I am working with a small inn (under 50 rooms) that is next to a ski resort. The inn just had Cat5e Homeruns to each room installed, with a patch panel in the basement. Now it's my job to connect each of the those rooms to the Internet. I think I have a Cisco switch that I can do Private VLANS with, however I thought of another solution. Has anybody seen or does anybody know of a VoIP hardphone that has router instead of a switch? I could connect the phone to the router, give IP addresses based on the phone's MAC, and then the client can connect thier computer to the phone. Because each phone/room would be on a different subnet, they wouldn't be able to see one another. Then I could save them 6k on Cisco gear and maybe some headaches? Has anyone seen anything like this? Or does anyone have a better idea? ~kurth
Linksys and Netgear switches now also do private VLANs for far less than 6k. They will not provide the features/functionality/management that your 6k Catalyst will provide, but it doesn't sound like you're looking for anything more than making sure traffic from room to room is secure. While your approach is technically feasible, it sounds like you're trying to kill an ant with a large boulder, and I think it would be far simpler and better supported in the long run to go with a lower end switch that does support the VLAN functionality you're looking for. Those things do exist today. On 9/12/05, Kurth Bemis <kurth@ozonecomputer.com> wrote:> > I am working with a small inn (under 50 rooms) that is next to a ski > resort. The inn just had Cat5e Homeruns to each room installed, with a > patch panel in the basement. Now it's my job to connect each of the > those rooms to the Internet. I think I have a Cisco switch that I can > do Private VLANS with, however I thought of another solution. > > Has anybody seen or does anybody know of a VoIP hardphone that has > router instead of a switch? I could connect the phone to the router, > give IP addresses based on the phone's MAC, and then the client can > connect thier computer to the phone. Because each phone/room would be > on a different subnet, they wouldn't be able to see one another. Then I > could save them 6k on Cisco gear and maybe some headaches? > > Has anyone seen anything like this? Or does anyone have a better idea? > > ~kurth > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com <http://Easynews.com>-- > > 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 >-------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/attachments/20050912/905cd615/attachment.htm
> I am working with a small inn (under 50 rooms) that is next > to a ski resort. The inn just had Cat5e Homeruns to each > room installed, with a patch panel in the basement. Now it's > my job to connect each of the those rooms to the Internet. I > think I have a Cisco switch that I can do Private VLANS with, > however I thought of another solution.I am working on a voice / data solution for an inn of similar size a few miles from you (I am familiar with your company). Ultimately I had to admit that Asterisk wouldn't work for a hospitality environment for several reasons. The first problem was the phones - placing expensive IP phones in a room is a big risk for guest damage and they are often too complicated for older people to understand. The second problem was the expense of SIP gateways and lack of message-waiting indication support when I tried to design a system based on POTS phones. The third and biggest issue was the call accounting software that nearly all hotels and motels use. Asterisk has no support for serial port SCDR output for call accounting. Hospitality operators need to be able to bill phone usage to the room. A friend and I are working on an Asterisk module to provide this functionality, btw. In the end, I quoted a traditional NEC phone system with voicemail. It meets their needs better and was about the same price.> Has anybody seen or does anybody know of a VoIP hardphone > that has router instead of a switch? I could connect the > phone to the router, give IP addresses based on the phone's > MAC, and then the client can connect thier computer to the > phone. Because each phone/room would be on a different > subnet, they wouldn't be able to see one another. Then I > could save them 6k on Cisco gear and maybe some headaches?I have no idea what you are trying to achieve here. If you think VLANs somehow provide security you are mistaken.
Yeah, I think that would be the right solution. You could also look at an Epygi Quadro 2x. It would provide each room with a private lan and one pots line. -Jonathan -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Sherwood McGowan Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 9:33 AM To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion' Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Hotel Setup? Real quick guys, placing a ATA (such as a sipura SPA3K) somewhere similar to a jack (like on the back of the nightstand where you placed the phone) would be an easy solution to the problem of using SIP phones. That way customers can use the normal "office" type phone or whatever standard phone you want in the room. Message Waiting Indication works great for me, so I don't see that being an issue, and billing support is easy, just have each room number set to the account code of the user. Outputting to serial port, I don't know about that, but writing scripts to perform output could be done. Just my $0.02. Then again, I'm an asterisk Zealot ;-) Cheers, SKM ->-----Original Message----- ->From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com ->[mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of ->James Fogg ->Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 9:12 AM ->To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion ->Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Hotel Setup? -> ->> I am working with a small inn (under 50 rooms) that is next ->to a ski ->> resort. The inn just had Cat5e Homeruns to each room ->installed, with ->> a patch panel in the basement. Now it's my job to connect ->each of the ->> those rooms to the Internet. I think I have a Cisco switch ->that I can ->> do Private VLANS with, however I thought of another solution. -> ->I am working on a voice / data solution for an inn of similar ->size a few miles from you (I am familiar with your company). ->Ultimately I had to admit that Asterisk wouldn't work for a ->hospitality environment for several reasons. The first ->problem was the phones - placing expensive IP phones in a ->room is a big risk for guest damage and they are often too ->complicated for older people to understand. The second ->problem was the expense of SIP gateways and lack of ->message-waiting indication support when I tried to design a ->system based on POTS phones. The third and biggest issue was ->the call accounting software that nearly all hotels and ->motels use. Asterisk has no support for serial port SCDR ->output for call accounting. Hospitality operators need to be ->able to bill phone usage to the room. A friend and I are ->working on an Asterisk module to provide this functionality, btw. -> ->In the end, I quoted a traditional NEC phone system with ->voicemail. It meets their needs better and was about the same price. -> ->> Has anybody seen or does anybody know of a VoIP hardphone that has ->> router instead of a switch? I could connect the phone to ->the router, ->> give IP addresses based on the phone's MAC, and then the client can ->> connect thier computer to the phone. Because each ->phone/room would be ->> on a different subnet, they wouldn't be able to see one ->another. Then ->> I could save them 6k on Cisco gear and maybe some headaches? -> -> ->I have no idea what you are trying to achieve here. If you ->think VLANs somehow provide security you are mistaken. ->_______________________________________________ ->--Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- -> ->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 -> _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- 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
He's just doing one shop though so all of those things may not be a requirement. -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces@lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Michael Welter Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 11:51 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Hotel Setup? Have you seen the 3Com LAN-switch-in-a-wall-jack device? It's a four port device that could also be used for the guest's PC. It can supply PoE to the phone using a wall wart or PoE on the incoming LAN circuit. You'll need some logic between Asterisk's management interace and the property management system's (PMS) telephone interface. The PMS will expect call detail to be received in real time. Depending on the PMS, outside calling is switched on during checkin and switched off upon checkout. Some PMS restrict toll calls if non-adults occupy the room. Also, some PMS have certain codes that the maids (and supervisors) dial from the room to indicate availability. And the staff need to be aware of any 9-1-1 calls. You'll have to be able to empty a room's voice mailbox upon checkin. And some properties want the guest's name in the caller id. So it's not simply putting a SIP phone in the room... kurth@ozonecomputer.com wrote:> Small world. > > The Inn was going to work on absorbing the cost of the system and theVoIP> service. The phones would be just cheapie grandstream phones, whichwork> out to about the same as regular analog phones. More features, nocost,> the owners are thinking they can lever this edge to attract morebusiness> customers and such. > > I have a serious problem with more hardware in each room. More thingsto> get stolen, broken, etc. Plus have the costs of the adapter, plus the > cost of the phone, and you are right back to a Budgetone price. More > cables, more things to play with. Plus you need to provide an outlet, > whereas I could do PoE and eliminate yet another source of problems.I> would like a phone, and a cat5 cable. That's it. You want internet > access, use wireless or the cable. > > You can't depend on the customer to do the right thing. Ever. Infact,> count on them doing the wrong thing. All the time :-) > > On a sidenote, I would like to know how using a port based PVLAN setupand> DHCP won't provide adequate isolation between rooms. Am I unclear on > something? > > ~kurth > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- > > 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 > >_______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- 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