VOIP and the Draytek Vigor 2900VG

This conversation has been wending it's way through the forums at
www.draytek.co.uk/forum for some little while now; and while it's
comforting to know that many other users have the same problems that I
do; it isn't getting any of us very far.

The Vigor 2900VG is a cable router; with USB printer port (I don't know
anyone who has tried to use it yet); VPN capabilities (Universally
acknowledged as excellent) and two VOIP telephone sockets on the back.

Setting up the VOIP sockets is fairly easy; once you find the relevant
pages in the manual. Registering, as I have done, with Draytek's
related voip provider, Draytel, was relatively easy. Making calls is
not.

Calls to Barclays; or Sky; or any large company that probably has it's
own rather complicated voip switchboard, are a doddle. VOIP doesn't
respond well to "If you are a mindless idiot and want to hear more
music, please press the hash key now"; but as long as you remember that
playing silly beggars with the keypad will get you cut off; it's fine.

Ringing me mum; now that's a different kettle of fish. In fact, ringing
just about anyone with a "normal" phone results in the call going dead
after about 50 seconds.

I've used the "standard" Draytek setup; and I'm at my wit's end. I've
got a VOIP router, and I'm better off with a microphone and headphones
stuck into my PC - it doesn't seem fair. The best advice I've had in
the forums is "Flog it on Ebay while you can still get a good price for
it" and "Get a refund"; neither of which I want to do; because no-one
can suggest a cable router that operates it's VOIP ports as if it knows
what it's doing.....

Can anyone suggest such a router? Or suggest what I might need to do to
mine to make it work okay?

Thanks;

Tim

 

You may have read my post on the Draytek forum ;-)
I have 2600VGi and while it works fine with Sipgate and Voipbuster it won't
work with Sipdiscount,
which has (currently) free UK calls ! No one seems to have figured why.
The other problem is that it's still not possible to operate both lines with
one (DECT) phone, though the software implies it's possible.
I have recently set up a Zyxel 2602HWL for a friend and it can do both above
plus a PSTN pass-through,
so I have just bought one.
The 2600VGi is likely to end up on eBay, unless someone here wants it.
Regards,
Martin

 

declared for all the world to hear...

You got further than I did. I can make and receive calls but get no
audio in either direction. Drayek support now want the router sent in
for them to inspect.

That is the conclusion I have come to.

I think I'm going to plump for an ethernet-connecting ATA box, and just
stick an ordinary phone in it.

Any suggestions group?

 

Well, I'm using an Intertex IX67 router at the moment & use both the FXS
& FXO ports. I have an NTL phone line connected to it & a DECT phone.
It works OK but to be honest I'd like a little more control over where
calls are routed. As it is it'll just route all calls out over the VoIP
connection as long as it is registered correctly & you have to press ##
to access the NTL line. I would prefer to manage this automatically
using a dial plan but you have to purchase an add-on called a "SIP
Switch" to be able to do this, it basically turns the unit into a SIP
PBX-ish unit (I say "ish" because it doesn't include things like
voicemail which you'd normally expect from a PBX). However this add-on
costs over £300 which is silly money for a home user.

My advice would be to buy a nice router such as a Linksys WRT54G & a
separate ATA, something like a Sipura SPA-3000 if you need to keep your
phone line.

Paul.

 

Hi Paul; I'm leaning towards keeping the router - I bought it mainly
for the VPN capability - but dumping the VOIP section. It seems daft
to say the least; but there are so many imponderables with having a
security router that runs a wireless network, has a USB port for a
printer and two VOIP ports; that to keep everything working at once is
just doing my head in.

Far better, I think, for me to use the router for VPN only; and get a
specialist bit of kit that I can configure without wondering what I've
just upset elsewhere in my box.

I'll take a look at the SPA-3000; and there's a Cisco one that is about
£100; well worth it if it works; can anyone positively recommend an
external ATA?

Tim

 

I wouldn't recomment the Cisco ATA-186, I've got one here that has been
running flawlessly for a very long time, but they do lack features and
are pretty old now.

Mind you, I've also got 4 Linksys PAP2s (at various sites), that have
worked flawlessly and they are much more fully featured and don't cost
nearly as much. (afaict, a PAP2 is a cost reduction model of an SPA-2000).

 

Yes the PAP-2 is based on the Sipura 2000 hardware in a different case
with different web interface. To be honest I've not done much with them
other than have a quick look at them but I know the SPA-2000/2002 pretty
well & they are good. It depends what you want, a simple SPA-1001 just
allows you to connect a single phone (but can use two different VoIP
accounts on that phone), the SPA-2002 lets you plug two phones on
different VoIP accounts, the SPA-3000 lets you connect one phone & an
analogue phone line so you can use the same phone to make both VoIP &
analogue calls. It's horses for courses really, whichever one suits
your needs, they all work well.

There are also Grandstream ATAs which I think are a little bit cheaper
but I haven't tested them to see how reliable they are.

Aren't the Cisco ATAs discontinued these days?

cheers,
Paul.

 

Probably, there are still a lot of them about, eg. Broadbandbuyer still
have some for around the £100 mark.

 

100 pounds is expensive. If it 100pounds + vat it is a rip off. If
the model is the ATA-186, then that is looking a bit dated now.

Also, with Cisco you need to check whether the price includes the
licence to use the SIP firmware.


You can't go too wrong with Sipura.

There are cheaper ones around, but not with the flexibility of the Sipura.

If you want FXO ports, the Sipura spa-3000 is fairly unique in that the
FXO port is independent of the FXS - they are independent gateways.
Lots of ATA's just have FXS-FXO passthrough.

Tim

 

Could anyone recommend a good place to buy a Sipura SPA-3000 from?

Chris

 

[snip]

The AVM Fritz!Box Fon series have this facility, you can set dialling
rules to decide which port a call goes out on, or which phone rings for a
call on which port. The version without an ADSL modem isn't easily
obtainable in the UK at the moment though. The AVM boxes are probably
unique in that the FXO port will work with either an analogue or ISDN
line.

Ivor

 

Chris Blunt wrote:
|| On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 15:00:25 +0000, Tim Bray <>
|| wrote:
||
||| wrote:
|||| I'll take a look at the SPA-3000; and there's a Cisco one that is
|||| about £100; well worth it if it works; can anyone positively
|||| recommend an external ATA?
|||
||| 100 pounds is expensive. If it 100pounds + vat it is a rip off.
||| If
||| the model is the ATA-186, then that is looking a bit dated now.
|||
||| Also, with Cisco you need to check whether the price includes the
||| licence to use the SIP firmware.
|||
|||
||| You can't go too wrong with Sipura.
|||
||| There are cheaper ones around, but not with the flexibility of the
||| Sipura.
|||
||| If you want FXO ports, the Sipura spa-3000 is fairly unique in that
||| the FXO port is independent of the FXS - they are independent
||| gateways.
||| Lots of ATA's just have FXS-FXO passthrough.
||
|| Could anyone recommend a good place to buy a Sipura SPA-3000 from?
||
|| Chris

I've bought a couple here www.provu.co.uk - usually in stock (& close enough
for me to collect)

 

Do you know that for a fact, when there are UK re-sellers and
distributors listed on their web-site?

David

 

I didn't say it wasn't available, I said it isn't *easily* available.

Ivor

 

declared for all the world to hear...

Thanks, but the Vigor 2600VG is a superior router, apart from the voip
shower-of-shite. I'll look into the sipura.

 

Clicking through to each website shows none have it at all. (The one for
cable)

 

Ditto - there's only one thing I don't like about the 2900VG; and VOIP
was not my main reason for buying it, although if I'd bought a version
without VOIP I'd have expected to pay a bit less for it. I'm also going
to look at the Sipura; but from what I see, the 2000 will do nicely for
me.

For what it's worth (and it ain't much); yesterday, I managed to get
VOIPStunt working and made several successful and normal phone calls
without being cut off. But I'd "rather" use a more professional outfit
than someone who has forgotten the basic rule of business (i.e. try to
make a profit). My aim here is to save about £40 on phone calls; thus
recouping the amount I think I'd have saved if I'd bought a non-voip
version of the 2900. Go on - guess my profession!!!

Tim