[Asterisk-Users] sip device discussion and reviews

[Matthew Simpson]

Good evening.  I just wanted to take a minute and review my experiences with
some of the SIP devices out there on the market.  I hope this post will help
newbies or someone considering a certain device.  I would appreciate any
other input on either the devices I am "reviewing" or other devices that I
didn't!

These devices are deployed in our primary line and small PBX replacement
service provider offering.

Hard Phone: Grandstream 101
Good: Call quality, Feature support, Ease of setup, Price, Firewall support
Bad: Buttons are crap, cheap looking, speakerphone
Price: About $60-70 US

I use this phone to do all my testing and as my personal SIP device.  My
biggest gripe of all is that if you attempt to "speed-dial", you will never
succeed.  The buttons require a firm and definite press to register.  I fail
1 out of 10 calls on this device simply because one of the digits was
ignored.  On the plus side the call quality is very good and loud if you are
on the handset.  The price is right, and the phone is easy to setup.  It
also supports STUN, and plays nicely with NAT/firewalls, and has good codec
support.

The mic is too close to the speaker on speakerphone, and there is noticeable
echo if speakerphone is used.  The speakerphone is also too quiet, even at
maximum volume.  Customers call it the "walmart phone" -- it is the cheapest
looking SIP device out there.

Hard Phone: Cisco 7960
Good: Great looks, speakerphone
Bad: Price, Cisco stupidity
Price: About $250-300 US

I still use my personal 7960 phone in Skinny mode because it refuses to load
the SIP load that I had to PAY for from Cisco.  Cisco's directions to load
the SIP load do not work and are outdated.  After tinkering with a friend
for half a night I finally got it to load the SIP image from the TFTP
server... which it then promptly rejected with a "checksum failure".   I can
handle buggy upgrades if I can access different firmwares for free, but to
pay for a firmware that won't even load?  No thanks.

The speakerphone is by far the best speakerphone I have ever had on any
phone, ever.  I use this phone when I do training conferences and meetings
that are broadcast via teleconference, and it performs like a champion.  The
phone has good looks and is definitely an eye catcher.  I have a couple of
them set up in our administrative offices as "eye-candy".  The later SIP
versions work well.

ATA: Sipura SPA-2000
Good: Configuration, Functionality, Stability
Bad: Unimpressive Codec Support, Doesn't handle firewalls well
Price: About $85-95 US

Of all the SIP devices we have in the field, we have the most in Sipura
SPA-2000s.  The configuration is clean and straightforward.  The Sipura
definitely has the functionality that we need, and all features and
functions seem to work well, and properly.  The units are stable and do not
need constant rebooting or maintenance.    Built in echo cancelation works
well.

Unfortuantely, the lack of any decent low bit-rate codec is making me look
hard at the Handytone 286/486 units [they support iLBC].  The code in my
Sipura's does not support GSM or iLBC.  They also do not handle firewalls
well at all.  NAT support seems to work okay with Register's set frequently,
but with no Stun support [they may have added Stun support in later firmware
releases], "real" firewalls can interfere with the device receiving incoming
calls.

Soft Phone: SJ Phone by SJ Labs
Good: Interface
Bad: Configuration, No Echo Cancelation
Price: Free to Try

I've installed and quickly uninstalled many soft phones, but the SJ Phone
stays on my test machine.  The interface is clean and works well.

Unfortuantely, the SJ phone is not very straightforward to configure the
service provider information with its nested profile setup.  There is also
no echo cancelation code.  I can't blame the SJ Phone for the echo, it's
caused by a cheap sound card interface in my laptop, but it would sure be
nice to find a soft phone that would help me attempt to cancel it out.  The
sound controls on the SJ phone are also poor, which exacerbates the echo
problem.

Interface Card: Digium TE-405P
Good: Price, Intel-based, Features
Bad: ???
Price: $1500

Not really a SIP device, but I am very pleased with the TE-405P's that we
have been buying from Digium.  We interface them with our PRI and CT1
circuits and they are working without any problems.  The price is right,
they work with Linux, and they support every form of T1/E1 out there.  What
more could one ask for?

Coming soon: Review of Cisco ATA-186 [if I can ever get it to work
correctly] and the Grandstream Handytone 486 [have some on the way].