Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
I totally agreed with Leif Madsen that viable options are available and time and effort spent on winmodem should be carefully considered. My system also works with an ATA as PSTN gateway and VOIP SIP provider for DID and inbound/outbound service. It will save time much more time and effort while keep up the productivity. CK On Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 8:53 AM, Leif Madsen leif.mad...@asteriskdocs.orgwrote: On 11-02-27 09:12 PM, Stuart Longland wrote: I've tried researching this, and so far, have struggled to find any contemporary information on the issue, so I do apologise if asking this irritates people who have answered this before. I have managed to set up Asterisk 1.8 on the web server here. I have two softphones (Ekiga) able to communicate with it. So far so good. I'm now curious to see if I can link it with the PSTN phone line here. There are several very good answers in this thread, and I suggest reading them. However, if hardware costs are the issue, then my recommendation is always to look at a SIP connection from an ITSP as your connection to the PSTN. The costs are nearly trivial (at least in Canada here you can have a DID for inbound calls for something around $5 a month, with termination costs in the range of 1c/min -- in other commonwealth countries I presume the costs are similar?). My bill rarely rises above $20 a month, and I use my phone a lot. (Business, personal, and 3 DID numbers are included in that cost.) I highly suggest you spend your time and money elsewhere, rather than chasing the dragon that seems to be winmodem FXO connectivity. If you absolutely must have hardware, then I suggest you start with used ATA (analog telephony adapters) that can be found on eBay, kijiji, craigslist, or any other assorted websites. Leif. -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
On Wed, Mar 02, 2011 at 10:05:35AM +1000, Stuart Longland wrote: There's also regulatory requirements: here in Australia since I'm plugging into the PSTN, it needs to carry the ACMA's regulatory compliance mark. So buying something from overseas isn't an option. It's less of an option for me as I do not possess a credit card, and so many companies out there seem to think we're born with them. Thus ideally, I'm looking for where I can source one in my local area. Take a look at something like a Linksys SPA3102. Some people told me they managed to set this up as a SIP/PSTN gateway. -- Daniel Tryba -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
Hi, On Wed, Mar 02, 2011 at 05:20:07PM +0800, asterisk asterisk wrote: I totally agreed with Leif Madsen that viable options are available and time and effort spent on winmodem should be carefully considered. Indeed, but I never suggested anywhere using a winmodem. The modem I mentioned is a hardware modem connected via RS232, and there's the possibility that when our ADSL link goes down, I use it to bring up a backup 56kbps dial-up line. My system also works with an ATA as PSTN gateway and VOIP SIP provider for DID and inbound/outbound service. It will save time much more time and effort while keep up the productivity. Yep, all granted and I may consider a SIP service at some point, particularly for a business number. -- Stuart Longland (aka Redhatter, VK4MSL) .'''. Gentoo Linux/MIPS Cobalt and Docs Developer '.'` : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'.' http://dev.gentoo.org/~redhatter :.' I haven't lost my mind... ...it's backed up on a tape somewhere. -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 09:41:38PM +1000, Stuart Longland wrote: Indeed, most motherboards do come with Ethernet on board. This one came with one gigabit Ethernet interface. However, we needed another for a connection to an ADSL router (acting in bridged mode so we do the PPPoE directly). Thus, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet card was installed to provide the second port needed. You can free the PCI slot if you use VLANs on the internal interface to seperate the internal and external traffic. This requires a switch with vlan support, shouldn't could much more than $80. -- Daniel Tryba -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
On 03/02/11 01:37, Daniel Tryba wrote: On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 09:41:38PM +1000, Stuart Longland wrote: Indeed, most motherboards do come with Ethernet on board. This one came with one gigabit Ethernet interface. However, we needed another for a connection to an ADSL router (acting in bridged mode so we do the PPPoE directly). Thus, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet card was installed to provide the second port needed. You can free the PCI slot if you use VLANs on the internal interface to seperate the internal and external traffic. This requires a switch with vlan support, shouldn't could much more than $80. I'm aware of this, it still requires the expense of: - a VLAN aware switch ($80 apparently; currency not stated) - a FXO card(estimates at AU$200 upwards) and the need to take down the server to replace a PCI card, then set up kernel drivers for the new card. Even a USB FXO device, I still need kernel drivers, but I should be able to just run `make menuconfig`, enable the modules, `make modules modules_install`, plug it in and I'm done. Ethernet based devices shouldn't need kernel modules. There's also regulatory requirements: here in Australia since I'm plugging into the PSTN, it needs to carry the ACMA's regulatory compliance mark. So buying something from overseas isn't an option. It's less of an option for me as I do not possess a credit card, and so many companies out there seem to think we're born with them. Thus ideally, I'm looking for where I can source one in my local area. I can picture the exchange with the salesman behind the counter now. Hi, I'm looking for a FXO card… FX-/What/?? These are barriers to people adopting systems such as Asterisk in my opinion. I figure there's some sort of technical reason for why a modem can't work in theory, but I'm yet to hear one. Yes, I'm new to IP telephony. The closest I've seen is that they don't have a DSP, as I say, big deal in this day and age … DSPs are just specialised CPUs in many cases, and while there'll be a penalty in terms of CPU load, I'm sure it can be done in software. We're dealing with what, 8kHz sample rate, 16-bit mono PCM? So, 128kbps? I've seen my old computer do realtime DSP on faster streams than that. Full duplex may be another matter. As I mentioned, I know the modem I have here can do full duplex on the headset port, and I'm certain the sound card can do full duplex. At worst, I just make a cable that plugs PC line out - modem microphone in, PC line in - modem speaker out. And I might have to use ALSA's plug plug-in to rate convert from 48kHz to 16kHz or 8kHz, not difficult. I then just write 'ATA' to /dev/ttySX when I see RING, or 'ATDT' when I want to dial. If someone can enlighten me on some technical details I might have missed, I'm all ears. Still, at least I have the source code there, and so it is possible for me to code up a solution for myself. :-) -- Stuart Longland (aka Redhatter, VK4MSL) .'''. Gentoo Linux/MIPS Cobalt and Docs Developer '.'` : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'.' http://dev.gentoo.org/~redhatter :.' I haven't lost my mind... ...it's backed up on a tape somewhere. -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
On 11-02-27 09:12 PM, Stuart Longland wrote: I've tried researching this, and so far, have struggled to find any contemporary information on the issue, so I do apologise if asking this irritates people who have answered this before. I have managed to set up Asterisk 1.8 on the web server here. I have two softphones (Ekiga) able to communicate with it. So far so good. I'm now curious to see if I can link it with the PSTN phone line here. There are several very good answers in this thread, and I suggest reading them. However, if hardware costs are the issue, then my recommendation is always to look at a SIP connection from an ITSP as your connection to the PSTN. The costs are nearly trivial (at least in Canada here you can have a DID for inbound calls for something around $5 a month, with termination costs in the range of 1c/min -- in other commonwealth countries I presume the costs are similar?). My bill rarely rises above $20 a month, and I use my phone a lot. (Business, personal, and 3 DID numbers are included in that cost.) I highly suggest you spend your time and money elsewhere, rather than chasing the dragon that seems to be winmodem FXO connectivity. If you absolutely must have hardware, then I suggest you start with used ATA (analog telephony adapters) that can be found on eBay, kijiji, craigslist, or any other assorted websites. Leif. -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
On Mon, 28 Feb 2011 12:12:44 +1000, Stuart Longland redhat...@gentoo.org wrote: Apart from the lack of any hardware signal processing, it seems all the components are there. The server isn't particularly heavily loaded, and thus I see no reason why the machine wouldn't theoretically be able to handle the DSP in software I've seen lesser hardware do quite sophisticated DSP in real-time. That's where Zaptel/Dahdi came from: An open-source driver for a Winmodem. This is still available as the X100P/X101P, but for some reason, those cards rarely work. A $10 Linux Answering Machine www.linuxgazette.net/120/smith.html www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/X100P+clone For anything serious, you need to get brands like Digium, Sangoma, Patton, etc. -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
On 02/28/11 12:36, asterisk asterisk wrote: I wonder why you do not have the built in ethernet in your motherboard. Indeed, most motherboards do come with Ethernet on board. This one came with one gigabit Ethernet interface. However, we needed another for a connection to an ADSL router (acting in bridged mode so we do the PPPoE directly). Thus, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet card was installed to provide the second port needed. You can spare your PCI slot for a proper FXO card and use USB-to-ethernet I could, but I'd rather not needlessly shut down the system now that it's working the way I want. USB or Ethernet means I can just plug the thing in and get it going without disturbing anything; particularly the latter. For a PCI FXO card, the cheapest will be X100 but be aware of the quality and compatibility. Or a better choice will be TDM400 Other alternative: Get a USB-FXO from Sangoma, expensive Get a working SPA3000 as FXO --- cheapest I believe Get a OBi100, out of stock at the moment. I also want to try I'll give those some consideration, but yeah, given it's just a case of for fun, not worth spending a lot of money. -- Stuart Longland (aka Redhatter, VK4MSL) .'''. Gentoo Linux/MIPS Cobalt and Docs Developer '.'` : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'.' http://dev.gentoo.org/~redhatter :.' I haven't lost my mind... ...it's backed up on a tape somewhere. -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
On 02/28/2011 10:12 AM, Stuart Longland wrote: Hi all, I've tried researching this, and so far, have struggled to find any contemporary information on the issue, so I do apologise if asking this irritates people who have answered this before. I have managed to set up Asterisk 1.8 on the web server here. I have two softphones (Ekiga) able to communicate with it. So far so good. I'm now curious to see if I can link it with the PSTN phone line here. The web server in question is an Intel Atom system with a Mini-ITX motherboard. Its one and only PCI slot is occupied by a PCI ethernet card. So FXO card is not an option even if it were within budget. My options therefore look to be an external FXO device of some description (Ethernet or USB), or to use a voice modem. I fear external FXOs are going to be even more expensive than internal FXO cards. Now, I have here an old Maestro JetStream 56k modem here that does amongst other things, voice comms, and I have used it in the past as a telephone by plugging a headset into the front of it (and it was full duplex too if I recall correctly). I have also used it as an answering machine, with the audio being transmitted digitally over the RS232 link. So that to me suggests it is possible to get audio in to and out of the modem, either via a sound card or using the serial port. The web server has a sound card too (hard not to buy a motherboard with one these days). Apart from the lack of any hardware signal processing, it seems all the components are there. The server isn't particularly heavily loaded, and thus I see no reason why the machine wouldn't theoretically be able to handle the DSP in software … I've seen lesser hardware do quite sophisticated DSP in real-time. Now, I've hunted high and low for where this is configured. Some mailing list threads point me to the nonexistant /etc/asterisk/modems.conf. One points me to /etc/asterisk/phone.conf, but nothing there jumps out at me as being an obvious means for configuring a modem — nor can I find where it's documented on the Asterisk wiki. Where abouts should I look for documentation on configuring these modules? Regards, There is no requirement for DSP. There is a requirement for getting duplex audio in and out of the PC. *Very* few full blown external modems will do that. The very simple USB winmodems will, but nobody has produced drivers to make it work for any of the common chips used in those devices. Its not hard to do, though. Source code exists which is not a million miles from that required to hook a USB winmodem into DAHDI. Steve -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
[asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
Hi all, I've tried researching this, and so far, have struggled to find any contemporary information on the issue, so I do apologise if asking this irritates people who have answered this before. I have managed to set up Asterisk 1.8 on the web server here. I have two softphones (Ekiga) able to communicate with it. So far so good. I'm now curious to see if I can link it with the PSTN phone line here. The web server in question is an Intel Atom system with a Mini-ITX motherboard. Its one and only PCI slot is occupied by a PCI ethernet card. So FXO card is not an option even if it were within budget. My options therefore look to be an external FXO device of some description (Ethernet or USB), or to use a voice modem. I fear external FXOs are going to be even more expensive than internal FXO cards. Now, I have here an old Maestro JetStream 56k modem here that does amongst other things, voice comms, and I have used it in the past as a telephone by plugging a headset into the front of it (and it was full duplex too if I recall correctly). I have also used it as an answering machine, with the audio being transmitted digitally over the RS232 link. So that to me suggests it is possible to get audio in to and out of the modem, either via a sound card or using the serial port. The web server has a sound card too (hard not to buy a motherboard with one these days). Apart from the lack of any hardware signal processing, it seems all the components are there. The server isn't particularly heavily loaded, and thus I see no reason why the machine wouldn't theoretically be able to handle the DSP in software … I've seen lesser hardware do quite sophisticated DSP in real-time. Now, I've hunted high and low for where this is configured. Some mailing list threads point me to the nonexistant /etc/asterisk/modems.conf. One points me to /etc/asterisk/phone.conf, but nothing there jumps out at me as being an obvious means for configuring a modem — nor can I find where it's documented on the Asterisk wiki. Where abouts should I look for documentation on configuring these modules? Regards, -- Stuart Longland (aka Redhatter, VK4MSL) .'''. Gentoo Linux/MIPS Cobalt and Docs Developer '.'` : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'.' http://dev.gentoo.org/~redhatter :.' I haven't lost my mind... ...it's backed up on a tape somewhere. -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
On Mon, 28 Feb 2011, Stuart Longland wrote: Now, I have here an old Maestro JetStream 56k modem here that does An external modem is a non-starter. If you have infinite time and your time is worth US$0 and you're doing it just for the thrill of it -- maybe. Ward Mundy crew seem to think this kit (http://nerdvittles.com/?p=720) is pretty hot stuff. Sangoma makes a 2 FXO port USB thingy that looks interesting. -- Thanks in advance, - Steve Edwards sedwa...@sedwards.com Voice: +1-760-468-3867 PST Newline Fax: +1-760-731-3000 -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [asterisk-users] Using voice modem as poor man's FXO in Asterisk 1.8
HI, My understanding is that the modem won't work. I believe asterisk does not support. I wonder why you do not have the built in ethernet in your motherboard. You can spare your PCI slot for a proper FXO card and use USB-to-ethernet For a PCI FXO card, the cheapest will be X100 but be aware of the quality and compatibility. Or a better choice will be TDM400 Other alternative: Get a USB-FXO from Sangoma, expensive Get a working SPA3000 as FXO --- cheapest I believe Get a OBi100, out of stock at the moment. I also want to try Hope this is of help to you CK On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 10:12 AM, Stuart Longland redhat...@gentoo.orgwrote: Hi all, I've tried researching this, and so far, have struggled to find any contemporary information on the issue, so I do apologise if asking this irritates people who have answered this before. I have managed to set up Asterisk 1.8 on the web server here. I have two softphones (Ekiga) able to communicate with it. So far so good. I'm now curious to see if I can link it with the PSTN phone line here. The web server in question is an Intel Atom system with a Mini-ITX motherboard. Its one and only PCI slot is occupied by a PCI ethernet card. So FXO card is not an option even if it were within budget. My options therefore look to be an external FXO device of some description (Ethernet or USB), or to use a voice modem. I fear external FXOs are going to be even more expensive than internal FXO cards. Now, I have here an old Maestro JetStream 56k modem here that does amongst other things, voice comms, and I have used it in the past as a telephone by plugging a headset into the front of it (and it was full duplex too if I recall correctly). I have also used it as an answering machine, with the audio being transmitted digitally over the RS232 link. So that to me suggests it is possible to get audio in to and out of the modem, either via a sound card or using the serial port. The web server has a sound card too (hard not to buy a motherboard with one these days). Apart from the lack of any hardware signal processing, it seems all the components are there. The server isn't particularly heavily loaded, and thus I see no reason why the machine wouldn't theoretically be able to handle the DSP in software … I've seen lesser hardware do quite sophisticated DSP in real-time. Now, I've hunted high and low for where this is configured. Some mailing list threads point me to the nonexistant /etc/asterisk/modems.conf. One points me to /etc/asterisk/phone.conf, but nothing there jumps out at me as being an obvious means for configuring a modem — nor can I find where it's documented on the Asterisk wiki. Where abouts should I look for documentation on configuring these modules? Regards, -- Stuart Longland (aka Redhatter, VK4MSL) .'''. Gentoo Linux/MIPS Cobalt and Docs Developer '.'` : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'.' http://dev.gentoo.org/~redhatter :.' I haven't lost my mind... ...it's backed up on a tape somewhere. -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users -- _ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
