[Asterisk-Users] T1 to T1 on asterisk?

[Mike Ciholas]

Hi all,

To solve my need for dial in modems, I've hit upon an idea: buy a
used T1 "analog" modem bank like a Lucent Portmaster that takes
in a T1 and provides several 56K modems.  This is overkill for a
lightly used dial in service, but the prices of these boxes is so
cheap (~$300) with ISPs going away from dial in service that it
makes sense.

This is how I imagine it would work:

Asterisk PC with one TE410P 4 port T1 card.  One port goes to the
PSTN and has my incoming calls.  One port goes to the Portmaster
which has perhaps as many as 24 "modems" in it.  Two ports are
free.

A user would dial in, get the auto attendant, dial in an 
extension (for the modem), and be transfered to the Portmaster 
T1.  The Portmaster would establish a 56K modem connection with 
the caller.

Some questions for the gurus out there:

1. Will Asterisk route from one T1 to another "perfectly"?  That 
is, the bits that arrive on the Portmaster would need to be the 
exact bits sent on the PSTN T1.  Seem obvious that this should be 
so.

2. Would you predict any trouble interfacing a Portmaster to the 
Digium card?  Can it both "sink" a T1 (from the PSTN) and 
"source" a T1 (to the Portmaster)?

3. Has anyone out there done this?  Any suggestions?  Which modem 
banks to buy/avoid?  Places to buy used/surplus/cheap ones?

4. Will the above plan actually achieve the "56K" modem
connection when routed through the asterisk box?  That is, will
there be issues of latency/bandwidth in handling the 64 kbps
streams?

Thanks for everyone's help.

-- 
Mike Ciholas                            (812) 476-2721 voice
CIHOLAS Enterprises                     (812) 476-2881 fax
2626 Kotter Ave, Unit D                 mikec at ciholas.com
Evansville, IN 47715                    http://www.ciholas.com