Arhlone Live!Part 1.
OK, VoIP – you’ve heard of it and maybe you’ve dabbled with it, but you also know that what you don’t know is likely to come back and bite you, usually when money has already changed hands and not long after your 30 day money back offer expires.
If you’re like me when I started investigating – you’re probably overwhelmed with the myriad of acronyms and models, the complexity involved, and in the case of the heading above, all of these from just one vendor. Well I can relate, been there etc. so read on…!
The VoIP market is a bit like the Wild West, there’s a land grab going on, the only difference now is that the prize has been renamed “mindshare”. There are plenty of players, all touting how “their’s” is the best solution, claiming dubious “features” as benefits and exploiting user forums for their devotees to evangelize on their behalf.
It all ends up as a pissing contest with the poor user being pulled in multiple directions, F.U.D. (Fear, Uncertainty,Doubt) being planted by rival companies to the point where it’s almost impossible to try and get some sort of measured and objective advice.
I don’t claim to be a GURU but I thought I’d share my thoughts and what works in Ireland, doesn’t cost a fortune and is robust enough for you to basically forget about it once installed.
There are of course many ways to to take advantage of VoIP from your broadband connection, this article describes some of the options from Cisco/Linksys who are a major player in the domestic market place and work reasonably well with broadband, as known to an Irish end-user.
Linksys PAP2T
I limit the article to the options that do not require a PC or laptop to run and can use your existing wired telephone by means of an ATA or Analog Telephone Adapter. It means you can fall back to Eircom/BT etc (POTS or Plain Old Telephone Service), or VoIP, so you’re not stuck if the VoIP fails which is a generally a smart way to start out.
First important thing to note for us Irish people with our so-called “broadband” connections is that for many of you the experience is not going to be pleasant. If you got suckered in to one of those “free broadband with a bundle” type deals or “low-cost” or some such you’re likely to get exactly what you paid for – not a whole lot.
VOIP requires bandwidth somewhere in the region of 100Kbbps sustained in both directions (between you and your ISP) to ensure a smooth conversation. If your connection can not provide that rate the conversation becomes garbled, chopped and you’ll end up frustrating yourself and the person you’re calling. Now before you say but I have a 1 MB or more connection remember I mentioned both directions, many ISP’s don’t tout the upload speed because quite often it’s only 128Kbps. And when you factor in contention, signal quality and overhead it’s not uncommon to be only getting 50Kbps or even less on these budget packages. Your deal doesn’t seem like such a deal now does it? 
Back to the hardware. You need an ATA. Linksys have four models – the PAP2, PAP2T, SPA2102, and the SPA3102. In fact they have more (through acquisitions) and they are still trying to get the product mix right, they probably only need two models for the Irish domestic market. You may also hear the make Sipura bandied about, that was one of the acquisitions but you can disregard that info as it’s “encapsulated” into the four models described here.
The workhorse, the one that was the original disruptive technology is the PAP2. This made VoIP in the home widespread and is the grandfather on which other models are based. Although still widely available in the market place it has been superseded by the the PAP2T. The PAP2T adds more memory, fax capability and better compression. If you have a choice always take the PAP2T over the PAP2. But PAP2 is perfectly acceptable too.
The SPA2102 and SPA3102 are not just adapters but also feature built-in routers. These may be of interest to users whose ISP only only provide a single port router. A single port router has only one RJ-45 ethernet jack. The PC is connected to this jack for internet connectivity. The SPA2102 and SPA2103 have two RJ-45 jacks. One gets connected to the ISP router and the other to the PC so although the VoIP device and PC share just one connection they can operate independently of each other.
If you already have a multi-port router on your connection then all you need is the PAP2 or PAP2T. When researching your best price on eBay/Amazon etc. you might discover variants on the PAP2T such as the PAP2T EU and PAP2 NA and sometimes the word Vonage. All things being equal what would really suit you is the PAP2T UK. The two letter suffix describe the plug the adapter uses, Europe, North America and UK. Others like CA refer to central America, AS for AustrailAsia etc. But they all work here since the transformer will take 110v-240v. Don’t buy a Vonage PAP2 unless you *know* you want one. It’s proprietary to a voice provider in the U.S. and U.K. markets and likely not what you want.
So what about 941′s 962′s & Co? They are also VoIP devices but they cannot be used with POTS, i.e. they can’t plug in directly to your Eircom wall jack. They are more suited to an office type environment. But you should be aware of them as they do have their uses in a SOHO setup too. Maybe I’ll do an article later on their benefits, but for a novice stick to the PAP2T as it’s inexpensive and straightforward in it’s usage.
In summary;
The SPA-1001 has been discontinued and was replaced/renamed the PAP2.
The PAP2 has been discontinued and is replaced with the PAP2T.
The PAP2T is the latest model VoIP adapter from Linksys.
The SPA2102 is the latest model router/adapter combo from Linksys.
The SPA3102 is the latest model router/adapter combo from Linksys with LAN Passthrough.
-NA or -EU means that the device is not associated with a particular VoIP provider (unlocked). Devices without -NA or -EU usually have another -XX designation and are locked to a specific VoIP Provider, e,g, -VN Vonage.
If you are looking to purchase used equipment, make sure it is a -NA or -EU model. Other models are not truly “unlocked” and will not be supported by Linksys or other providers.
- SPA2000: Basic phone adapter that allows two
phones or fax machines to be connected to an Ethernet network in order to make and receive telephone calls or faxes. - SPA2100: Similar to the SPA2000 with the addition of an Ethernet Router. Functions of the built-in router include QoS.
- SPA3000: Has only one phone adapter port, but can be used for POTS backup for strictly VoIP systems.
- SPA3102: Similar to the SPA3000, but includes single LAN output that can be used to connect to a computer. This is handy if the user only has a modem and no router. The SPA3102 connects to the LAN socket on the modem. The computer, which is traditionally connected to the modem, now connects directly to the LAN connection on the SPA3102. The SPA3102, effectively, is an ATA and single output router in one box.
- SPA9000: An IP PBX system that allows an Auto-Attendant configured, Hunt Groups, multiple IP phone extension, and POTS connectors. The SPA9000 also has basic router functions, port forwarding, QoS, and DTMF functionality.
- SPA901: A basic IP phone with only one line. Often referred as a warehouse or kitchen phone.
- SPA921: A single line phone with LCD display screen.
- SPA922: A single line phone with LCD display screen, but adds a single port built in switch.
- SPA941: The flagship of the SPA phones. It incorporates a 4-line IP phone and an LCD display.
- SPA942: Similar to the 941 aside from the additions of Power_over_Ethernet ability, back-lit screen, and a single port built-in switch.
- SPA962: Similar in appearance and functionality to the 941/942. Features a six line, 2-inch color screen.
Note: This is the first of a series of articles intended to assist users move to VoIP. Your comments and feedback would be appreciated and will help me cover the aspects you wish to see. This is a draft article which will be updated with links and definitions over time.
