[MustardMan]

Hi there,

I read on the Sveasoft website that they plan to create a firmware version for the VERY popular Linksys WRT54G wireless router that will transform it into a SIP Proxy server.

Sounds interesting but what are some of the uses for it? Just curious since I have a WRT54G and wouldn't mind experimenting with it.
http://www.sveasoft.com/content/view/20/1/

[mberlant]

I would expect that the SIP-enabled version of Sveasoft will mimic many of the functions of the Intertex IX66 SIP server/router.

Basically, in addition to all of the router functions you have come to expect from Sveasoft you would also have a miniature Asterisk PBX under the same hood. You would program your ATAs and softphones as extensions of the WRT and program the WRT, in turn, as clients of your various VoIP service providers. You would determine which extensions ring when someone calls each of your "outside lines" and set up a Dial Plan to control how outbound calls are handled.

Have a look at the comments about the IX66 in the Intertex forum here on Voxilla for a more comprehensive idea of what we're talking about.

[PhoneBoy]

I wonder what SIP proxy they are going to use. It's not like they have a lot of flash space to work with, or RAM on the WRT54G for the matter.

[mberlant]

It may end up only for the GS, which has twice as much of each.

[MustardMan]

Yea, I would imagine flash RAM space would be kinda tight if they were to give it that sort of functionality. Even for the GS version but I'm no expert on that sort of thing.

If they could manage the same sort of functionality as the Intertex on a GS it would definitely make the upgrade worthwhile for me.

[BSalita]

Smells like vaporware.

[jschulman]

check out openwrt.org. they have the sip proxy (and asterisk running on the WRT54G) currently.

On a site note, they say that running asterisk on the WRT works great except for some of the GSM voices (I guess the compress is so high that the WRT has trouble getting it out fast enough).

[rizsher]

Can someone please explain what having a SIP proxy in the router would mean for a home user?, maybe with a real world example?. I asked the same question over at the Sveasoft forum and got some techno back that I couldn't really decipher.

[mberlant]

There are two simple benefits that I am clamoring for, personally.

First, I have seven SIP registrations in my home - an SPA-2000 connected to two PABX CO trunks, an SPA3000 connected to a PABX CO trunk and a PABX ATA, a Grandstream 486 with a single line phone and a laptop with two more registrations. I have so many connections that I cannot manage them all with the limited number of pick-up buttons on my telephone sets. I would love to move all seven registrations to a SIP PBX and set up three CO lines on my voice PABX as one hunting group of extensions to handle all seven lines.

Second, I would like to shift my laptop's "allegiance" to this SIP PBX. By registering the laptop to my own SIP server instead of its own public connections, I can receive calls on my main business numbers without having to do anything by way of preparation (Call Forwarding, remembering to unhook Call Forwarding, etc.).

The deficiency in Asterisk, from my selfish point of view, is that it does not support client-side STUN service. That means that I must either put the Asterisk box in my DMZ (and protect it with its own firewall) or keep it behind my router and nail up the Asterisk's SIP and RTP parameters so that I can hard code them into my router's inbound forwarding table.

[solarflare]

Originally Posted by mberlant

It may end up only for the GS, which has twice as much of each.

I asked it in the Sveasoft forums and the answer was:

Originally Posted by sveasoft

VoIP fits on the 4 MB and up flash units.

Quite amazing.