[Asterisk-Users] T1 Hardware Recommendations

[Waldo Rubinstein]

Matt,

Thanks for the reply.

I had read your blog entry a few days ago and that's when I started  
doubting whether or not to go with Sangoma.

I've only heard good things of Sangoma. However, I only have  
experience with TE410 and because of my limited experience with  
Asterisk, I was a bit concerned with switching to another card vendor  
from the one I've gotten used to. From a practical point of view, I  
don't know if there is much difference in "maintaining" a Sangoma  
install vs a Digium install. I do know the setup may be somewhat  
different, but that's a "one time" deal (sometimes).

As far as the Digium card, I don't know if all the TE2XXP have the  
newer firmware. I do wish I could trade my TE4XXP for ones with the  
new firmware. I will need to call Digium on that one.

Before the firmware upgrade, I would think there was a more  
significant reason to go with Sangoma (from a technical PoV). But  
now.... I guess it's a different story and for the amount of traffic  
I'm expecting, I don't know if I'll realize the potential performance  
difference between Sangoma and Digium, as explained in your blog entry.

I am definitely pro supporting the Asterisk cause and if that means  
that a % of my Digium purchase would go to it, I'd gladly do it.  
Anyway, the price difference between the two is less than $80.

The only thing I wished was that the Digium cards worked in 3.3V and  
5V motherboards without having to specify which one you are going to  
deploy it on. I got somewhat screwed on the TE410P because of that  
reason :(

The warranty issue is a big difference. Why couldn't Digium compete  
on that one? It's only a business/marketing decision, not a technical  
one anyway.

Anyway, thanks for your input.

- Waldo

On Oct 23, 2005, at 8:24 PM, Matt Florell wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Watch out there, that's a very touchy issue. I'll try to lay out the
> technical and non-technical points of view.
>
> First the purely technical point of view:
>
> The Digium TE210P/TE205P is basically the TE4XXP(quad card) with only
> two ports included instead of four. It uses almost exactly the same
> firmware and drivers as the TE410P which as of a few months ago was
> greatly improved, see my review:
> http://astguiclient.blogspot.com/2005/09/digium-405p-v2-review.html
>
> The Sangoma a102u dual T1/E1 card requires additional software to be
> installed on the server to use it, and that software also needs to be
> configured, which does mean that it takes longer to setup. The sangoma
> card does fit straight-up in a 2U server chassis while the Digium dual
> card would require a horizontal PCI riser card to do the same. Also,
> (again PURELY TECHNICAL HERE) The sangoma card comes with a 5 year
> warranty while the Digium card comes with a 2 year warranty and the
> Sangoma card is guaranteed to work on all PCI2-compliant motherboards
> while Digium has a list of motherboards that their cards will not work
> in. Also, the Sangoma card will work in 3v and 5v PCI slots while the
> Digium cards are 5v or 3v specific.
>
> Now here is the non-technical comparison:
>
> Both cards work well and have been used in production servers running
> steadily for months at a time and both companies offer free setup
> support.
>
> However, I will be very quietly cursed if I do no mention that much
> more of your purchase price of the Digium cards goes towards the
> further development of Asterisk. Hardware sales make up a large
> portion of Digium's revenues and are the primary reason why Asterisk
> and Digium have grown so much over the last 3 years.
>
> There is much more to the story, but I've rambled on long enough and I
> hope I've given you enough information to answer your question for
> yourself.
>
> MATT---
>
>
>
> On 10/23/05, Waldo Rubinstein <waldo at trianet.net> wrote:
>
>> Hi guys,
>>
>> Just a quick question. I need to buy a dual T1 card and I'm debating
>> between TE210P or the Sangoma A102u. Any recommendations?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Waldo
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