ISDN

[eku1s]

Hi

What is the easiest and cheapest way to use a set of two BT ISDN lines with 3CX, instead of using VoIP?

Thanks, Luke.

 

[3CXfoxhallsolutions]

Well - there's the easy way and there's the cheap way ... not always the same ...

My suggestion however, is to go the Patton route. If you need a gateway to terminate 2 x ISDN2e (i.e. 4 basic rate channels), then I'd recommend the Patton SmartNode SN4120. I have found these the most cost effective, simply because they are so quick and easy to set up - and if you have any issues, there are lots of places to go to get advice.

3CX wizards, and how-to's on the website will take you through all you need to set it up.

best regards

 

[3CXfoxhallsolutions]

Just on another angle - You would really need to have seriously bad ADSL into your site to not be able to replicate 4 channels of ISDN using SIP Trunks. Let me know if you need more info about porting your numbers and saving the cost of the Patton gateway.

regards

 

[eku1s]

Thanks for the advice.

Our broadband is currently 20MB Virgin Cable, so I think we have more than enough we have more than enough bandwidth.

We continually experience dropped packets when making and receiving phone calls, resulting in poor call quality.

We are using DrayTel as a SIP provider, and I have concerns as to whether they may be causing the problem. Do you reckon changing to another provider may solve this issue?

I have 3CX on pretty much the default settings when it comes to codecs, and am using Cisco SPA303 IP phones. We also have QoS set up on our Draytek router, which I configured using 3CX's guide on their site. This seems to have had little effect.


Besides call quality issues, there are so many features that just sets 3CX apart from others, it would be a shame to switch to something else.

Do you have any suggestions for improvements?

Thanks, Luke.

 

[3CXfoxhallsolutions]

Hi Luke
Yes - you should have enough bandwidth in the Virgin service - and I doubt that is causing you issues. However, I've seen situations where Virgin just turn-off the service for maintenance without notice - so it's not so good for a business!

I don't know what Draytek guide you are following, but I've had great success by Setting Quality of Service, in the Bandwidth Management section. Enable the WAN route you are using, then create a VoIP class [using the Class 1 Index] consisting of the local address of the 3CX server with any service type. Setup the WAN by allocating a decent %'age of bandwidth to class 1, and then allocate just 1% to class 2 and to class 3 - leaving 'Others' to carry the remainder.

The effect of this is that whenever any traffic is going to or from the 3CX server, it is allocated the pre-set bandwidth, with any other WAN/LAN - Internet traffic getting whatever remains. I have lots of sites working this way with Draytek's and have no problems. Drop me a note if you want to make contact and discuss the Draytek config' in more detail.

With the amount of bandwidth you have available, I'd set the SPA phones to use G711u codec's as first choice, G711A second, and G729 third.

Only other thing to look at is what is happening on your own LAN ... Do you have network switches that are able to prioritise the VoIP over other LAN data flow????

best regards ...