FREE edition extra gateways / trunks

[georgi0]

I know the free edition supports only 1 gateway but I understand there is a bypass or at least a way to setup the other gateways outside the 3CX dashboard to make them work.

Currently i m looking to integrate my analogue grandstream gateway to collaborate with the system. To many options and things I can make out.

Is there a simple guide to use to address this problem and help me set it up this way?

thanks.

 

[leejor]

Is there a simple guide to use to address this problem and help me set it up this way?

You might consider it a "problem" , but that was the design intent. You are doing the equivalent of asking how to make a bootleg copy of Windows work, on the Microsoft forum.

 

[georgi0]

i have no problem to buy the non free version but shouldn't i be certain that it can support my hard ware first ? am I asking too much to have at least a week to figure out my configuration ?

also there are 3cx installers (at least where i am) able to bypass the 1 trunk limitation this way i mention.

 

[JasonNadeau]

Lol .... Mostly, what Leejor said !!!
You can test all your gateways in the free version, just one at a time. Once you know they work you can buy 3cx.
.... So, WHO are these 3cx installers telling you about how they bypass 3cx's limitations ?

 

[leejor]

I can understand the frustration.

The previous model, where a Demo Code unlocked most features, but limited simultaneous calls to two, meant you could test the interaction of multiple trunk groups, and, in fact, do a complete working restore from an older version, for testing, before committing to V15. For whatever reason, this was decided against in the latest version.

 

[georgi0]

for me it's too much work and not 100 safe that my system will work with all the gateways once i buy the version. i strongly believe that the demo should be a trial for 10-15 days.

i cant also mention in this thread the names of 3CX installers promised to do it. they did not go into specifics but they said the free version was not a problem for them. I am assuming they setup manually the other gateways.

i am now looking into the asterix freepbx to check if i can produce same results without these restrictions but for a non experienced user like i am, it's difficult to keep up.

 

[Sopock]

they did not go into specifics but they said the free version was not a problem for them. I am assuming they setup manually the other gateways.

Maybe they use NFR license?

 

[georgi0]

is it legal to sell me services this way for 3CX setup and install this NFR license?

 

[leejor]

I would think not. NFC licences are for their own use.

 

[CentrexJ]

There are 1 month SPLA licenses you can purchase which are not expensive to try out more than one gateway. A reseller lending you their NFR is likely against the rules.

 

[nb]

Georg10 - There is one trunk limit. And you mention a gateway - so you ARE in that limit. You are perfectly in the bounds to evaluate all possible scenarios before purchasing.

The pbx edition is designed to give you a very good taste of what 3CX is. It gives you everything you need for a small home/office. 8 sim calls, 1 trunk for external calls, Ivr, Voicemail, Clients, Webconferencing. Other code bases are practically dead.

And you have 8 sim calls. More than enough to test the most common 4-8 port gateway. It's a very good option.

I think your problem is not 3CX itself here. Nor the licensing.
I think you are worried about the gateway and how it will work.
If you are not experienced in VoIP, YES, I sympathize. An unsupported PSTN gateway can give you nightmares.

I will take the liberty to give you some tips. There are 3 fundamental components on a pstn gateway that can really give you a bad taste of the whole voice experience - whatever pbx you use.

1) tone sets. You MUST configure your local telco's tonesets. (Disconnect, reorder dialling tones etc). You get the frequencies and cadences from the telco. Or login to the device and chose the country you are in. If you are not in the usa or europe, cross your fingers. Go here for tonesets and fine your country http://downloads.3cx.com/downloads/misc/GXPblog/CountryToneSetValues.pdf

2) Hunting. What happens when 1 port is hogged? Where does the outbound call? In which direction? Just make one sim call and leave it connected and make an outbound call. It should ascend, descend, etc

3) Exhaustion. What happens when all ports are in use. If you have a gateway that has more than 8 ports then you disable ports. If you disable 6 ports, you can make 3 calls to prove this test.

Apart from this, the gateway should work. If it follows the sip standard, any device will work. Im telling you from experience. I have seen archaic, prehistoric gateways work back in the days. Now everyone is on sip trunks by the way.. So not sure why you want to end up scratching your head as if you are digging for oil when you can just go to sip trunks, see where you are located, choose a trunk from there and go to their site..

Btw - You can find a legacy template for 3CX on the internet to help you provision your device. Or use the generic template. With that you can definitely register and make calls with an outbound rule you have to configure separately.

Lastly, borrowing an NFR will make your system very unpredictable. That is not a professional solution but moreover, it generates a plethora of issues. It's like the guy that mentioned in a previous thread that this is like a hacked windows. Not only you start to get UI frustrations, but you can be an easy target from a cyber security aspect.

 

[eagle2]

Another option -- you can still install freely a trial 3CX version 14 with demo key -- it will unlock all functionalities, will have unlimited number of trunks, but will have only 2 simultaneous calls. In case of testing a gateway, as Nicky says above, making it working with V.14 will almost 99.9% guarantee it will work with V.15 too (speaking about unsupported officially gateways).

 

[Sopock]

Or even register as partner?

• Target to sell at least one license of 3CX PBX per 6 months

 

[nb]

Why version 14? Whats the point of going for a version with 2 sim calls? Go for the latest. V15 gives you so much stuff.

 

[leejor]

If it was absolutely essential that he test more than one trunk/gateway at a time, then a temporary set-up on V14 would be a solution. It would confirm that the devices worked (interacted?) as expected and could then be moved over to V15 with a licence.

 

[georgi0]

I want to thank all of the members here for giving me ideas and support to my problem.

I downloaded v.12.5 and I believe I found my grandstream gateway after an update. Patton gateway was saved when I set it up, but grandstream does not. Perhaps it's again another restriction I can't understand. No licence or serial was asked.

In V.14 I couldn't find any grandstream in gateways and in 15 I cant add either as generic along with my patton to test further.

Will explore a little more v.12.5 and If i have no luck i will examine other options which I found very confusing like freePBX etc.

 

[georgi0]

i tried to

Georg10 - There is one trunk limit. And you mention a gateway - so you ARE in that limit. You are perfectly in the bounds to evaluate all possible scenarios before purchasing.

The pbx edition is designed to give you a very good taste of what 3CX is. It gives you everything you need for a small home/office. 8 sim calls, 1 trunk for external calls, Ivr, Voicemail, Clients, Webconferencing. Other code bases are practically dead.

And you have 8 sim calls. More than enough to test the most common 4-8 port gateway. It's a very good option.

I think your problem is not 3CX itself here. Nor the licensing.
I think you are worried about the gateway and how it will work.
If you are not experienced in VoIP, YES, I sympathize. An unsupported PSTN gateway can give you nightmares.
.

ok I deleted my PATTON isdn gateway in order to add the grandstream GXW4008 for testing under v.15
i just cant do it. nothing is registered nothing is showing up in the grandstream. the same for yealink T22p phones i tried.

i tried going also to v.12.5 for the same auto provision of my hardware, no luck either.

 

[leejor]

If the provisioning files were created, then I would suspect something on your network that prevents the devices knowing where to download the file. Given the fact that you have attempted with both Versions 15 and 12.5, the things that remain in common are the network, both physical and configuration (and this includes the server), and the devices themselves. If the devices are "factory" reset , then they are the same as what everyone else begins with, narrowing it down yet again.

 

[nb]

reset the device.
Now you can configure a gateway manually. It is really easy. It's just like a standard phone. Maybe it is blacklisted due to numerous failed registration attempts. Check security settings and see if the ip of the grandstream is in that blocked list.

You should not be spending this much time to get things running. It is just like a simple phone. you need Ext number, Auth id, pass, server ip and port.

 

[georgi0]

i managed to solve my problems and use the 3CX V.15 for the momment by getting the PORT as well in the SIP server under the grandstream GXW4008 it need to be entered this way: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:5050 or any other port you may have set in 3CX for SIP. thanks.