On 03/02/11 01:37, Daniel Tryba wrote: > On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 09:41:38PM +1000, Stuart Longland wrote: >> Indeed, most motherboards do come with Ethernet on board. This one came >> with one gigabit Ethernet interface. However, we needed another for a >> connection to an ADSL router (acting in bridged mode so we do the PPPoE >> directly). Thus, a 10/100Mbps Ethernet card was installed to provide >> the second port needed. > > You can free the PCI slot if you use VLANs on the internal interface > to seperate the internal and external traffic. This requires a switch > with vlan support, shouldn't could much more than $80. >
I'm aware of this, it still requires the expense of: - a VLAN aware switch ($80 apparently; currency not stated) - a FXO card (estimates at AU$200 upwards) and the need to take down the server to replace a PCI card, then set up kernel drivers for the new card. Even a USB FXO device, I still need kernel drivers, but I should be able to just run `make menuconfig`, enable the modules, `make modules modules_install`, plug it in and I'm done. Ethernet based devices shouldn't need kernel modules. There's also regulatory requirements: here in Australia since I'm plugging into the PSTN, it needs to carry the ACMA's regulatory compliance mark. So buying something from overseas isn't an option. It's less of an option for me as I do not possess a credit card, and so many companies out there seem to think we're born with them. Thus ideally, I'm looking for where I can source one in my local area. I can picture the exchange with the salesman behind the counter now. "Hi, I'm looking for a FXO card…" "FX-/What/??" These are barriers to people adopting systems such as Asterisk in my opinion. I figure there's some sort of technical reason for why a modem can't work in theory, but I'm yet to hear one. Yes, I'm new to IP telephony. The closest I've seen is that they don't have a DSP, as I say, big deal in this day and age … DSPs are just specialised CPUs in many cases, and while there'll be a penalty in terms of CPU load, I'm sure it can be done in software. We're dealing with what, 8kHz sample rate, 16-bit mono PCM? So, 128kbps? I've seen my old computer do realtime DSP on faster streams than that. Full duplex may be another matter. As I mentioned, I know the modem I have here can do full duplex on the headset port, and I'm certain the sound card can do full duplex. At worst, I just make a cable that plugs PC line out -> modem microphone in, PC line in -> modem speaker out. And I might have to use ALSA's "plug" plug-in to rate convert from 48kHz to 16kHz or 8kHz, not difficult. I then just write 'ATA' to /dev/ttySX when I see "RING", or 'ATDTxxxxxxxx' when I want to dial. If someone can enlighten me on some technical details I might have missed, I'm all ears. Still, at least I have the source code there, and so it is possible for me to code up a solution for myself. :-) -- Stuart Longland (aka Redhatter, VK4MSL) .'''. Gentoo Linux/MIPS Cobalt and Docs Developer '.'` : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'.' http://dev.gentoo.org/~redhatter :.' I haven't lost my mind... ...it's backed up on a tape somewhere. -- _____________________________________________________________________ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- New to Asterisk? Join us for a live introductory webinar every Thurs: http://www.asterisk.org/hello asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users