[asterisk-users] "Magic SIP Phone"

[Gordon Henderson]

On Thu, 19 Mar 2009, Christian Victor wrote:

>>> grandstream gxp-2000 works fine for that.
>>> depending on firmware rev its two ports are either a switch or router.
>>
>> Grandstream removed this functionality in recent softwware upgrades - I
>> guess they needed the code space for other things.
>
> Why would you want a router in the phone and not let the PC connected to the
> phones internal (mini) switch get an IP from the DHCP server in the cable
> box? Or will that deliver only ONE IP at a time?

Most cable modems are jsut that - a dumb media convertor. The DHCP server 
back at HQ was set to give just one IP address per subcriber - at least in 
the UK that was how it was.(still is I think)

The routers inside the phones were relatively full fetured IIRC, offering 
DHCP, NAT, port forwarding, etc.

I suspect they were intended mainly for the US market where cable was the 
main technology at the time - and presented via Ethernet off the modem. 
Didn't mainland europe embrace ADSL from the start? The UK was cable in 
the early days but then BT got wise and we have near 100% ADSL 
avalability, as well as the existing cable stuff, but everyone I know with 
cable went out & bought a router anyway... (Telewest, etc. now Virgin 
Media) were a bit restrictive in the number of PCs you could connect, 
etc.)

Gordon