Using the Linksys SPA400 with CommuniGate Pro

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[h1]Introduction[/h1]
For small- and medium-sized businesses, going all-VoIP is not an easy decision.

Fortunately, the switch-over, which can result in substantial savings and add bold new capabilities to tired old office phone systems, can be done in baby-steps: Purchase an Internet Protocol (IP) based phone system, but keep the PSTN lines, for now.

It is indeed possible to integrate VoIP into an existing office analog system, keeping current phone services intact while routing costly toll calls out over IP. Until recently, though, the hardware needed for such integration was difficult to use and expensive.

There are two ways to route calls between VoIP and the PSTN: subscribe to an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) or keep the PSTN lines and purchase equipment to make the conversion.

Keeping the PSTN lines requires VoIP gateways to convert the PSTN signal to a VoIP signal. For analog lines, these gateways need a Foreign Exchange Office (FXO) port.

Until recently, most reasonably priced VoIP gateways had only one or two FXO ports - enough ports for home use, but too few for small businesses and remote offices.

The average price for a four FXO port VoIP gateway was $400-$500, until Linksys released the SPA400.

The Linksys SPA400 is an attractive low-cost (List Price: $295) four FXO port solution that costs $100 less than its peers.

The official position from Linksys is that the SPA400 will only work with the Linksys SPA9000, but in this article, we explain how to configure the SPA400 to work with the CommuniGate Pro Internet Communications System. We also have a related configuration for Asterisk - the Open Source PBX.

This article covers the SPA400 with firmware version 1.0.0.3 and CommuniGate Pro version 5.1.2. The configuration for new product versions may differ, so check the Voxilla VoIP Forums for updated information.

[h1]Configuring the SPA400[/h1]
Connect to the SPA400 via the Web interface. The default username is Admin (case sensitive) and no password.

[h2]Setup->Basic Setup[/h2]
SPA400_setup.jpg
SPA400 Setup->Basic Setup Tab

• Go to the Basic Setup screen.
• Setup the Fixed IP Address information for the SPA400. Do not use Dynamic IP Addresses – the CommuniGate server must find the SPA400 and register with it.
• Setup the SPA400 DNS and NTP information.
• Click Save Settings.

[h2]Setup->SPA9000 Interface[/h2]
SPA400_SPA9000_Interface.jpg
Linksys SPA400 Setup->SPA9000 Interface Tab

• Go to the SPA9000 Interface configuration page.
• Change the User ID to spa400.
• Leave the SPA9000 Address set to Discover Automatically. For added security, once the SPA400 is working with the CommuniGate Pro server this value can be changed to match the server information.
• Click Save Settings.

[h1]Configuring CommuniGate Pro[/h1]
Connect to the CommuniGate Pro server.

[h2]Setup the SPA400 Alias[/h2]
Typically inbound calls are sent to the pbx account, but the SPA400 needs the account name to match the value specified in the SPA400 User ID configuration field.

• Go to the Users->Domains->your domain->Objects->pbx account and add spa400 to the Aliases field.

CGPro_alias.jpg
CommuniGate Pro pbx Account Tab

• Click Update.

[h2]Gateway Settings[/h2]

• Go to the Settings->Real-Time->SIP->Gateways tab.

CGPro_gateways.jpg
CommuniGate Pro Gateway Tab

• Configure the following settings:
  • GatewayName: spa400
  • Domain: IP address of the spa400
  • Via: leave blank, unless NAT is between the SPA400 and CommuniGate Pro server, then use the public IP address of the SPA400
  • Username: spa400 (or what was entered in the SPA400 User ID field)
  • Authenticate: Disabled
  • Proxy: None
  • Substitute: Check the From box
  • Contact: spa400@CommunigatePro Server IP address
  • Register Every: 5 min
• Click Update.

[h2]Router Settings[/h2]

• Go to Settings->Router tab and add the routing for your calls outbound calls. See the image below for an example.
• There are two ways to configure the outbound calls depending on the need for B2BUA or not: with or without using the gatewaycaller application. Try one and if calls don’t work, try the other. If you need B2BUA and the gatewaycaller application, see the additional configuration step below.

CGPro_router.jpg
CommuniGate Pro Router Tab

• Click Update.

[h2]B2BUA/gatewaycaller Application Settings[/h2]
Some situations, like NAT between the SPA400 and the CommuniGate server, may require the use of the B2BUA gatewaycaller application.

The gatewaycaller settings can be configured on a per domain or per user basis. The example below shows how to configure the per user settings.

• Go to the Users->Domains->your domain->Objects->user->Real-Time->PSTN tab.
• Configure the following fields:
  • Gateway Domain: IP address of the spa400
  • Gateway Address: leave blank, unless NAT is between the SPA400 and CommuniGate Pro server, then use the public IP address of the SPA400
  • Name for Gateway: spa400

CGPro_PSTN.jpg
CommuniGate Pro PSTN Tab

• Click Update.

[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
The configuration is now ready for testing.

Testing should include testing both inbound and outbound calls.

If audio is only heard in one direction, try using the B2BUA/gatewaycaller.

If you need additional help with this configuration, help is available at the CommuniGate Pro Support Forum.