Cisco ATA-186 Review
I have used the Cisco ATA-186 with various SIP services for a while now and can say it is a great piece of equipment that has never let me down.
Durability
It is truly amazing. I have had it up and running for a year now with no faults, reboots, resets or call drops. It simply does its job.
The device
Well, it’s ugly. OK, not as ugly as SPA-3000 by Sipura but still not as appealing as a Fritz! Box.
It has one LAN port and 2 FXS ports for connecting analogue phones. There is only one button that glows red when a call is in progress.
Configuration
The device can be configured by two ways:
(1) Handset
Just lift the handset and press the device button. You will hear the menu prompt. Then have your manual handy to dig through the various configuration codes.
This feature is very useful when you don’t have a PC nearby or need to set up initial IP settings for the device.
(2) Web interface
Can be accessed at http://<device ip>/dev and gives access to all the settings you would expect to need. But again, it’s a Cisco, so the configuration menus are aimed at the professional - expect to spend some time reading the manual. It has many advanced features to fine-tune your VoIP experience - explore them!
I would not recommend using this device with a VoIP provider directly as dial plans are pretty hard to set up and you’ll need to remember how to do it every time you need to alter them. Easypabx.com is a nice PBX intermediate.
Although the configuration might appear complex, you only need to do it once. Fantastic performance compensates for the hassle.
Cons
There are two main ones I can think of:
(1) It cannot use G711 codec on both lines at the same time.
(2) It is impossible to have telephone lines configured for two different providers, rather only for different accounts of the same provider.
Conclusion
I feel I made the right choice with this one and would recommend to anyone who is in need of a durable VoIP ATA and not afraid of some configuration challenges.
Device Specifications
VoIP protocols : H.323 v2, SIP (RFC 2543 bis) MGCP 1.0 (RFC 2705) MGCP 1.0/Network-based Call Signaling (NCS) 1.0 Profile, MGCP 0.1, SCCP
Voice codecs : G.729, G.729A, G.729B, G.729AB2 G.723.1, G.711A, G.711µ
Provisioning and configuration : DHCP (RFC 2131) Web configuration via built-in Web server Touch-tone telephone keypad configuration with voice prompt Basic boot provisioning (RFC 1350 TFTP Profiling) Dial plan provisioning Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) VLAN support (802.1Q)
Quality of Service : Class-of-service (CoS) bit-tagging (802.1P) Type-of-service (ToS) bit-tagging
Security : H.235 for H.323 RC4 encryption for TFTPconfiguration profiles
Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) : DTMF tone detection and generation
DTMF signaling methods : H.245 out-of-band DTMF for H.323 RFC 2833 AVT tones for SIP, MGCP
Call progress tones : Configurable for two sets of frequencies and single set of on/off cadence
Voice features : VAD (voice activity detection) CNG (comfort noise generation) Dynamic jitter buffer (adaptive)
Fax : G.711 fax pass-through3 G.711 fax mode3
Added: Saturday, September 30, 2006
Reviewer: Yuri Shpakov
Score:
hits: 19693
Language: eng
[ VoIP Reviews Main ]
Posted by voip13 on Dec 17, 2009 - 12:12 PM
Your rating: 
The features described in the article above are good but as we all know that good devices alone can not do anything. For a reliable internet phone service we need a good internet connection also. A research reveals that majority of the problems in internet phone are caused by inconsistent internet connection. |
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Posted by voiptop on Mar 30, 2009 - 09:54 PM
Your rating:
Great as all Cisco products for Voip, reliable and easy to setup. Can be used with all top voip providers. |
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Posted by gjsmith on Jan 15, 2009 - 03:20 AM
Your rating:
Why use an ATA when you could use a VoIP Phone? There has been a drastic cost decrease in VoIP phones that now make them as affordable as an ATA. It makes set-up easier too. |
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Posted by Anonymous on Dec 26, 2008 - 04:31 AM
Your rating:
This is a great Voip. I highly recommend it. No complaints. I learned about it from Voip Business. |
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