[Asterisk-Users] Looking for input on which way to go withsmallbusiness setup

[Luki]

Terrelle,

I've implemented a similar setup about a year ago. Here are couple
observations worth sharing. YMMV, but these are my experiences:

1) A small LAN (~40 devices: PC, printers, phones) does not need QOS.
Even when a workstation floods it with 100 Mbps traffic there is no
quality problems one can hear (pings remain <1 ms anyway, no packet
loss).

2) Get GOOD IP phones. The last thing you want is a phone crashing on
you several times a day or during a phone call, or loosing
connectivity, or having bad sound quality (accoustic feedback, hiss,
etc). Saving here isn't worth it.

3) As people said, avoid FXO adapters. Go digital instead.

4) For 15 extension, you don't need a fancy machine. We used a
PIII-800 with 512 MB RAM, it handles 10 calls at the same time just
fine (load ~ 0.10); it's also the gateway for Internet traffic
shaping, Windows logon server (samba), CUPS server and IMAP server.
Using a new 2.6 kernel is key for scheduling and nice-ing processes
accordingly.

5) Just like in your case, money was a concern. We decided to scratch
the T1 or POST lines and use pure VoIP. No "phone lines" so your
concurrent call limit depends on your available bandwidth. Why pay for
12 lines if one month you only use 4 but occasionally need 14 calls
which you can't get with a fixed line setup? Initially we had DSL (2M
down/768k up) but then went to Cable -- lower latency (~15 ms RTT to
our PSTN gateway) and 10Mbps/1Mbps speed. So far (almost a year)
everything runs great. Occasionally (half hour every couple months or
so) connectivity isn't great (packet loss, latency) but this is
acceptable to use given the cost savings compared to a T1.

Bottom line in this case is that your Internet connection must be
solid. This is a big variable though that required most time to get
working right (including trying 40 ms packets to reduce the number of
packets/sec; our modem was choking with >500 outgoing packets/sec),
etc.

It can be done. It all depends how much risk you are willing to take,
and how important setup and operating costs are to you.

Luki