Linksys does not support SPA400

[slinc]

I really hate to post something like this but I feel it is important for others to learn from my mistake.

Last week I purchased the SPA400 after doing a lot of research on this forum and trying to setup my own 3CX installation. After receiving it and testing it I realized that it will not receive calls from Verizon Wireless customers. There appears to be a problem with reading the Caller ID.

Now for the main reason for this post, after calling Linksys 3 times and talking to 3 different people they told me "THEY DO NOT SUPPORT THIS PRODUCT AT ALL". If you want support you MUST call the reseller that you purchased the product from. Well if you are like me and you purchase it from one of the many online VOIP supply retailers they will not take returns or accept support calls. You are required to deal with the maker of the product which in this case in Linksys.

So now Linksys does not support their own product and the online reseller doesn't support it so basically you are on your own Which doesn't make me feel good putting something like this in a production environment with NO support at all.

I'm not saying the product is terrible just that if you ever need support it may not be there.

Can anyone recommend a PSTN Gateway (4 lines) with good support? I find myself suddenly in need :lol:

 

[5qg4]

I have tried following FXO gateways. They are Welltech (3CX not supporded), Audio Code (the support seem as Linksys), DLINK(the support seem as Linksys) and Grandstream.

email support for both Welltech and Grandstream are very good. Welltech can offer the remote access the gateway. Even Welltech is not supported hardware. However, the support remote help me to fixed all my issue with 3CX.

The above just for share with all. All hardware support/issue should be case by case and region by region.

I would recommend trying out Grandstream's productions. Since 3CX already partner will Greadstream.

GXW-4104

* 4 FXO port media gateway
* Video surveillance port
* External power supply
* Two RJ-45 ports 10/100 Mbps (switched or routed)
* TFTP and HTTP firmware upgrade support
* Multiple SIP accounts (choice of 3 profiles per account)
* Programmable PSTN line settings for different countries/regions
* 1 or 2 stage dialing
* Caller ID
* G.168 - echo cancellation
* Flexible DTMF transmission: In Audio, RFC2833, SIP Info or any combination of the 3
* Selectable, multiple LBR coders per channel
* T.38 Fax compliant

 

[AndrewRTS]

I will order a Grandstream tomorrow.
I'll be more than happy to keep any interested party informed as to how my switch from SPA400 to Grandstream goes.

I switched the VoIP provider that we were going to use too! So much for the SPA400 & BroadVoice combination. I just signed up for Junction Networks and let me tell you that the quality is unbelievable. You can choose what number you want to show on outgoing Caller ID, etc.

With a few test calls placed, everyone agrees it sounds BETTER than PSTN by quite a bit.

Ahhh the best laid plans of mice and men...

 

[AndrewRTS]

This is just too funny...

I decided to do a little Google work to see if there was anything on the web about this Verizon caller ID problem.

Amazingly I found a fix on Linksys site. Or so I thought...

Click here:

http://linksys.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...er/std_adp.php?p_faqid=5214&lid=5395254426B13

Notice their fix... Switch it to 1 RING!! TOTALLY DISABLING CALLER ID.
What a great workaround!!

 

[slinc]

I saw this fix on their site and thought the same you did. I also saw another forum post from about November of last year saying that they had fixed the issue with the latest firmware which is obviously not the case.

Please let us know how the new gateway works for you. I am right behind you in getting something else.

 

[slinc]

Just in case anyone wants to follow the status of the SPA400 Verizon issue I have posted a message on the Linksys forum.

http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/board/message?board.id=VoIP_Adapters&thread.id=1639

 

[Anonymous]

GXW-4104

* 4 FXO port media gateway
* Video surveillance port

Just hijacking this post for a minute as it got my attention on the "video surveillance port".

5qg4, how does this surveillance port work? Just connect any camera? Can you let me know a bit more about that?

Thanks.
H.

 

[5qg4]

Hi Henk,

Please find the details as below.

Regards,
5Q

VIDEO SURVEILLANCE
------------------
The GXW410x can be used with an Analog Surveillance CCD Camera to perform video surveillance function. This application should be used in a LAN environment or when both sides have public IP address.
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE PROCEDURES

Gateway side:
1. In the ADVANCED SETTING page, find the following field and change from default setting NO to YES, reboot the device.
Enable VIDEO SURVEILLANCE: YES
2. Connect an analog based surveillance camera to the VIDEOIN connection at the back panel of the unit.

PC side (Monitor Device):
1. Download VLC from http://www.videolan.org/vlc/. This is the only player so far that supports RFC 3984.
2. Launch VLC.
3. Go to Preferences->Input/Codecs->Demuxers->H264, check “Advanced options” in the bottom. The option “Frames per Second” will show. Change that value to 5 and then save.
4. Go to Preferences->Input/Codecs->Access modules->Real RTSP, check “Advanced options” in the bottom. The option “Caching value (ms) will show. Change that value to 1000 and then save. You may change it to a smaller value to reduce the delay.
5. If the viewer is under NAT, go to Preferences->Demuxers->Access modules->RTP/RTSP, check “Advanced options” in the bottom. The option “Use RTP over RTSP (TCP)” will show. Check that option box. (Grandstream does NOT recommend this network environment)
6. Close the Preferences window and go to File->Open Network Stream:
a) Select RTSP as the protocol
b) Enter the URL in the format of rtsp://admin: ADMIN_PASSWORD@DEVICE_IP_ADDRESSEVICE_RTSP_PORT.
Change the blue text according to your configuration:
• ADMIN_PASSWORD is the device’s web configuration password for admin.
• DEVICE_IP_ADDRESS is the device IP.
• DEVICE_RTSP_PORT is the RTSP port setting of the device.
If the port uses default value 554, the port portion can be omitted from the URL
c) Click OK to start the video.

 

[AndrewRTS]

Now this video port sounds fun... I pulled up a high-res image of the box and it is a standard RCA composite video connector...

Very interesting!

 

[RobLloyd]

I am a Linksys partner and reseller of the LVS system. After installing 4 systems with the SPA400. I'm sending them ALL back. I was getting support, but they could not fix the issues all my clients were having.
I think it could be a good system if they can get the quality and reliability issues fixed. So here I am.
3CX offers so many more features and being on a stable platform (Server 2003, which all my clients have) has proven to be better.

I am keeping the SPA phones, those seem pretty nice for the price. I haven't tried Grandstream yet since I can't find a distributor that I can use that carries them.

 

[AndrewRTS]

Hey Rob! Good morning.

I was in a similiar boat. We joined the Linksys partner program and went through all the training to become voice authorized. I posted on another forum that I should have known I was in trouble when the Linksys rep warned me that we might have problems using PSTN on the LVS9000 series.

I love the SPA942 phones. The quality and features are great. I wish that Ingram carried Grandstream but maybe we'll find someone to wholesale them.