfwd, and having a softkey for the voicemail)

Missing features:
Route outgoing calls to a specific FXO port

Broken features:
Voicemail can only be accessed by SPA9xx phones.. any other IP phone (including Linksys' wireless phones), as well as phones you connect to the FXS ports cannot access the voicemail.
Along with that comes the inability to properly redirect such phones to voicemail.. you can do it with some DP tinkering, but the call ends up going to management number no matter what.. the only way to deposit a VM for a non SPA9xx phone is use an SPA9xx phone, access the voicebox, then leave a message via the menu.
Calls coming in via one of the SIP lines connected to your IPTSPs cannot be forwarded to voicemail - instead of using the standard 302 redirect and a new invite on part of the SPA9000, the SPA9000 answers the incoming call, then transfers it.. to itself.. the IPTSPs I have tried so far either keep this call hanging in nirvana, or play a voiceprompt telling you you're not allowed to do this.
Even though you can set the FXO ports to European CallerID formats, none of those actually work.
The eventlog settings always reset to their default upon a restart, and since applying changes needs a restart.. you can't change them at all.

My bottom line: if you want a voicemail for your SPA9000, either way until Linksys takes care of these issues, or look for another box.

[eric]

Thanks for posting.

Could you also add your user review?

Go to Voxilla - Linksys SPA400 (4-port FXO gateway) and click add a review.

People can then compare user reviews along with the editor reviews.

[humba3]

Will do when I find some more time.

[Kevin270]

I added my take on the device. I sure hope that Linksys makes enhancements to this device so that it will do the things that we would like it to do. It's also possible that the device already does these things, but the support people at LinkSys don't know a thing about it.

[humba3]

Well, I've written up my thoughts. I wasn't trying to be mean but there are very few points to be positive about. At this point, I haven't even told my users that they have a voicemail now.. I wanted a voicemail that any SIP and analog device in my network can easily access, and most importantly a means for external callers (notably not via FXO) to leave voicemail messages.. all that cannot be done at this point so for now it's just adding to my power bill.

[Kevin270]

Hi humba3,

I read your review and it was very interesting. I forgot to mention the SPA400 answers once the caller id is obtained. That would rake up long distance charges, etc. Very good point.

The other thing the SPA400 does when it does pick up the line, is it rings in a strange pattern. It's something like 1 second on, 2 seconds off. A very fast ring, which might make some callers wonder what's going on with the phone number that they have dialed. The spa400 should not be answering the outside line until an actual connection on the PBX is made. Be that a phone is answered, or aa intercepts the call.

I was reading about your problem with call forwarding the phones directly to voicemail. You can press the DND (do not disturb) button on the phone and it will forward all calls immediately to voicemail. The line won't even ring when it's called! At least there is some help for that situation.

Since Linksys has configured the voicemail system so ridiculously, they've now fenced themselves in to an entire host of problems. Your last comment was that they are slow to fix things. I haven't had any dealings with Linksys before, and this comes as sad news to me. Is it like them to NEVER fix problems like this? Or do you think eventually they will get around to making it work well?

Thanks.

[humba3]

Well, you asked, I've posted my neverending story with Linksys support here: http://forum.voxilla.com/linksys-sip...html#post93717
Read it and weep.

[humba3]

I just noted a new firmware on Linksys's site.. no changelog, but since most of the problems actually originate with the SPA9000, I doubt we'll see much improvement. FYI, I had been using the new SPA9000 firmware (3.3.6) for a while already.. so don't expect wonders if you upgrade both boxes simultaneously.
@edit: alright.. I upgraded.. the event log is still as broken as ever.

[Kevin270]

Hi Humba,

Do you mean they have new firmware for the SPA400? Or the SPA9000? I couldn't figure out which box you were talking about.

Thanks,
Kevin.