Anyone ever try out the linksys spa400 ?

[arias]

In the course of my research and deliberation over building an asterix server, I came across the linksys spa400 'telephony gateway' with four analog FXO ports, and an ethernet port so one can use either PSTN or VOIP provider or both for failover. It also has an integrated voicemail application with up to 32 voicemail accounts. Priced at around $215 the price is right, and the best part for me at least, linksys does provide the GPL'd source for download. Of course an asterix server has as much capability as you're willing to put into it, but this sounds like a quick, cost effective, plug and play solution that allows one to add or mod the source as I might find appropriate. Anyone have an opinion on this?

 

[scotty]

I've done a fair amount of VIOP systems, but never had experience with most of Linksys' products (they took over Sipura, so they're basically sipura products). I don't know of too many people using an SPA400 because it seems to not fit terribly well into a lot of product categories (too much for a home user, not enough for business). This isn't to say it's not a good product, I've just rarely heard of any excitement around the product. Most of Linksys' [VOIP] products seem to fit very awkwardly into the market, so I dont think they get a ton of traction.

As a 4 port FXO adaptor, it's a great deal though. But unfortunately, according to Linksys, it wont work with any phone systems except their SPA9000, and I don't know many people who use an SPA9000 (again, too much for home, not enough for business).

I'd be interested to hear how your experiences go though. I've had good experiences with their phones. I'd bery REALLY interested to see how these little mini 'phone systems in a box' actually work.

 

[lincrasto]

For outgoing calls and long distance, I use Call centric pay per minute plan. It's historically been very reliable (except for yesterday). I didn't select the 911 option because all my 911 calls will be routed through my landline, so I'm not paying those fees.
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Linc

 

[mgraves]

My experience with small FXO interfaces was not good, which drove me to a a wholly IP based installation. That was admittedly quite a while ago. I was in the beta program for the Sipura SPA-3000. I also used a Digium TDM-400p, and the older X101p FXO interfaces.

As for the SPA-400 I expect that it works well enough. My understanding is that it's intended to be used to provide analog lines to the Linksys embedded PBX product.

However, Asterisk would be more flexible, and ultimately more capable. But you'd still need the analog interfaces in some fashion. An Asterisk appliance with built-in FXOs would be a complete solution, but more costly.

 

[pjrouse]

I have setup a couple of small (2-4 phones) client sites using the SPA400 and SPA9000. In the end we completely dropped the analog (PSTN) aspect of the system and switched them purely to SIP trunks as the voice quality over PSTN was appauling.

If you have any specific questions let me know.

Thanks

Paul

 

[vegastech]

Although this thread is a bit old, I've had a lot of good luck using SPA400(s). I've only used them in conjunction with SPA9000 PBX(s). Their firmware has gotten a lot better and I consider the devices very reliable. Linksys is changing its tune about how many lines you should connect to it - i.e. if you want to use the voicemail options only connect 2 analog lines. In theory you can connect up to (4) SPA400 devices to a SPA9000 for a total of 16 inbound analog lines. Granted if you are using that main lines you shouldn't be using analog.

For small offices with 8-10 users and 3+ inbound lines these work fine.

 

[pjrouse]

One thing I did find was that the PSTN performance was poor. SIP trunks were fine but analog quality was very very quiet and poor quality.