[TriLUG] looking for bridge mode cable modem for Spectrum

[Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG]

On Mon, 26 Oct 2020, John Franklin wrote:

>>> Spectrum-supplied box for telephone
>> 
>> what sort of box is this? It seems most of the modems don't come with 
>> phone, so I might have to get some sort of outboard device. I've found an 
>> ATA (analog to something adapter) which is ethernet on one side and RJ-11 
>> on the other and behaves like a message machine, but I haven't heard of 
>> your device.
>> 
>
>

Thanks for the extensive write up here.

> ATA = Analog Telephone Adapter, and there are two kinds, depending on which 
> way it's converting.

I didn't realise there were people doing VoIP over POTS

> A FXS (Foreign eXchange Subscriber) port allows you to use an analog 
> telephone on a VoIP network.  If you order phone service from your ISP, 
> they'll give you a cable modem with an FXS port on it, so you can use 
> your old landline phone with their VoIP service.

that'swhat I was expecting.

> An FXO (Foreign eXchange Office) port goes the other way.  If you have 
> an office full of VoIP phones, but your phone service is a POTS line 
> (Plain Old Telephone Service.  No, really.), you'd plug the FXO to the 
> POTS line, and the digital VoIP phones could talk to it for inbound and 
> outbound calls. (More likely, an Asterisk server would manage all the 
> local VoIP phones, and route inbound/outbound calls to/from the FXO.)

Don't need Asterisk here. I considered it a while ago, but it was way 
beyond what I needed.

> Regardless, just having the adapter doesn't let you make phone calls.  You 
> need to have a service behind it to connect to the worldwide phone network. 
> There are a number of them out there, ranging from plug-and-forget (Vonage, 
> MagicJack, Ooma) to low-level-you'd-better-know-the-SIP-protocol services 
> (Skyetel, Vitelity, Nexmo).  The NerdVittles.com blog is a great place to 
> read up on the latter and their support for Asterisk or PBX-in-a-Flash, an 
> Asterisk-based PBX package that's has a nicer interface.  Asterisk is all 
> command-line, no web interface or GUI.
>
> The low-level ones tend to pay-as-you-go services, and charge $1-$2/month to 
> have a phone number, and about a penny a minute for voice time.  The 
> plug-and-forget give you one phone number, unlimited usage, and charge about 
> $25-$60/month for the privilege.

thanks. I've had recommendations for Ooma and CallCentric so far (neither 
of which I would have known about otherwise). It seems everyone is happy 
with their voice provider, but no-one is happy with their internet 
provider.

> I've been using Vitelity for years and have to top-up my accounts (one 
> business, one personal) with another $20 every few months.  Sadly, VoIP 
> services are fraud magnets, and Vitelity isn't offering new accounts anymore 
> since Voyant bought them.  Voyant's not bad, but Vitelity was so much easier 
> to use.

thanks

Joe
-- 
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) trilug (dot) org - azimuthal equidistant
map generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
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