Basic help needed

[bertarecchia]

Last year in stalled the 3CX trying to use it with Magic Jack but, as many others, realized it can't work.
I'm in the US.
Now I have a Comcast 20mb connection and a phone line coming out of the Arris Mod: 602G/CT.

I only need a phone system for 3 people in the office and would prefer to use the computers to manage calls. We get quite a few calls now with 2 separate lines ( magic jack and Comcast line ) but we can do any transfers of course.

How much do I really need to invest to use 3CX?
Do I just need a PCI card to interface the phone line with the main PC?
Do I need one of those Patton gateways?
Will the free versions of 3XC work for this setup?
Should I just go to Radio Shack and get a couple of PBXs and hook them up together.

The forum is answering a lot of specific questions but I can't find anything of this sort.

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[leejor]

First off, you're in the wrong forum (this one is for the 3CX phone specifically)

How much do I really need to invest to use 3CX?

That can vary, a lot, depending on what you want. You will need a PC/server, phones, or ATA's, and a gateway if you want to interface to PSTN lines.

http://www.3cx.com/sip-phones/

Do I just need a PCI card to interface the phone line with the main PC?

You can go that way if you find one that is compatible with 3CX. You will more likely want to go with a stand-alone gateway.

Do I need one of those Patton gateways?

That, or another brand of gateway. Just be sure that it has been tested to work with 3CX to avoid problems.
http://www.3cx.com/voip-gateways/

Will the free versions of 3XC work for this setup?

You will be restricted to four concurrent conversations and some other features are limited or not available.
http://www.3cx.com/phone-system/edition-comparison

Should I just go to Radio Shack and get a couple of PBXs and hook them up together.

Radio Shack sells PBX's?! News to me.

 

[bertarecchia]

Sorry for posting posting in the wrong section. Can I move it to the other side?
Thanks for the links!
I do have a pc that can be the server, running w7.
As for phones I want to use the PC to avoid actual phones and use the soft one with the current PC headsets.
I'm mostly wondering if I'll waste money and time to find out that the comcast line won't work.
How do I find out?

Thanks!

 

[leejor]

I'm mostly wondering if I'll waste money and time to find out that the comcast line won't work.

If the Comcast line, like the Magicjack line, currently comes from an Analogue telephone Adapter(ATA), you currently plug in a "regular" telephone, then you should be able to use a Gateway.

Be aware that any line features that require a "flash", will probably not work through a gateway. Passing the * or # is also a problem with some gateways.

If you only plan on using a couple of phone lines, I would suggest investigating the Linksys SPA-3102, or a similar unit. Grandstream makes one too, I believe.

Each will support one phone line and one telephone. It is a combination gateway and ATA. Pricing is about $70 US, per unit.

 

[mylove4life]

I use Comcast with 4 PSTN lines and it's fine. Are you using a VOIP provider or Comcast's phone lines?

 

[bertarecchia]

I use Comcast with 4 PSTN lines and it's fine. Are you using a VOIP provider or Comcast's phone lines?

I love good news

It's a phone line that came with the comcast high-speed package.
It comes out of the modem they installed (Arris Mod: 602G/CT)
So, I don't have separate service for VOIP.

Do you use it for an office / multiple users with the 3CX software?
Looking forward to your answer.
Thanks!

 

[mylove4life]

yup, we use it with 12 phones and 4 lines... it's works very well with our Grandstream 4104, you should not have any pgoblems...

 

[bertarecchia]

yup, we use it with 12 phones and 4 lines... it's works very well with our Grandstream 4104, you should not have any pgoblems...

Indulge me, is the attached diagram correct?
And, hopefully the last question , do you have a specific tutorial online that you suggest to configure the grandstream or other gateways with 3CX?

Thanks again.

 

[mylove4life]

dont see a attached diagram.

the grandstream is supported by 3cx... http: //www.3cx.com/voip-gateways/Grandstream-GXW-41044108 - NO LONGER AVAILABLE

 

[bertarecchia]

dont see a attached diagram.

I must have left the attachment in the same drawer were I keep my dead brain cells.... Thanks.

 

[mylove4life]

Something like that...

This might help.. Just dont make it harder than it has to be. That is why this system was made with Windows, it's the easiest PBX to setup there is... the image below is just for the phone system really, but the internet will ride on the same cable as the phone.

 

[albertc]

If you want to lower your cost and avoid spending money on hardware, you should go pure IP on your phone. First thing to do is get away from comcast phone service, they are over priced. Many SIP provider out there cost a lot less. Just setup your free version of 3CX with your voip account and use the softphone on your PCs. You have no hardware to purchase and the only thing to setup is the 3CX server on your spare Win7 machine. For a list of voip provider, check out http://www.myvoipprovider.com/en/Top_100_VoIP_Providers .

 

[mylove4life]

There are many problems with having a VOIP provider... I had 4 VOIP lines and they can not even get close to the quality of what I have with Comcast. Mostly when I'm talking to someone that is out of the state, to many hops to get to the customer...

If you want to lower your cost and avoid spending money on hardware, you should go pure IP on your phone. First thing to do is get away from comcast phone service, they are over priced. Many SIP provider out there cost a lot less. Just setup your free version of 3CX with your voip account and use the softphone on your PCs. You have no hardware to purchase and the only thing to setup is the 3CX server on your spare Win7 machine. For a list of voip provider, check out http://www.myvoipprovider.com/en/Top_100_VoIP_Providers .

 

[albertc]

I m not sure what kind of expectation you have in terms of quality. However, I have been using a numbers of VOIP provider, including free ones and have no problems with the quality whatsoever even when I am making international calls. The quality of any voip line is based on traffic management. As long as you have reserve enough bandwidth for the voice packets to come in and out of your network, quality should not be an issue at all. And that is the reason why you do not have any issue with comcast since the voice modem they provide have Qos buildin to assure voip traffic have the highest priority. Now a days, most of the wireless router in the market do offer some sort of bandwidth management and/or Qos. Most people just dont know what to do with them.

 

[mylove4life]

what about the rest of the internet... I won't get into a debate about it.. Go some research on it then get back to me...

I m not sure what kind of expectation you have in terms of quality. However, I have been using a numbers of VOIP provider, including free ones and have no problems with the quality whatsoever even when I am making international calls. The quality of any voip line is based on traffic management. As long as you have reserve enough bandwidth for the voice packets to come in and out of your network, quality should not be an issue at all. And that is the reason why you do not have any issue with comcast since the voice modem they provide have Qos buildin to assure voip traffic have the highest priority. Now a days, most of the wireless router in the market do offer some sort of bandwidth management and/or Qos. Most people just dont know what to do with them.

 

[albertc]

Its the path from your local network to the voip provider that counts. As long as the ping time is less than 150ms, you should not notice any different between a landline or voip call. Cell phone calls has delay also and in most cases, it has even longer delay than voip. Again, I am only speaking for my own experiences and opinions with some of the voip providers that I have use and deployed for my clients. I am sure there are horrible story out there about voip but if you do your research long enough, you will find horrible story for just about.... anything.

 

[bertarecchia]

I see that the Grandstream 4104 at compuvest.com is $144 and Amazon $243.20.

I have a good deal with Comcast. TV ( with HBO etc ), 20mb and 1 phone line for $99 / month. It should go to $116 after a year.
If the grandstream is all I need to purchase to use the 3CX softphones on the different PCs, it's not that much money. I doubt it would cost less adding another provider for VoIP.

Thanks for your input.

 

[mylove4life]

you will have much less trouble... I would always use a normal phone line other than VOIP when you can.

 

[leejor]

Sometimes a bundle price is too good a deal to overlook. Even though Comcast is VoIP, converted to analogue, then back to VoIp wthin 3CX.

A lot (when choosing a provider), can depend, not only on price of the basic service, but long distance cost (if that is a factor) and any extra features that may be needed. Once 3CX is in place, it is very easy to add a VoIP provider later as a test, even if it is for access to cheaper international (national?) calling or a second phone number.

The one problem that could arise, when using Comcast and the provided ATA, is port conflict. The ATA (the one supplied by Comcast) may already be using public port 5060 and some others. Keep that in mind if you later decide to add other VoIP services.

 

[mylove4life]

Every thing some where down the road is VOIP...

Sometimes a bundle price is too good a deal to overlook. Even though Comcast is VoIP, converted to analogue, then back to VoIp wthin 3CX.

A lot (when choosing a provider), can depend, not only on price of the basic service, but long distance cost (if that is a factor) and any extra features that may be needed. Once 3CX is in place, it is very easy to add a VoIP provider later as a test, even if it is for access to cheaper international (national?) calling or a second phone number.

The one problem that could arise, when using Comcast and the provided ATA, is port conflict. The ATA (the one supplied by Comcast) may already be using public port 5060 and some others. Keep that in mind if you later decide to add other VoIP services.