sundance-communications.com/forum Forums VOIP Phones & IP PBX VoIP & Cloud Phones, Hosted PBX, General IP Phones which best voip adapter fxo fxs? sipura, Grandstream, Linksys, etc...

Hi.

I have been looking for a solution to link the main office with a home office.
Can anyone tell which voip adapter has the best quality and relatively simple to setup? Having a web based interface screen would be nice? Perhaps you have had a very good or a very bad experience with a particular voip adapter box which provides the FXO and FXS ports to connect 2 systems?

As far as quality goes, are they all pretty much the same as long as you have good bandwidth or is there one that I should avoid?

I am trying to connect a Samsung idcs 500 with an Samsung idcs 100 which are both regular tried and true phone system (not any type of VOIP home built project)

The ones I have seen so far are:

1.Linksys SPA 3102 ( possible an updated version of the SIPURA 3000)

2.Sipura 3000

3.Grandstream


Thanks for your help.


P.S.

FXO needs to connect to an FXS on the other side correct?

An FXO Port connects to an FXS Port. The voltage is supplied on the FXS side of things. Just think of it as the O means you are connecting to a central office, or the S means you are connecting to a station/desk.

Other then "Yes, you can hook two devices up to extend analog lines over VoIP", we will need some more information.

How many lines are you looking to send between the two systems? Do you atleast have SDSL or some other form of business-grade internet? How critical is the link? How much time will you spend on it?

If it's only 1 or 2 lines then you can do it for relatively cheap money using ATA's. If you need like 4+ lines then it will probably cost more then it's worth unless money isn't much of an issue or you realllllly need these lines at your soho.

Also, there are reliability issues with using consumer (cheap) ATA's like Grandstream and Sipura/Linksys. If this is for light/occasional use then it should work fine. If this is something you will be spending potentially hours on at home then you might need a better solution then what the consumer-ata's can offer. Anything with more then 2 FXO/FXS ports is called a "Media Gateway" cause it sounds more tech-savvy. You'll also be using "SIP Trunking" at this point vs. just normal SIP. Gotta love marketting

Pretty much anything Linksys is going to be consumer or at the most prosumer grade stuff. Support is usually good and they are typically easy to set-up. Reliability can be questionable. For the record Linksys bought Sipura so everything that sipura had made prior to the merger was rebranded and reskinned as Linksys.

Grandstream is a real hit or miss company. Either what they have will work great or will ruin your life. I usually avoid them. I have generally heard good things about their media gateways tho. Don't expect any real support unless you speak Chinese and call china. They are the bottom-dollar leader. That's about it. Your mileage may vary.

Some other options for smaller ATA's/Gateway's are Mediatrix and Multitech. These are going to be expensive depending on configuration and features but will in general give you a more stable VoIP solution.

If you've never deployed VoIP before or worked with it then this might be more trouble then it's worth. Like I always say, when in doubt, contract out.

You do realize that ATA's wont extend the phone system but just provide a ringing POTS line between the two system's. It will basically be like calling each system seperately on a phone and then conferencing the two calls. Granted i'm sure some of it can be handled in the dialplan. If you are actually looking to have true remote extensions/nodes from 1 system to the other then you will need to look into a Samsung VoIP add-on for your system.

And for those suggestions I leave it to the rest of the crew on here. I know nothing about actual samsung phones

I would second the Multitech units if this is for a business application.

Multitech is a good company. However sipura/linksys will probably work well- the key is in the dialplans. If you can write linksys dialplan you can make the thing do anything.

If this is for a business, or the system failing will cost somebody money, I would recommend to avoid grandstream. Their products aren't bad but the software / web ui isn't as complete as linksys/sipura.
As a friend of mine likes to describe their development process- "they got the hardware design done... and then the keg was delivered". I recommend them for home users or where hardware cost is the primary concern, otherwise you can do better.

You can also check out patton electronics. I would rate them equal to multitech and price is better.

Multitech. Can be set up in any combo:
FXS TO FXO, FXS TO FXS, FXO TO FXO,FXO TO FXS, WORKS ALL WAYS.

I will concur with the Multitech solutions also.

Doing a bit of looking, the iDCS500 is supposedly SIP ready. The iDCS100 MAY be SIP ready. Thus, your ATA would be hosted off the iDCS PBX if compatible. You really need to look at the docs/talk to Samsung to see what's possible. Are you looking for keyset compatibility? The Sipura isn't going to provide that. It'll do lineset, that's about it.

The Linksys 3102 is a Sipura 3000 with a router. Not sure if it's easier to configure as I haven't seen one. The Sipura 3000 is not easy to configure by any means. However, there's LOTS of guidance on the 'net and once you get it done, it's done.

I've had a '3000 sitting in a rack in London for over 3 years and use it as a trunk for an asterisk box here in Texas. Works like a champ and hasn't hiccuped or locked up once. Quality is definitely not all the same.

I've played with the Sipura and the Grandstream and as far as audio quality goes haven't been thrilled with either. The Sipura is better, but the echo cancellation is very rudimentary and Asterisk doesn't do echo cancellation on external gateways. The Grandstream was a bear to get working and never quite worked right. It went in the trash.

I have to admit i'm hypercritical about audio quality and won't accept less than toll without a fight.

In short, the Sipura has it's limitations but it IS reliable as long as you research it, understand it's shortcomings, and don't try to make it do something it's not good at. Oh, yeah, and are willing to give it time and patience as far as configuration. Haven't played with Multitech yet, it's likely a better device.

I have been using the SPA 3000 and SPA 3102 and had some success with them however currently I am finding that the PSTN ports are failing 1 in 7 times. I also will point out remote management issues requiring a registry hack the addition of TcpWindowSize to 8000 other wise managing units remotely is very unreliable. Vista does not support TcpWindowSize settings so cannot be hacked to work reliably. The issue is also current when trying to manage them from othert OS as well Linux and apple etc. Also be aware the SPA 3000 only has a single G.729 licence making it a poor peformer when you wish to have two VoIP sessions on from the Phone set and one from the PSTN line. I am currently looking for a replacement unit and have been looking at the Multitech Systems units, Grandstream, Netcomm and others.. Its clear i have had no joy from Linksys and wishe to find another supplier