[Asterisk-Users] IAXy - anyone using them yet?

[Lee Howard]

On 2004.10.05 12:06 Kristian Kielhofner wrote:

> 	I think that it is worth pointing out that the devices have no 
> support for DNS.  You cannot have them register against a hostname, 
> at all.  I have contacted Digium and from what they told me there is 
> no planned support for DNS.

It is true that DNS is not needed for the S100I (IAXy) configuration.  
DNS support would be quite nice, however, for a service provider so 
that when they want to change or migrate equipment they just merely 
change DNS PTR records rather than having to reconfigure all of their 
customers' devices.  I wonder if Digium is thinking things through 
there.

> I think, that from a competitive standpoint, I don't know how these 
> devices can really compete against something like the Sipura-2000, 
> when you get two FXS ports, many more features, and even DNS (for 
> less money)!

Well, the competitive edge on the IAXy is the IAX support.  The other 
popular ATA devices use SIP which is a nightmare to work with through 
firewalls.  IAX, on the other hand, copes with firewalling quite 
gracefully.

I've been happy with both my Sipura SPA-2000 and also my Digium IAXys, 
but I use them for different purposes.  The former I use on a LAN and 
the latter I use on the WAN.  I do not use the IAXys where the Sipura 
can do the same job with more features for less money.

> 	I love to support Digium wherever possible, but I don't want my 
> clients to suffer with an inferior product because of it!

I'm not one who believes that we "owe" it to Digium to pay inflated 
prices for rebranded hardware or that we "owe" it to them to accept 
sub-par featuresets on their equipment that we purchase.  So I applaud 
your comments.

However, right now I know of no IAX-supporting ATA product that 
competes with the IAXy.  So if you want IAX on an ATA device, then 
you've little choice.  Like any business, I don't expect Digium to add 
features to the product unless they get some competition on that 
product type or unless they feel like they're losing sales opportunity 
by not having those features.

So, if we ask Digium to only expect our money when they sell product 
worth purchasing, like any other business, then likewise I think that 
we must expect nothing more from Digium than we expect from any other 
business with a niche market.  So, be harsh on them, but don't be too 
harsh.  It's just business, after all.

Lee.