UKVoIPTalk.com

Just thinking of buying one of the FritzBoxes to replace a SIP softphone,
and need a bit of advice. I currently use a Vonage adapter for standard
calls, but want to overlay SIP onto my analogue phones to take advantage of
the better rates to mobiles and international calls. I also want to get a
couple of international in-bound numbers not offered by Vonage. I have seen
some of Ivor's previous posts but need a bit more detail.

What I need:
Non-DSL compatible version (to connect to existing network)
PSTN Passthrough (to connect to my Vonage box for inbound and calls to
emergency services)
Multiple SIP accounts (both in- out-bound - I have become a bit
disillusioned with Voxalot)
Flexible call routing via SIP or PSTN port

I think the FritzBox Fon ATA covers all this but the following questions
also come to mind:
The AVM website mentions up to 10 SIP accounts for similar models but not
this particular one? Can any owners advise?
Are the multiple SIP accounts all in- and out-bound?
Is Caller Display passed through from PSTN port OK (not sure which flavour
Vonage use but I guess if BT flavour is passed through then Bellcore
flavours will also make it through).
I think the 7050 offers WLAN and an extra telephone port but I don't
particularly need either of these. Is there any other advantage to this
model over the ATA?

If it helps others, I have found you can buy many of the Fritz boxes in
Germany for the same price in Euros (excl shipping) that we pay in Pounds
here. Would just need to source power supply or adapter and RJ11 adapter I
guess. See [url]www.amazon.de[/url], for example. They also have new versions not yet
available in the UK. Not sure whether these are fully "localised" though
(language, caller display, ring pattern etc.). I think VoIP generally is
much more mass-market there so I am sure there is also other equipment
around.

It happens that Aidan Whitehouse formulated :[color=blue]
> I have seen some of Ivor's previous posts but need a bit more detail.[/color]

I could be wrong.......I think Ivor's the only one in the country with
a Friz!box.

I've been trying, admittedly half heartedly, to discover the answers to
many of your questions myself, for quite some time, to no avail.

"Aidan Whitehouse" <whitehousemadhouse-2005@yahoo.co.uk>
wrote in message
news:M3AMg.10932$SH2.5939@newsfe4-gui.ntli.net[color=blue]
> Just thinking of buying one of the FritzBoxes to replace
> a SIP softphone, and need a bit of advice. I currently
> use a Vonage adapter for standard calls, but want to
> overlay SIP onto my analogue phones to take advantage of
> the better rates to mobiles and international calls. I
> also want to get a couple of international in-bound
> numbers not offered by Vonage. I have seen some of
> Ivor's previous posts but need a bit more detail.
> What I need:
> Non-DSL compatible version (to connect to existing
> network) PSTN Passthrough (to connect to my Vonage box for inbound
> and calls to emergency services)
> Multiple SIP accounts (both in- out-bound - I have become
> a bit disillusioned with Voxalot)
> Flexible call routing via SIP or PSTN port
>
> I think the FritzBox Fon ATA covers all this[/color]

Yes it does.
[color=blue]
> but the
> following questions also come to mind:
> The AVM website mentions up to 10 SIP accounts for
> similar models but not this particular one? Can any
> owners advise?[/color]

Maybe it's missing but AFAIK it does cover up to 10. I have the version
with the built in ADSL modem but I think the only difference is the lack
of a modem. I do know someone with the basic ATA, I'll ask him to be
certain but I'm 99.9% sure it's otherwise the same as mine.
[color=blue]
> Are the multiple SIP accounts all in- and out-bound?[/color]

Yes. There are only two physical phone ports, but they can be configured
to ring for any/all numbers. If you just pick up the phone and dial, the
first two sockets seize the first two accounts, if you want to manually
select account 3 or higher for an outgoing call, you have to dial a prefix
code (in the form *123## for the 3rd account) and wait for dial tone.
[color=blue]
> Is Caller Display passed through from PSTN port OK (not
> sure which flavour Vonage use but I guess if BT flavour
> is passed through then Bellcore flavours will also make
> it through).[/color]

That one I can't answer, the PSTN line here doesn't have caller ID.
[color=blue]
> I think the 7050 offers WLAN and an extra telephone port
> but I don't particularly need either of these. Is there
> any other advantage to this model over the ATA?[/color]

I don't think so, it does have the 3rd phone port, so I'm seriously
considering one.
[color=blue]
> If it helps others, I have found you can buy many of the
> Fritz boxes in Germany for the same price in Euros (excl
> shipping) that we pay in Pounds here. Would just need to
> source power supply or adapter and RJ11 adapter I guess. See
> [url]www.amazon.de[/url], for example. They also have new
> versions not yet available in the UK. Not sure whether
> these are fully "localised" though (language, caller
> display, ring pattern etc.). I think VoIP generally is
> much more mass-market there so I am sure there is also
> other equipment around.[/color]

Bear in mind that the models sold for the German home market are almost
certainly going to be Annex B (ISDN) rather than Annex A (analogue) for
the POTS line port, but the basic ATA wouldn't have this problem of
course. There is an option to select the correct parameters for operation
in different countries, but this doesn't appear to work properly, my
device insists on giving me German dial and ringing tones, despite my
selecting the UK as my country, but I've got used to it now so it's not a
major problem, at least not for me.

Hope this helps,

Ivor

"Jono" <nothanks@blueyonder.invalid> wrote in message
news:mn.4c547d69590a9a63.48968@blueyonder.invalid[color=blue]
> It happens that Aidan Whitehouse formulated :[color=green]
> > I have seen some of Ivor's previous posts but need a
> > bit more detail.[/color]
>
> I could be wrong.......I think Ivor's the only one in the
> country with a Friz!box.[/color]

I didn't *think* I was, but maybe..?!
[color=blue]
> I've been trying, admittedly half heartedly, to discover
> the answers to many of your questions myself, for quite
> some time, to no avail.[/color]

See my reply to the OP.

Ivor

Thanks for the info Ivor. V. useful.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Is Caller Display passed through from PSTN port OK (not
>> sure which flavour Vonage use but I guess if BT flavour
>> is passed through then Bellcore flavours will also make
>> it through).[/color]
>
> That one I can't answer, the PSTN line here doesn't have caller ID.[/color]

Anyone else use the Fritzbox? I suspect at least BT cli isn't passed
through but it would be useful to know if Bellcore variants make it through
OK.

> Thanks for the info Ivor. V. useful.[color=blue]
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>> Is Caller Display passed through from PSTN port OK (not
>>> sure which flavour Vonage use but I guess if BT flavour
>>> is passed through then Bellcore flavours will also make
>>> it through).[/color]
>>
>> That one I can't answer, the PSTN line here doesn't have caller ID.[/color]
>
> Anyone else use the Fritzbox? I suspect at least BT cli isn't passed
> through but it would be useful to know if Bellcore variants make it
> through OK.
>[/color]
Response from AVM in case others find this helpful. I remain to be
convinced about the comment about CLIP though...

FRITZ!Box Fon products can manage up to 10 sip accounts. You can configure
what accounts should be used by default for outgoing for each phone. Besides
the default routing, you can set up dial rules (dial plans) - for example if
the number begins with 001 it should use sipaccount number 4. If it begins
with 999 it should use the PSTN fixed line, etc. You can also select
manually which service you want:
*121# through *129# to select the prefered sip account to use for this call.
Or *11# to use the PSTN line for this call.

<snip>

Clip is working throughout UK, I have not heard any problems. We support
CLIP in the USA as well, so I believe that we have you covered.

Recently, Aidan Whitehouse popped out over the fence
around uk.telecom.voip and said...
|Thanks for the info Ivor. V. useful.
|
|>> Is Caller Display passed through from PSTN port OK (not
|>> sure which flavour Vonage use but I guess if BT flavour
|>> is passed through then Bellcore flavours will also make
|>> it through).
|>
|> That one I can't answer, the PSTN line here doesn't have caller ID.
|
|Anyone else use the Fritzbox? I suspect at least BT cli isn't passed
|through but it would be useful to know if Bellcore variants make it through
|OK.
|
|
|
Hi Aidan,

I'm a very happy user of a Fritz!Box Fon WLAN (not the 7050) since a
year or so. A very cracking gear, can't see any fault.
Fully recommended. Now, some answers to your questions!

Caller Display: Yes, IS passed through the PSTN port or - better said -
the PSTN line is physically connected to the phone port(s) you choose
the PSTN line must ring as soon as a call is in. If your phone was
displaying the CLI before, it will.

Call routing: you can choose to use the PSTN or any of the max 10 VoIP
accounts you register based on a "prefix" list.
Say you have the best rate for mobiles with the VoIP provider "A", and
free landline calls with the "B", you can instruct the Fritz!Box to use
the account "A" to call numbers starting with 077, 078, 079, and the
"B" for calls to numbers starting with 01 and 02.
A full flexible dial plan, with just one limit: it's not based on the
time/weekday, so you can't choose which account to use based ALSO on the
fact that you have free calls on weekends, or evenings to this or that
destination.
There is no limit to the dialplan, you can drill down to the single
phone number definition.

Other stuff: optional automatic PSTN fallback. Say your broadband,
internal network or preferred VoIP provider for that call is down, the
box automatically uses the PSTN as a backup.

The 10-account limit (!) is the same on all Fritz!Box Fon, all
bidirectional.

Yes, you can disable the internal ADSL modem and use it as a pure
router. In this case, I recommend the 7050, for its two ethernet ports:
in this configuration, one becomes the "red" side and one the "green"
side (WAN and LAN)

While you don't need the WLAN bit just now, it's just a few quid more,
why bother?

Beware of buying devices from overseas - especially Germany - the ADSL
Annex is different from here. We have ADSL on PSTN (Annex A), Germans
use ADSL on ISDN (Annex B). It's a different hardware in the Fritz!Box,
and you have to put up with a german-speaking interface. 8-(

I'm sure Ivor won't bother too much if I remind you that one of the
official AVM resellers in the UK is Sipgate.

Any other questions, happy to help!

Cheers

--
ßødincµs²°°° - The Y2K Druid

"ßødincµs²°°°" <this.em@il.is.invalid> wrote in message
news:MPG.1f71f7a7dd3aac489896d8@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...[color=blue]
> Recently, Aidan Whitehouse popped out over the fence
> around uk.telecom.voip and said...
> |Thanks for the info Ivor. V. useful.
> |
> |>> Is Caller Display passed through from PSTN port OK (not
> |>> sure which flavour Vonage use but I guess if BT flavour
> |>> is passed through then Bellcore flavours will also make
> |>> it through).
> |>
> |> That one I can't answer, the PSTN line here doesn't have caller ID.
> |
> |Anyone else use the Fritzbox? I suspect at least BT cli isn't passed
> |through but it would be useful to know if Bellcore variants make it
> through
> |OK.
> |
> |
> |
> Hi Aidan,
>
> I'm a very happy user of a Fritz!Box Fon WLAN (not the 7050) since a
> year or so. A very cracking gear, can't see any fault.
> Fully recommended. Now, some answers to your questions!
>
> Caller Display: Yes, IS passed through the PSTN port or - better said -
> the PSTN line is physically connected to the phone port(s) you choose
> the PSTN line must ring as soon as a call is in. If your phone was
> displaying the CLI before, it will.
>
> Call routing: you can choose to use the PSTN or any of the max 10 VoIP
> accounts you register based on a "prefix" list.
> Say you have the best rate for mobiles with the VoIP provider "A", and
> free landline calls with the "B", you can instruct the Fritz!Box to use
> the account "A" to call numbers starting with 077, 078, 079, and the
> "B" for calls to numbers starting with 01 and 02.
> A full flexible dial plan, with just one limit: it's not based on the
> time/weekday, so you can't choose which account to use based ALSO on the
> fact that you have free calls on weekends, or evenings to this or that
> destination.
> There is no limit to the dialplan, you can drill down to the single
> phone number definition.
>
> Other stuff: optional automatic PSTN fallback. Say your broadband,
> internal network or preferred VoIP provider for that call is down, the
> box automatically uses the PSTN as a backup.
>
> The 10-account limit (!) is the same on all Fritz!Box Fon, all
> bidirectional.
>
> Yes, you can disable the internal ADSL modem and use it as a pure
> router. In this case, I recommend the 7050, for its two ethernet ports:
> in this configuration, one becomes the "red" side and one the "green"
> side (WAN and LAN)
>
> While you don't need the WLAN bit just now, it's just a few quid more,
> why bother?
>
> Beware of buying devices from overseas - especially Germany - the ADSL
> Annex is different from here. We have ADSL on PSTN (Annex A), Germans
> use ADSL on ISDN (Annex B). It's a different hardware in the Fritz!Box,
> and you have to put up with a german-speaking interface. 8-(
>
> I'm sure Ivor won't bother too much if I remind you that one of the
> official AVM resellers in the UK is Sipgate.
>
> Any other questions, happy to help!
>
> Cheers
>
> --
> ßødincµs²°°° - The Y2K Druid[/color]

Ta very much for your help. That's all the info I needed to buy. I've
looked at most of the resellers and they all seem to be about the same price
so I'll probably go for one that is in uk. Last time I used sipgate they
despatched from Düsseldorf which takes a bit longer.

Cheers all.