Questions about connections & service providers...

charleymaxwell

Hi folks,

I've just moved into a new house & got connected to wireless broadband through Freedom-Broadband.com.
I've looked about getting an Eircom line in but am now very reluctant as they want €130 connection fee and then they want to put a pole at the corner of my fron garden obstructing my view exiting the property.

Anyway I'm really please to find out that I can get VoIP & have tried this out through iax.ie.
I now want to seriously set set up and have a couple of questions I cannot find answers to.

1. My broadband comes into the house into a little black connector (about an inch or so wide), just network type cable in power cable & a cable out to computer. I'm not overly tech minded but I remember the instal guy saying this cable to the computer was a crossover cable (red) is this compatible with all the router/ATA combinations shown on the VoIP websites? They talk about "RJ45 ethernet network connections" is this what this is & can it be used for instance with freespeech.ie EZconnect or the Blueface Netgear TA612v ?

2. I want my laptop & phone to share the connection, does a standard ATA do this, i.e. internet cable in & phone & cable to computer out or do I need one of the ATA & router in one solutions..? (for example can I use the Lynksys PAP2 ATA )

3. The service I tried out iax.ie was a bit crackly at times... but I dunno if this was using a VoIP USB phone or the service itself... (it was IAX2, does that make a difference, is SIP better?) Anyway I want something good & clear and am not that bothered about using bandwidth as I'm on an unlimited 2MB service.
So I guess my last question is what services meet this requirment (If Blueface & freespeech do that's fine as I like the look of their services)

paulm17781

It seems odd that it is a cross over cable. RJ45 is the type of connector on the cable. Hold each end of the cable the same way and see if the little wires are in the same order. If they are it is NOT a cross-over cable and you will be able to use an ATA.

bhickey

charleymaxwell wrote:

2. I want my laptop & phone to share the connection, does a standard ATA do this, i.e. internet cable in & phone & cable to computer out or do I need one of the ATA & router in one solutions..? (for example can I use the Lynksys PAP2 ATA )

As far as I know the the Linksys PAP2 cannot bridge an ethernet connection as it's only got a single RJ45 ethernet connnection and therefore would need to plug into a router/hub in order to work. The Grandstream 486 is probably the most suitable ATA if you need to route/bridge your connection through an ATA to your PC. Any of the all-in-one VoIP router yokes would also be suitable and would offer extra free ports etc. for future needs.

lzbones

I would go for an all in one router solution - I use the zoom X5V (that's same as ezconnect) it makes more sense, gives you quality of service and the IP is placed on a public address so you don't have any NAT issues. The X5V is a great router for VOIP as it mangles the packets for SIP aka. a 'sip aware' router. This is great if your using any other VOIP phones in your home, this is how I use it most of the time with a VOIP phone plugged into one of the LAN sockets. No need for port-forwarding, STUN or any of that malarky.

lzbones

I would go for an all in one router solution - I use the zoom X5V (that's same as ezconnect) it makes more sense, gives you quality of service and the IP is placed on a public address so you don't have any NAT issues. The X5V is a great router for VOIP as it mangles the packets for SIP aka. a 'sip aware' router. This is great if your using any other VOIP phones in your home, this is how I use it most of the time with a VOIP phone plugged into one of the LAN sockets. No need for port-forwarding, STUN or any of that malarky.