Newbie on the block

Hi,

Maybe I'm in the wrong forum, but for a while I've heard about VoIP and am very interested in technology (I'm planning to start studing Telecommunication Engineering this year).

Thing is, after reading bits and bobs about VoIP I'd like to know what I really need to set up a VoIP of my own with the capability to set up my own numbers and make phone calls wherever in the world and have friends and family calling me, as well, and without having to pay the man in the middle, such a VoIP provider.

I suppose I'd need a router with VoIP connection, sotware and a VoIP handset. I already have an internet connection. What else?

I'd appeciate any help.

Best,

a

Welcome to Voipuser forums.

If you have a computer with high speed internet then you can make free calls to other have have a similar set up. If you wish to make calls to others who are connedted by landline then it will cost you some money.

The place to start is to get a free voip client such as X-Lite, Linphone, Twinkle etc to run on your computer. You can then use it to call others on the internet.

Hi thanks for your reply, but what I really want to know what are the tools necessary so I can set up my own VoIP telephony system.

As I previously pointed out, probably I'd need router with VoIP enabled, a server, IP phone handsets for me and the parts who'd like to call me. So, am I on the right way?

I'd appreciate if you could guide me through this venture.

Thanks again for your reply.

It is still best to start at the begining, make sure that a basic set up works and the you understand it. Then depending on your needs are you can go on to an ATA device (I have an SPA3102) and you can get that set up. You can connect normal phones to the ATA and network phones to the router. You could use a router with voip but and ATA is probably better.

Can you successfully call the Voipuser echo test using voip? You have given very little indication of your present level of knowledge so it is hard to say what you should do.

dibsmft :

It is still best to start at the begining, make sure that a basic set up works and the you understand it. Then depending on your needs are you can go on to an ATA device (I have an SPA3102) and you can get that set up. You can connect normal phones to the ATA and network phones to the router. You could use a router with voip but and ATA is probably better. Can you successfully call the Voipuser echo test using voip? You have given very little indication of your present level of knowledge so it is hard to say what you should do.

I haven't gathered the equipment yet. I've just got a rough knowledge of VoIP. And what I'd really like to know is basically what I've already asked, ie, if in order to set up my own VoIP system, one that I wouldn't have to rely on a private company to route my local and international calls, the equipments I'd need is a broadband internet, router with VoIP ports, software (Asterix?) and VoIP handsets for me and the parts interested in calling me. So, what am I mising?

I think what the forum is trying to say is that before you start spending money on equipment (handsets, server, router, etc), you can start with the computer you are already using for free.

There are several free softphones available that will allow you to use the speaker and microphone of your current computer as a telephone.

Now, to get started, I would recommend getting a free account with one of the many voip providers out there. Sipgate, callcentric, onsip, etc.

Once you register your softphone to the provider, you can start making outgoing calls. You only would have to pay money if you wanted to connect to the PSTN. Calls to other VoIP users would be free.

Sipgate actually provides you a free DID. A DID is an incoming phone number that can be reached from the PSTN. This would allow you to accept calls from others and answer the call using your handset.

At this point, you could buy your first pieces of equipment, a router (if you dont already have one) and a Voip handset. For home use, I recommend the Gigaset A580IP (~$80).

Now, if you wanted to actually build your own internal VoIP network, you could build yourself a Asterisk box using an old computer. Now you could actually register your softphones and handsets to the asterisk box rather than your VoIP provider. This would allow you to make internal calls between extensions.

You could then connect your Asterisk box to a VoIP provider and all of your internal phones would be able to connect to the outside world.

However, another approach would be to use a hosted PBX (essentially asterisk in the cloud). I use onsip, but there are some free alternatives like pbxes.com for example.

This would replace your asterisk box and your handsets and softphones would register to that instead. Internal calls are still possible using this method.

Just to make things simpler...This is a good example: my mother lives in Brazil and I live in Ireland. I've got internet connection and she hasn't. How can I set up a VoIP system with IP phones on both ends so we can call on another any time without using a VoIP provider?

if your mother had an internet connection you could talk for free using either SIP phones connected to a VOIP provider or your own asterisk box. but since your mother has no internet connection you have no choice but to pay a termination partner to route your calls to the Brazilian POTS/PSTN network.

for your mother to call you she could use the sipbroker service to call your softphone(on your computer) or a dedicated SIP phone you set up and connect to voipuser or another service. at least for the major cities Brazil appears well covered by sipbroker. for information look here:

http://www.sipbroker.com/sipbroker/action/login

Hi Satphoneguy,

Thanks for your reply.

Well, I've been making some enquiries and might've arrived to what I actually want to have.

As I explained before, I'd like to be able to make VoIP phone call without to have the "man in the middle". In other words, I'd like to have my own equipment so I could dial anywhere in the world and only have the cost of my internet connection.

So, an IT engineer told me that what I'd need is this device called DSLAM. Can you tell me if that's what I really need takiing into account my plans.

I understand that that is an expensive equipment, but since that would be for personal use only, I'd probably find a used one at an affordable price.

I hope you or anyone else can shed some light on my quest.

Thanks.

Er, no, you don't want a DSLAM

Although if you really did want one, yes you probably could pick up a second hand one for perhaps £5k. But I'm not sure what you'd do with it. It has nothing to do with telephony - they're used for internet DSL provision.

Quote:

In other words, I'd like to have my own equipment so I could dial anywhere in the world and only have the cost of my internet connection.

That's not possible. You couldn't call anywhere without paying termination charges to the recipient network. Phone companies make their money from traffic entering and exiting their network.

You would have to also peer your network with all telephone companies globally and enter contractual relationships with them for the exchange of traffic and who's paying for what etc. But they wouldn't bother to talk to you about it, because you only have 1 customer (you).

I think you have a misconception of the technology and also how networks operate and how they make money.

Quote:

(I'm planning to start studing Telecommunication Engineering this year). Thing is, after reading bits and bobs about VoIP I'd like to know what I really need to set up a VoIP of my own with the capability to set up my own numbers and make phone calls

http://www.voipuser.org/forum_topic_8289.html