LOW COST SIP PHONES
There is another low cost SIP phone now available. I have tested it successfully on FWD, and Nikotel, only as yet.
PORT FORWARDING
As for the comments about port forwarding , that has greatly to do with the gatekeeper, more specificly the proxy, and sometimes the customer premise device itself.
MORE PORT FORWARDING
8X8 for instance has a SIP device that NEVER has seemed to require any port forwarding on the Packet8 Service. BTW I am looking for the generic firmware for this device if anyone has it here! Included firmware from Packet8 seems to be locked.
FREE SIP PHONE HERE!
By the way, Nikotel.com offers a free Grandstream SIP phone if you put $100.00 on the account. I believe however they still have issues with device to device calling through firewalls.
CISCO ATA
As for the Cisco devices, Cisco has now streamlined their model numbers. I remember about 4 months ago talking to Cisco to try to get clarification on the model numbers. Apparently many vendors are still selling old stock of older models. I believe the latest model is the ATA186-I1, but I am not certain. I do know that some versions had problems with second port activation. As for the 64 Kb Codec, There are actually 2 64K codecs “u” and “A” . I have used the newer Ciscos, as well as clients, with both ports occupied at the same time, and have never experienced any indications low bit rate codecs. The limitations on the Cisco however is that it does not allow medium bit rate codecs such as 16, or 32. With the ATA its all or nothing baby! I believe the grandstream has like 7 codec options!
FWD AND PRAISNG THE PULVER GOD!
I must take a moment to Praise the great PULVER GOD here. FWD is awesome, and the man deserves a medal! I think that it is just a matter of time before FWD becomes the Hub of all IP telephony. In other words even though you may use a SIP phone on Nikotel.com, I could place a call to you from Vonage or I connecthere, using FWD as a secondary gateway. As it stands Libretel in conjunction with FWD now allows international calling , except USA ( I wonder if that has anything to do with Pulver’s attempt to keep Federal regulators from calling “IP telephony”, “telephony”??) I Might also add I recently Picked up a Packet8 Line last week, dialed a USA number, Then dialed a FWD number, where I was then connected to a SIP phone in Australia. The call was not as good as my previous FWD to FWD call, however it worked and was intelligible. The call had a quality of a traditional telephone call from Mexico to Australia. It was NO comparison to the Pure SIP to SIP call I had made from Mexico to Austrailia earlier on FWD, which was better than being there man!