[Asterisk-Users] FXS or VOIP

[Colin Anderson]

On the upside:

-FXS allows you to use existing cat 3 wiring
-FXS allows you to randomly pick an analog phone and it will work
-FXS takes care of any QoS, routing, codec etc issue that you would
otherwise have with Ethernet
-FXS does not require infrastructure like switches, routers etc
-FXS allows you to use low baud rate modems (security systems) and fax
machines although IAXModem is coming along nicely yay faxguy!
-FXS + 5.8Ghz cordless is the simplest (and best) way to do a wireless phone
with Asterisk

On the downside:

-FXS does not scale (practically)
-FXS has it's own issues with call quality
-FXS modules and channel banks are a moving target with
driver-or-chassis-or-card of the month
-FXS works with faxes and low baud rate modems, but just barely
-FXS cannot allow you to project phone service into arbitrary locations on
the Internet. You require a physical connection to Asterisk
-A well tuned FXS install is largely a black art. Expect to fool around a
lot with gains etc.

hth

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Freeze [mailto:asterisk at freeze.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 2:07 PM
To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com
Subject: [Asterisk-Users] FXS or VOIP


Hi

I am setting up a phone system for a small office.
The office will have 5-8 phones and a fax line.
There are 4 hunt lines coming into the office.
We have made no hardware purchase yet.

Being an asterisk newbie, before I suscribed to this list I just
assumed that I would buy voip phones and connect
all the phones to a private ethernet network.

However, I see many people inquiring about FXS cards.

Is there any reason why I would need to consider using
analog phones and FXS cards? Seems to me the cheapest
way is with voip phones and voice quality should be good
since the phones are on a private network that only has
voice traffic.

Thanks
--
Jim Freeze
_______________________________________________
--Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com --

Asterisk-Users mailing list
To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit:
   http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users