[Asterisk-Users] Looking for input on which way to gowithsmallbusiness setup

[T. Shaw]

Hmm sounds good.. Thanks for the input!

Terrelle 

-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Luki
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 3:37 PM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Looking for input on which way to
gowithsmallbusiness setup

Terrelle,

I've implemented a similar setup about a year ago. Here are couple
observations worth sharing. YMMV, but these are my experiences:

1) A small LAN (~40 devices: PC, printers, phones) does not need QOS.
Even when a workstation floods it with 100 Mbps traffic there is no quality
problems one can hear (pings remain <1 ms anyway, no packet loss).

2) Get GOOD IP phones. The last thing you want is a phone crashing on you
several times a day or during a phone call, or loosing connectivity, or
having bad sound quality (accoustic feedback, hiss, etc). Saving here isn't
worth it.

3) As people said, avoid FXO adapters. Go digital instead.

4) For 15 extension, you don't need a fancy machine. We used a PIII-800 with
512 MB RAM, it handles 10 calls at the same time just fine (load ~ 0.10);
it's also the gateway for Internet traffic shaping, Windows logon server
(samba), CUPS server and IMAP server.
Using a new 2.6 kernel is key for scheduling and nice-ing processes
accordingly.

5) Just like in your case, money was a concern. We decided to scratch the T1
or POST lines and use pure VoIP. No "phone lines" so your concurrent call
limit depends on your available bandwidth. Why pay for
12 lines if one month you only use 4 but occasionally need 14 calls which
you can't get with a fixed line setup? Initially we had DSL (2M down/768k
up) but then went to Cable -- lower latency (~15 ms RTT to our PSTN gateway)
and 10Mbps/1Mbps speed. So far (almost a year) everything runs great.
Occasionally (half hour every couple months or
so) connectivity isn't great (packet loss, latency) but this is acceptable
to use given the cost savings compared to a T1.

Bottom line in this case is that your Internet connection must be solid.
This is a big variable though that required most time to get working right
(including trying 40 ms packets to reduce the number of packets/sec; our
modem was choking with >500 outgoing packets/sec), etc.

It can be done. It all depends how much risk you are willing to take, and
how important setup and operating costs are to you.

Luki
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