[Asterisk-Users] Small office setup/using analog lines w/

Sun Aug 21 07:57:16 MST 2005

On the clicking front, it could still be packet loss. I recently (just 
this week in fact) solved a clicking problem my client was having. 
turned out to be interference from his wireless network bridge. Both it 
and his Cisco ATA186 were sitting next to each other. I put about 3 feet 
of space between them and solved the problem.

I think what was happening was that the radio was interfering with the 
data on the cable causing loss/bad checksums/whatever.

That's just my guess. What would I know? I'm only an Extra Class ham 
radio operator.

Mark

karl at streetlampsoftware.com wrote:
> Jenny -
> 
> I'm glad I'm not the only one! I just installed Asterisk on Friday and I
> spent all day trying to de-gremlin my system. I'm glad I'm doing it for
> myself and we haven't switched from our legacy system yet, but I have a
> potential client that wants to see how well I can implement this system
> for myself...
> 
> (Speaking of which, don't forget that your supplier and consultant
> probably make more off of other phone systems and a lot of old-line
> suppliers are kind of afraid of Asterisk. There were some big companies
> that lost out when the State of Oregon's court system went to Asterisk for
> their teleconferencing needs... 600 MeetMe sessions a day does say
> something, I think.)
> 
> First, it would help -me- to know precisely what hardware you're using
> (including network... switches and cards) and what phones you're using.
> You can email me off-list if you want.
> 
> I'm personally using a AMD Sempron-based system with a TDM-04B (4x FXO) in
> it, routing out through an IntelPro 10/100 card. The data switch is
> currently a crappy D-Link, but more on that and the network card in a
> second. The other end is one soft phone on Linux and two SPA-841 hardware
> phones.
> 
> When I first installed, the echo was terrible. Tweaking around with the
> echo settings in zapata.conf endlessly didn't do a whole lot. So, using my
> go-go-gadget troubleshooting instincts (and my handy-dandy go-go-gadget
> credit card) I figured the problem might be network latency ... so I
> replaced the crappy realtek network card with a high-quality Intel one,
> and borrwed a Dell managed switch from a client for the day. Voila, a few
> more tweaks to the echo learning rate and my echo problems went away, and
> I spent 45 minutes learning about my sister's love life in the wilds of
> downtown San Francisco. (Note to self: Don't use family to test telecom
> systems.) The clicking persisted, though. I thought it was the phone at
> first, but if you're experiencing it too... well, apparently it's not.
> 
> I searched the archives and couldn't find any other reference to clicking
> noises, so I'm at a loss but I'm hoping it's wiring-based and heading back
> to the office tomorrow to try and solve it. I think you're right that
> Digium is focusing on their T-1/E-1 market. I've noticed it when I called
> with a question, and that really ticks me off. It might be a decent, sound
> business decision based on profits for the different cards, but it's
> leaving a lot of us smaller business operators -- those who might take
> great experiences with Digium and Asterisk products into potential large
> customers -- swinging in the wind.
> 
> -Karl Katzke
> Streetlamp Software Solutions
> http://www.streetlampsoftware.com
> 
> 
> 
>>Hi,
>>
>>We recently tried installing Asterisk for a small office. We figured the
>>safest way to go would be to buy from someone who sold equipment
>>specifically for Asterisk and to use a consultant that they
>>recommended.  However ... it didn't turn out so great.  Sound quality is
>>terrible -- the echo is pretty bad, and there are popping noises, too.
>>Callers say that people on the Asterisk end sound very faint, while
>>people on the Asterisk end hear people maybe too loundly (might be
>>related to the popping noises -- sounds like when you have stereo turned
>>up too high).  The reseller and the consultant both say that the most
>>likely cause for this is using Digium cards w/ analog phone lines.
>>Apparently, they say, sound quality can be pretty bad.
>>
>>I called Digium and they gave me some suggestions for settings, but
>>nothing has worked well. So I wanted to ask others ... has anyone had
>>good luck with using analog phone lines and Asterisk? Especially with
>>Digium cards (we use the TDM400P)? Although from reading articles on the
>>net it sounds like people do have a lot of echo problems, it also sounds
>>like some people are using analog phone lines with some success.
>>
>>FYI, what I've mainly done is try changing echotraining, echocancel,
>>echocancelwhenbridged, txgain, and rxgain in zapata.conf. I've heard
>>from the reseller that what might work better is to trade the Digium
>>cards in for VegaStream gateway. It's more expensive, but apparently has
>>a DSP built in that should increase voice quality. Of course, they say
>>there are no guarantees with this.  They also mentioned (after the fact)
>>that Asterisk systems don't necessarily save money. So far, the
>>experience has been very frustrating and I'd love to hear some success
>>stories from others (or more info on what I can realistically expect
>>from an Asterisk system)! And, of course, some ideas on how I can get
>>things to work better.
>>
>>One of the next tests will be using Asterisk with a VoIP provider to see
>>what the sound quality is like with digital on both ends. PRI sounds
>>like it'd be even better, but for an office w/ 5 people, it sounds
>>pretty expensive. How do other people do this?
>>
>>Thanks in advance for any pointers!
>>
>>Jen
>>
>>
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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-- 

Mark, G7LTT/KC2ENI
Randolph, NJ
http://www.g7ltt.com