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VOIP and Dialup Gateways
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Contents |
| An Overview of VOIP and Dialup Routers and Gateways | |||||
| Model | Manufacturer | Media Processed | Inputs | Capacity | Notes |
| AS5300 | Cisco | VOIP or Dialup | 4 T1/E1 | 120 (PRI) | Separate hardware for voice and dialup setup. The most popular dialup and VOIP gateway deployed. |
| AS5350/AS5400 | Cisco | VOIP and Dialup | 28 T1/E1s or 1 CT3 | 672 (PRI) | The standard for universal voip/data gateways. Best IVR (internal voice prompt) support. |
| AS5850 | Cisco | VOIP and Dialup | 96 T1/E1s or 4 CT3 | 2800 (PRI) | Large gateway provides great performance & value at 2DS3 or more. Best IVR support. |
| 2600/3600 | Cisco | VOIP or Dialup | 1-8 T1s/E1s, FXS/FXO, or POTs | 240 (PRI) 16 (FXS/O) 64 POTs |
VOIP T1/E1 configurations use NM-HDV expansion cards with PRI VWICs. FXS/FXO configurations with NM-2V and VIC-2FXS or 2FXO combinations. Dialup configurations use the NM-8AM or 16AM to provide analog dialup connectivity via POTs (ordinary phone lines). |
| 3700 | Cisco | VOIP or Dialup | 1-8 T1s/E1s, FXS/FXO, or POTs | 240 (PRI) 16 (FXS/O) 64 POTs |
Similar to the 2600/3600 (see above) but also supports internal AIM voice modules. |
| ISR | Cisco | VOIP or Dialup | 1-8 T1s/E1s, FXS/FXO, or POTs | 120 (PRI) 8 (FXS/O) 32 POTs |
Like the 2600/3600/3700, but the ISR (Cisco's newest line) integrates multiple functions, including security, voicemail, switching functions, and other network capabilities, in a single router. Excellent if needing these multiple functions in a single unit, otherwise probably not worth the investment. |
| IAD2400 | Cisco | VOIP | 8-16 FXS | 16 FXS | FXS-only VOIP gateway for attaching ordinary phones to a VOIP network. |
| Max 6000 | Lucent | VOIP or Dialup | 4 T1/E1 | 120 (PRI) | Earlier expansion cards support H323 VOIP -OR- V90 dialup. More recent (60m) cards support H323 VOIP -AND- V92 dialup. Notice - no SIP support. |
| Max TNT/APX | Lucent | VOIP and Dialup | 96 T1/E1s or 4 CT3 | 2800 (PRI) | Large gateways provide excellent value, but no internal IVR support. IVRs must be handled by separate Asterisk or other server. |
| Smartnode | Patton | VOIP | 4 T1/E1s | 120 (PRI) | Elegant, tiny gateway with excellent warranty and lifetime support and software upgrades. Includes web-interface for configuration. Also has support for IPTV/IGMP. |
| Total Control 1000 | 3Com/UTStar | Dialup | 14T1/E1s | 520 (PRI) | Highly modular, excellent V92 dialup gateway. Great dialup connectivity - usually leads testing results. Scales up nicely to support 14 PRIs. Rugged. |
| Portmaster 3 | Lucent/Livingston | Dialup | 2T1/E1 | 60 (PRI) | Older, small, and simple V90 dialup gateway that is still remarkable for its small size, reliability, and quality of connections. |
| Netserver 16 | 3Com/USR | Dialup | 16 POTS | 16 POTS | For environment where PRIs not available. This gateway has 16 built-in phone jacks (POTS) that connect to public phone network lines. Otherwise, functions just like any other gateway, with built-in routing, ethernet, etc. |
On the VOIP side, Cisco is best known, has the widest selection, and has the best overall feature set. These features include sophisticated and extensive IVR (voice prompt handling) support. In addition, Cisco implementations often become defacto standards. It is hard to go wrong choosing a Cisco VOIP router or gateway. However, there are alternatives that offer better prices or different feature sets that may make them attractive. Pay attention to what the various models will and will not do - don't assume they'll do something not stated.
On the dialup side, Lucent, 3Com/UTstar, and Cisco all offer excellent products, and 3Com's Total Control 1000 has traditionally been considered as having the best connectivity for dialup users.
Use the table below as a quick guide to the various types of VOIP and dialup gateways available, then do more investigation to make sure which model is right for you.