asterisk users - Sep 2004 - Newbie has a few basic questions please.

I think I am missing the whole purposes of *. i see that it can do 
mainy things, but in laymans temrs I am not sure what it does.
I am very proficient in Linux and would like to use * for the 
following:

1) I would like to get rid of my landline(verizon) and use voip as my 
main means to communicate on the telephone.  I would like to be able 
to plug in my plain old phone into my linux box and be able to make a 
phone call to my family who has a plain old telephone line going into 
thier house, using voip and then I guess connecting to the pstn.  Can 
i do this?  If so, how? What hardware do I need? Can anyone connect to 
PSTN lines for free? Or do I need to pay some phone company somewhere?

thanks to anyone who can help.

Bruce

Bruce,

Using a POTS line local with * will get you the same net result as
having the POTS line only.  You will be using VoIP internal and passing
your calls off to the * box to have it dial like a normal phone.  So, no
IP packets move past the box over a POTS line.  That is a pretty useful
feature for someone in my situation where I needed to get a PBX in place
using available infrastructure (we had the POTS and didn't want to pay
for an upgrade to a PRI T1). I just connected up my lines and use my *
like a PBX.

So, if you want to use VoIP exclusively, you would need to pass all your
traffic over an internet connection.  In theory, I think you can use a
digium card with an fxs to connect up an analog phone to the * box.
Then you would just route the call out of your data connection to
someone like IAXtel (http://www.iaxtel.com) where you have registered
yourself and your parent's * box.  The call would pass to their VoIP
connection and handoff to whatever their * box had connected (analog
phones, SIP, whatever).

Peruse the Digium website FAQ and you should come up with lots of
different info regarding what you can do.

Thanks,
W





-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce [mailto:bruce@bruce.homelinux.com] 
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 12:25 PM
To: asterisk-users@lists.digium.com
Subject: [Asterisk-Users] Newbie has a few basic questions please.


I think I am missing the whole purposes of *. i see that it can do mainy
things, but in laymans temrs I am not sure what it does.
I am very proficient in Linux and would like to use * for the
following:

1) I would like to get rid of my landline(verizon) and use voip as my
main means to communicate on the telephone.  I would like to be able to
plug in my plain old phone into my linux box and be able to make a phone
call to my family who has a plain old telephone line going into thier
house, using voip and then I guess connecting to the pstn.  Can i do
this?  If so, how? What hardware do I need? Can anyone connect to PSTN
lines for free? Or do I need to pay some phone company somewhere?

thanks to anyone who can help.

Bruce
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On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 14:25:25 -0500, Bruce <bruce@bruce.homelinux.com>
wrote:
> 
> I think I am missing the whole purposes of *. i see that it can do
> mainy things, but in laymans temrs I am not sure what it does.
> I am very proficient in Linux and would like to use * for the
> following:
> 
> 1) I would like to get rid of my landline(verizon) and use voip as my
> main means to communicate on the telephone.  I would like to be able
> to plug in my plain old phone into my linux box and be able to make a
> phone call to my family who has a plain old telephone line going into
> thier house, using voip and then I guess connecting to the pstn.  Can
> i do this?  If so, how? What hardware do I need? Can anyone connect to
> PSTN lines for free? Or do I need to pay some phone company somewhere?
> 
> thanks to anyone who can help.
> 
> Bruce
You can use a regular telephone with voip. You will need an ATA
(analog telephone adapter). Like Sipura 2000, some cisco, or linksys
(they use SIP)... or you can use IAXy (uses IAX). Or you might want to
buy a SIP phone like cisco's or a grandstream (around USD 65)... Or
you can just use a free softphone. Like firefly, SJphone, Xten...

You can have a (100%) free NY incoming number (StanaPhone), or
Washington (IPkall, also 100% free). Stanaphone allows outbound
dialing too, not for free, of course. But to US it's only 2c per
minute. There are other companies that provide this kind of service
(some that charge monthly fees, others that are "prepaid"), just
browse along and see the one that better fits your needs. Just to
mention a few: broadvoice, voicepulse, lingo, sipphone, gafachi,
mutualphone, nuphone, iconnecthere, mywebcalls (not SIP, just H323),
vonage...

Sipphone also provides free PSTN to SIP connection, but you must dial
an access number and then dial your SIP number. Stanaphone and IPkall
provide direct numbers for free.

Hope it helps you get started. Take a look at the asterisk wiki
(really important), and at the voip providers' websites.

Regards,
Marconi.

For what you want to do asterisk isn't really the right solution.
Asterisk is a PBX. It doesn't provide a way for you to connect to the
PSTN.

To do what you want, you need to buy VOIP service from any of the
providers (broadvoice, vonage, packet8, etc). They will provide you a
device that you connect to your broadband connection and a analog
telephone and it lets you make calls to anyone on the PSTN. They  all
have a some sort of unlimited calling plan that might save you money
calling your family.

You said you wanted the phone connected to your Linux box. Why? From
what you describe as your goal, that's not necessary.

You also asked, about the purpose of Asterisk. Once you've got a
connection to the PSTN (VOIP service, a card in your linux box, or a
gateway box of some sort) Asterisk can be useful. It would let you
plug one or more phone lines into your Linux box and have multiple
extensions. It can provide voicemail and voice menu systems. It can do
call logging and monitoring. All useful stuff, but none of it lets you
call the PSTN for free.

- |Daryll


On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 14:25:25 -0500, Bruce <bruce@bruce.homelinux.com>
wrote:
> 
> I think I am missing the whole purposes of *. i see that it can do
> mainy things, but in laymans temrs I am not sure what it does.
> I am very proficient in Linux and would like to use * for the
> following:
> 
> 1) I would like to get rid of my landline(verizon) and use voip as my
> main means to communicate on the telephone.  I would like to be able
> to plug in my plain old phone into my linux box and be able to make a
> phone call to my family who has a plain old telephone line going into
> thier house, using voip and then I guess connecting to the pstn.  Can
> i do this?  If so, how? What hardware do I need? Can anyone connect to
> PSTN lines for free? Or do I need to pay some phone company somewhere?
> 
> thanks to anyone who can help.
> 
> Bruce
> _______________________________________________
> Asterisk-Users mailing list
> Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
>

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.  I do have vonage phone service and they have 
provided me a motorla device I plug into my broadband and also plug my 
phone into to make calls. this is a nice service for 30 bucks, but as 
with all things linux, why cant one connect to the PSTN for free? I 
mean isnt there a protocol one can use to get access to the pstn?  
What does vonage use to do this?  Or do they have to pay for access to 
the pstn. 
Bruce
> For what you want to do asterisk isn't really the right solution.
> Asterisk is a PBX. It doesn't provide a way for you to connect to the
> PSTN.
> 
> To do what you want, you need to buy VOIP service from any of the
> providers (broadvoice, vonage, packet8, etc). They will provide you a
> device that you connect to your broadband connection and a analog
> telephone and it lets you make calls to anyone on the PSTN. They  all
> have a some sort of unlimited calling plan that might save you money
> calling your family.
> 
> You said you wanted the phone connected to your Linux box. Why? From
> what you describe as your goal, that's not necessary.
> 
> You also asked, about the purpose of Asterisk. Once you've got a
> connection to the PSTN (VOIP service, a card in your linux box, or a
> gateway box of some sort) Asterisk can be useful. It would let you
> plug one or more phone lines into your Linux box and have multiple
> extensions. It can provide voicemail and voice menu systems. It can 
do
> call logging and monitoring. All useful stuff, but none of it lets 
you
> call the PSTN for free.
> 
> - |Daryll
> 
> 
> On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 14:25:25 -0500, Bruce 
<bruce@bruce.homelinux.com> wrote:
> > 
> > I think I am missing the whole purposes of *. i see that it can do
> > mainy things, but in laymans temrs I am not sure what it does.
> > I am very proficient in Linux and would like to use * for the
> > following:
> > 
> > 1) I would like to get rid of my landline(verizon) and use voip as 
my
> > main means to communicate on the telephone.  I would like to be 
able
> > to plug in my plain old phone into my linux box and be able to 
make a
> > phone call to my family who has a plain old telephone line going 
into
> > thier house, using voip and then I guess connecting to the pstn.  
Can
> > i do this?  If so, how? What hardware do I need? Can anyone 
connect to
> > PSTN lines for free? Or do I need to pay some phone company 
somewhere?
> > 
> > thanks to anyone who can help.
> > 
> > Bruce
> > _______________________________________________
> > Asterisk-Users mailing list
> > Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
> > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
> >    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Asterisk-Users mailing list
> Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com
> http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
>    http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> 
>

>> Thanks for the replies.  I do have vonage phone service and they have 
>> provided me a motorla device I plug into my broadband and also plug my 
>> phone into to make calls. this is a nice service for 30 bucks, but as 
>> with all things linux, why cant one connect to the PSTN for free?
> 
> I suspect that somebody, possibly you, paid for the computer you're 
> running Linux on.  Connecting to the PSTN costs money for pretty much 
> the same reasons.  As a personal aside, you do appear to be a bit hung 
> up on the free beer aspect.
> 
Hi Bruce,

If you use infrastructure owned by others, you will obviously have to
pay, by the month and/or by the minute.

One way to talk over long distances without depending on others'
facilities is amateur radio.  Unfortunately, the equipment can cost
you several thousand dollars, communication is unreliable and the
quality is often poor.  If you learn enough and expend the effort to
acquire and repair old gear, it might cost only a few hundred dollars.
Most amateurs take up the hobby for reasons other than 'free' calls.
More info at http://www.arrl.org/ .

You can get free incoming-only access to the PSTN.  The provider
receives a small portion of what people pay to call you.
See http://www.ipkall.com/ .

Two people with Internet connections can talk for free (other than
the cost of Internet service) using a variety of softphones or
instant messaging software.  Some of this software is open source.
For example, see http://myphone.sourceforge.net/ .
The quality is not the best, and there are various inconveniences.

You can buy an IP phone or an adapter similar to the one provided
by Vonage for < $100.  If the other end is similarly equipped,
you can talk without any additional monthly or per-minute charges.

A group of people with softphones, IP phones, and/or adapters
can call each other via registry services, some of which are
free.  See http://www.pulver.com/fwd/ .

A number of VoIP providers allow you to call the PSTN for $0.03
per minute or less, with no monthly fee.  This is a good choice
for those using less than 1000 minutes per month.

--Stewart

Stewart Nelson wrote:
> You can get free incoming-only access to the PSTN.  The provider
> receives a small portion of what people pay to call you.
> See http://www.ipkall.com/ .
Does anyone know what ipkall has going for them that is different from 
me ordering a couple of POTS lines or a T-1?

-- 
Andrew Thompson
http://aktzero.com/