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VoIP Hardware

TTJJ

ULTIMATE Member
So my grandparents want to save money and they use their landline fairly heavily.

I've got experience with VoIP, but I'm thinking that they can use a VoIP adapter, sipgate basic along with their unlimited service for a tenner a month.

Does anyone have any experience with VoIP adapters? Ideally I just need to be able to set it and forget it. Something highly reliable that will just work. They currently have 4G internet and VoIP tends to work without issue over Vodafone so I'm hoping it'll be fine.
 
By VoIP adapter do you mean Analogue Terminal Adapter (ATA)? Those all work in much the same way. Plug one end into a network port, then plug the handset into the phone port on the ATA and then login via the web interface to enter your VoIP provider's details. Can pick these up for c.£35 on Amazon from various companies. Alternatively, get a VoIP supporting router with a phone port (internal ATA).
 
So my grandparents want to save money and they use their landline fairly heavily.

I've got experience with VoIP, but I'm thinking that they can use a VoIP adapter, sipgate basic along with their unlimited service for a tenner a month.

Does anyone have any experience with VoIP adapters? Ideally I just need to be able to set it and forget it. Something highly reliable that will just work. They currently have 4G internet and VoIP tends to work without issue over Vodafone so I'm hoping it'll be fine.

I would prepare yourself for calls about things not working, VoIP, especially over a mobile network is not always reliable. The cheaper adapters can also stop working for no reason needing to be switched on and off and can have many dozens of settings to navigate through which would be difficult to do remotely if you need to sort anything out.

Sometimes it isn't worth saving the cash for something potentially less reliable. You can of course set up a sipgate account for free and test it out before you switch them over, so worth doing that first.

Another option perhaps is a mobile landline style telephone, you put in a SIM card, and it works just a like a normal phone, and you can easily find monthly packages that are unlimited calls.
 
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I use a Cisco SPA122 and after it was setup it has worked over Three and Vodafone without issue, with Sipgate you get a list of all incoming numbers and can block those spam ones you see. I would expect a few calls asking for help for the first week but its just needs tweaking of the Cisco and router settings until its stable.
 
I use a Cisco SPA122 and after it was setup it has worked over Three and Vodafone without issue, with Sipgate you get a list of all incoming numbers and can block those spam ones you see. I would expect a few calls asking for help for the first week but its just needs tweaking of the Cisco and router settings until its stable.
With the Cisco adapter does it ever just inexplicably stop working?

and @Mark.J yup, I meant the ATA adapters from the likes of Cisco. I've got some experience with Cisco IP phones and although their configuration can be a bit difficult to wrap your head around in the end they were fairly reliable. The other option is something like I have, like the Gigaset bases with IP functionality. It generally works okay but I just want the most reliable option.
 
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I went with the Gigaset N300 base and a Gigaset handset. The base is of course VoIP but also has a landline connection but in my case it’s not required. Have two numbers configure, one from sipgate and the other from AAISP (for reliability 😀)
 
With the Cisco adapter does it ever just inexplicably stop working?
I did have non connections when I had a dual wan router connected to ADSL+ and Three, but never with same dual wan router connected to Voda and Three. The sipgate online status page will show when the phone is disconnected with a 1 min lag so could be remotely monitored by yourself if the username and password are known. It also shows the port number so you can set the router to prioritise that port for traffic.
 
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I use Linksys ATAs with sipgate, one a two line and the other a single line. Sourced used which are genuine, many are I'm advised clones with power plugs/PSU's that can fail as did my brothers one in Oz. He replaced the PSU with an aftermarket one. There is a web page which helps you identify the clones. The clones are probably fine just the power plugs are not great.
Never seen any issues with either of them used in different places with a 525, a 535 and now a 818. The 535 is used where there is no/poor 3G so unable to make reliable use of the inclusive calls (making or receiving) that the 525/818 are capable of.
Normal home cordless handsets plugged into the router to use the inclusive calls and another set for the VOIP line(s).
The VOIP "local numbers" are used for incoming calls only, I did not bother porting the LL numbers over. I also use an app so I can receive the VOIP calls on the mobile.
Setting up is a bit of a trial but once done I've not had to look at them again despite both being switched off for weeks at a time when away.
 
I ended up buying a Cisco SPA112 adapter. I’m guessing it’s not cloned because I just updated the firmware for it.

Their 4G broadband is about 30ms ping and 30mbps down pretty much constantly so it should be alright.

Do you have STUN enabled? I don’t know whether to have it enabled.
 
Mine is enabled, and server set to stun.sipgate.net, while I was in there I saw the MTU was 1500 so set it to 1468 which is what the Draytek MTU sniffer finds when connected to Three.
 
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I was actually thinking that. The N300 base stations are also cheap and it takes one extra piece of equipment out of the equation. I won’t be installing the Cisco adapter for a month or so anyway so I have ample time to decide.

I’ve had good experience with the Gigaset IP products. So what would you all recommend? A Cisco ATA adapter or a Gigaset IP base station? I just want it to be set and forget as much as is possible.
 
The N300 is configure and leave once setup or in my case I bought from AAISP along with a VoIP line and they sent it out configured so was plug and play, I added an additional Sipgate number.

There are slots for six IP numbers in addition to a normal landline but mine is unplugged now.

The A690HX handsets are nice looking and cheap if you need lots. There are more expensive handsets with colour screens but that’s not really needed.

Just wish I moved over to VoIP years ago, saving a fortune on line rental and calls now…. Wife won’t use a mobile
 
So I bought a Cisco SPA112 adapter but then had second thoughts - they already have Gigaset handsets and they're all compatible with other base stations so I bought the fairly old but well reviewed N300 IP base station. I've had a pretty good experience with my Go Box 100.

Set up and connected their existing handsets to it and using sipgate basic with a calls package. All seems to be working well over Vodafone 4G (Huawei B535). Initiated the port of the landline number yesterday after some successful testing. Seems to have worked out well so far.

The Cisco would have just added an extra device in the chain but the N300 means as long as that works, it's just one device. If in the future the handsets break then any new ones should work just fine.
 
So it hasn't worked out great.

They're running the N300 IP with some DECT phones attached which seems to be fine. However they're getting typical SIP issues where sometimes one side can't hear.

They have STUN enabled, which should be unnecessary because Vodafone uses symmetrical NAT, though they insist it's more reliable that way.

I've just enabled outgoing proxy for calls as sipgate recommended and limited the audio codec to a-law only.

I'm not really sure what else I can do behind NAT to make it work reliably, it probably just isn't going to work well if it isn't working now.
 
Have you tried setting the ports on ALG (Application Layer Gateway) on the router to include the VOIP port.
 
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So it hasn't worked out great.

They're running the N300 IP with some DECT phones attached which seems to be fine. However they're getting typical SIP issues where sometimes one side can't hear.

They have STUN enabled, which should be unnecessary because Vodafone uses symmetrical NAT, though they insist it's more reliable that way.

I've just enabled outgoing proxy for calls as sipgate recommended and limited the audio codec to a-law only.

I'm not really sure what else I can do behind NAT to make it work reliably, it probably just isn't going to work well if it isn't working now.

If it is one sided audio the issue is usually related to the RTP ports and traversing firewalls and NAT. Do you know if it is using IPv6 or IPv4? If Vodafone support IPv6 this will give you the best chance as it removes NAT from the equation, but you still have to be able to access and set the firewall/router to allow all traffic from Sipgate to pass into the local network and depending on what you are using you may not have much in the way of options.

Make sure that outgoing RTP port ranges match the ports Sipgate specify, also ensure the N300 isn't set to use random RTP ports.
 
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