T-Mobile @Home VoIP suggestions???

[tekoholic]

Basically, for the express purpose of providing my LinuxMCE system a VoIP line (and save a ton of $$ on the landline...), we've been deal-hunting the VoIP providers for several weeks, now.

Just 2 weeks ago, coincidentally, T-Mobile gave us a coupla' Wings for free, and upon calling them to verify the activation, was told that I might be eligible for their Brand New VoIP service, as well!!

As of now, I have 13 more days to return the router, if it will not work as LinuxMCE needs.  However, I REALLY love the idea of keeping it, if it will!!

Service requires use of one of their routers, a Linksys WRTU54G-TM, which has 1 WAN, 4 10/100 LAN, and 2 RJ-11 ports, WiFi B/G, 2 Sim-Card Slots (1 per line), and voice quality is great.

Prior to receiving this new T-Mo VoIP gear, network looked like this:  DSL Modem -> External NIC Hybrid // Int NIC -> Linksys WRT310N -> rest of network

Currently, the network setup is such as this: DSL Modem -> WAN Port on T-Mo VoIP Router // LAN Port -> External NIC of LMCE Hybrid // Int NIC -> Linksys WRT310N -> rest of network, and, of course, we've got a 5.8Ghz cordless plugged into the RJ-11 port 1...

Now, I know that replacing my Draft-N MiMo / Gigabit with a G / 10/100 on the internal side of server would be somewhat self-defeating.  I also know that LMCE is designed to detect new devices on internal side, and attempt to auto-config.  Would it automatically detect / config new phone gear, with this?  Would I simply have to do some additional config?  Should the T-Mo gear remain on the external side?

Any hints would be greatly appreciated!!  It's too late to mess with it any more this eve, but I'll be playing with it all day tomorrow, and report back my findings!!

[tekoholic]

Well...  As of now, it seems that this will NOT work for LinuxMCE, as it is NOT SIP.  It, rather, uses GSM over IP, and Asterisk GSM development is just started.

So, trying Gizmo out, to see if it will provide us what we need.

[colinjones]

Either way, it wouldn't have worked the way you were suggesting - VoIP router/modems are usually setup to connect to a remote SIP provider (T-Mobile if the service had been SIP) and provide a SIP client endpoint with conversion to analogue phone lines.

Putting it inside the network wouldn't have achieved what you were looking for - integration with LMCE's telephony. It would still be able to connect out to the service provider with a few networking hoops jumped through, but directly, not through LMCE so no integration. Alternatively, you would have had to reconfigure it so that it no longer had anything to do with TMobile and point it to your LMCE box instead, and then configure LMCE to TMobile. In this case it would simply be acting as an analogue to SIP converter for a conventional phone (analogous to a DCE wrapper but for telephony hardware!) - all the real SIP stuff would be done by LMCE and you would still have to configure it correctly for TMobile.

You might as well just buy a standalone convertor, or better yet a SIP WiFi phone (Netcomm make a reasonable one that works with LMCE) - then it would be all native, the handset would be a member of your internal WiFi network, and make calls directly against LMCE, which would in turn be your telephony gateway to the Internet providing the integration you are looking for.

In short I don't see the benefit of VoIP enabled routers (or modem/routers) when you have LMCE unless you happen to have one lying around and your are hopelessly in love with an old conventional analogue phone you have been using for ever!

Col

[tekoholic]

colinjones, thanx for your reply.

Of course, you are correct.  The router was, in the T-Mobile case, necessary, as it uses a SIM card to auth to GSM network over IP.  I had hoped that it would have offered us a SIP-server, for login by LMCE, and thus provide for both that and my wife's refusal to let go of our analog, dual-handset, cordless set.  I've explained to her that our HTC Herald / T-Mo Wing's are both SIP WiFi capable, and as soon as we can get a provider that will serve LMCE's purposes, we can use them as "Cordless" phones while at home, but she's a difficult one to change technologies on...

The main reasons we went with it were the $10 / month price tag, the free mobile-to-home calling, and the analog cordless use.  She, however, did NOT give me any hassles about returning it all, when it did not work as we'd hoped, so the search continues.

We live in Northern Colorado, US, and we MUST have a local number.  Some of the LMCE-supported providers cannot provide us with one, others are just not as inexpensive as T-Mo was.  We already have 3 Gizmo accounts, and have found that as little as we use our home-line, and as easily supported as it is by LMCE, it might just do us as good or better to buy the $30 / yr local number, but she's frustrated by the lack of 911 location support.  I'm workin' on 'er!!

Anyhow, thanx again.